The City of Women book by Christine de Pizan is a book of philosophical and logical rebuttals and arguments. It is a direct response to several writings in which male authors make claims against women's purity. These books, according to de Pizan, defame the Woman, and she was ordained by God, with the help of Reason, Righteousness and Justice, to bring the truth to light. The Book of the City of Ladies, as its title suggests, builds a pure and holy city in which noble and good women can live apart from the slanderous men and impure women on whom those slanders are based. To be taken seriously by those she is refuting, de Pizan makes use of logical forms and attempts to create valid and solid arguments throughout her writing. But she herself is not above error, regardless of her noble intentions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In writing this book, de Pizan hopes not only to refute arguments that women are evil, vile, and that they cannot think for themselves, but also to emancipate women in general. Her claims are a breath of fresh air after being bogged down by the men's heavy accusations. However, it is not enough for a woman to simply write her opinions on an issue. de Pizan has to use her education, read and do extensive research to make sure she can adequately understand and refute the arguments she includes, and make sure she has enough to write a book: the latter, at least, is certain, given the frequency with which one of the celestial sisters has to shorten the story for lack of time and space! She emulates the writing style of men before her; it almost seems like Dante's Inferno, with her insertion into herself and her being guided by famous people (if we can consider the personification of virtues famous) who tell her stories of other women. In this light, The Book of the City of Ladies can be read as entertainment. It is not a political work, as she does not claim or support anything as radical as social equality, nor is the book intended simply as a source of information about women in history. The purpose of the book is to change the point of view of men and women who believe that women are inferior. It does this through what I call “logical narrative”. A great example of de Pizan's use of logic is the following quote: “If, in fact, they themselves lack constancy, it is quite unacceptable for [men] to accuse others of having the same defect or to insist that others possess a virtue that they themselves do not possess" (150). The form is If p, then q. P; therefore, q. In other words, if men are not virtuous, it is unethical for men to condemn those who are not virtuous. Men are not virtuous; therefore, it is unethical for them to condemn others for the same failures. Conversely, from the men's perspective, an argument might look like this: If a woman is not virtuous, it is because women are imperfect or evil. As we can see, women are imperfect or evil; therefore, a woman is not virtuous. This argument confirms the consequent (If p, then q. Q; therefore p) rather than the antecedent, which makes the argument invalid. De Pizan's argument confirms the antecedent, making his logically valid. (Whether it is valid – that is, true – is a question beyond this article.) We might argue that the men's arguments, which de Pizan objects to, are intrinsically fallacious, whether this is due to backward reasoning, to hominem, false analogy and so on. But it's wrongclaim that de Pizan is above such errors, as he uses them throughout The Book of the City of Women. There are two in particular that this article addresses, especially since they are often used by men too. The first offense is de Pizan's assumption that God exists. It effectively replaces pagan deities and philosophies with God, asserting that God has always been present and benevolent despite not being worshiped by pagans (and also despite obvious Bible passages detailing times when he was not so forgiving). Furthermore, he attributes every virtue to God's endowment of gifts, regardless of who receives those gifts. For example, de Pizan (34 – 37) writes that “God clearly wanted to demonstrate this to men, precisely because all women are not as physically strong and courageous as men,” and goes on to use Queen Semiramis as a heroine. This indicates that God has gifted her with the gift of strength and strategy; however, de Pizan also excuses Semiramis for marrying his son because she was not a Christian. In attempting to reconcile pagan women like Semiramis with Christian virtues, he is forcing his point. Furthermore, to reaffirm that only God exists, de Pizan (66-68) relegates the Roman goddess Minerva to mortal form, although she is an extraordinarily, indeed, almost supernaturally gifted mortal. De Pizan's book is based on the assumption that God exists, so all his facts must follow from this, which is why many of his explanations of his examples seem inconsistent and forced. The author's second logical offense is hypocrisy. A first example is: «…God alone has the right to judge us» (189). de Pizan writes this despite making judgments about others throughout the book. He judges not only men who judge women, but he also judges women who do not meet the standards he prescribes for “noble” and “virtuous” women. While it is probably not a stretch to assume that men also use “judge not that ye be judged” in their judging works, de Pizan's hypocritical use seems to derail his argument. That is, of course, unless one believes that the writing of this book was actually the result of a divine vision, in which case God could have passed judgment and sent his verdict along with the command to preach the truth. But even so, this is never explicitly stated, so it stands to reason that de Pizan would be able to make his own judgments. These two logical errors - the assumption of God and hypocrisy - are easily explained by the time in which de Pizan lives. . In all likelihood, the men de Pizan argues against also used these fallacies, which is why it is acceptable for her to follow suit. Of course, given the religiosity of the time and place, the assumption of God's existence is overwhelmingly prevalent. If she hadn't appealed to God, the book wouldn't have worked and wouldn't have had credibility. Furthermore, the fact that she responds to men's criticisms in this way makes it more difficult for opponents to claim that she is hysterical: God has destined her for this task, so God-fearing men cannot refute her without denying His will. We then see this foundational assumption working in her favor, at least for a Christian audience, in two ways: by presenting herself as a good and informed Christian, and by giving her a weapon against those who wield religion as such. De Pizan also knows how to play his hand effectively. It cannot be assumed that he believed that women should be equal in all spheres (i.e. in the home, as well as in politics or war), but if so, he will never allude to it. Instead, de Pizan is sure to never overstep her limits too dramatically. She remains confined to God's command to reveal the truth and does not prescribe.