Whether the Woman is Less Intelligent than the Man:
Objection 1: It would seem that the woman is less intelligent than the man, since we see more intellectual accomplishments being done by men. Almost all the greatest books, and ideas have been made by men, and women have made very few discoveries and rarely achieve much in the intellectual sphere.
Objection 2: Also, in everyday situations, women more frequently use emotion to guide their actions, while men more often use reason. This leads to women making erroneous decisions. If the woman were truly intelligent, she would use her intelligence to make her decisions and thus, avoid mistakes. Since she does not, therefore, she is less intelligent.
Objection 3: And again, the woman is more frequently and easily overcome by an excess of emotion. Since emotion clouds judgement, and bad judgement is a sign of unintelligence, therefore the woman is not as intelligent as the man.
On the contrary, I answer that:
The woman is no more or less intelligent than the man. Intelligence is a gift of God and is distributed widely among both of the genders. One woman can be much more intelligent than many men, just as one man can be much more intelligent than many women. It is a matter of distribution, not attribute of gender.
Reply to Objection 1: It is indeed true than many more men have achieved public acknowledgment for the works they have made, but that does not of necessity prove that women are less gifted, simply because they have not been acknowledged the same way. It is the usual tendency of women to turn their energies inward, towards the immediate circle of their home and family, and displays of intelligence performed there are only seen by the people involved. This of necessity makes it hard for women’s works to be publicly acclaimed, and is the root cause of the seeming silence of history on the woman’s accomplishments.
Reply to Objection 2: It is true that the woman more often uses emotions, rather than intelligence to make a decision, but this is a sign of weakness on the part of the particular woman, not a proof affecting the entire gender. If she overcomes this weakness, she is then able to use reason when making decisions, just as a man could. It is also true that many men also use emotion when making decisions, and can fall into the same errors.
Reply to Objection 3: This follows from the reply to Objection 2. The weakness of emotion overcoming reason affects both genders, although it is true that women are more often affected this way.