Literally everything that has ever happened in human history has come out of a woman.  This is the profound implication of birth.  All of us owe at least this to women.  Happy International Women's Day indeed!

But the act of birth contains further, more philosophical - metaphysical - implications.  The fact of our births alone is enough to thoroughly discredit Idealism, wherein it is said there is no such thing as external, material reality - everything is in your head.  For if we take Idealism as true, then being born from a woman is reduced to an unnecessary fiction we carry around with us in our thoughts.  It is much more realistic to not throw the material reality babies out with the metaphysical bathwater, so to speak.  This leaves us, metaphysically, with either Dualism or Materialism, and that debate I tackle in another post.

Thanks to all women, mothers or no, for solidly situating humanity in this wonderful material world.

Thanks too to those women who've specifically contributed to Philosophy.  I could not do better in celebrating these women than Project Vox.  A particular favorite of mine at Project Vox and in history at large is Margaret Cavendish, whom I've quoted in my post on the philosophy of infinity.

Happy International Women's Day.  A good day for Philosophy.  A great day for humanity.

image from garlandcannon, Nasturtims Giving Homage to Georgia O'Keeffe

(bonus content: link to further discussion)