AUTHOR. Now, woman being identical in species, man possesses a dignity equal to hers; therefore she should be respected in her dignity, that is, in her person, her liberty, her property, her affections; this is her right as a human being, and man cannot deny it without failing in justice and in his duty.
PROUDHON. It is logical. But I claim that woman has not the right which my principles attribute to her; that man alone has rights, because man is the stronger.
AUTHOR. A contradiction, Master.
PROUDHON. "Liberty is an absolute right, because it is to man what impenetrability is to matter, a condition sine qua non of existence."—1st Memoir on Property.
AUTHOR. Now, woman is a human being, she has therefore an absolute right to liberty, which is her condition sine qua non of existence.
PROUDHON. It is logical. But I conclude, on the contrary, that woman has no need of liberty; that this condition sine qua non of existence for our species, does not regard one half of the species; that man alone cannot exist without liberty, because he is the stronger.
AUTHOR. A contradiction, Master.
PROUDHON. "Equality is an absolute right, because without equality, there is no society."—Id.
AUTHOR. Now, woman is a human and social being; she has an absolute right, therefore, to this equality, without which she would be but a Pariah in society.
PROUDHON. It is logical. But I nevertheless conclude from this that woman has no more right to equality than to liberty. That, although of the same species as man, and consequently amenable to the law of equality, nevertheless she is not amenable to it, and should be unequal and in subjection to man, because he is the stronger.