Abstract

The article conceptualizes the category of “sexual contract”, an element of great importance that is present in the classical contractualists. In order to do it, we start from the base text of Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract; key in the coining of the category itself, as well as for the impact it had on research on contractualism and philosophy in general. Subsequently, it delves into two large types of mechanisms that, according to this category, are used to subject women to the domination of men, as well as to exclude them from public order. Then, the two theoretical assumptions that help to promote the above are addressed, namely, essentialism and the public-private dichotomy. Regarding the methodical, the article is channeled into an approach typical of analytical philosophy, in which Pateman’s text is carefully scrutinized, along with other contributions from other authors, for the sake of systematization, clarity and precision of the conceptual elements that this category entails. It concludes with a final reflection that emphasizes the importance of this category to approach, not only contractualists texts, but also Western philosophy –at least– in general.

Key words: Pateman; language learning; essentialism; public; private; subjection; domination; feminism