On the Roots of Epistemological Sexism and its Impact on Public Administration Scholarship and Praxis

Bureaucratic neutrality norms render emotions problematic in the workplace largely due to presumptions that emotions cloud reasoning. This article traces the origins of bureaucratic neutrality to 17th-century Cartesian mind/body dualism. However, in Descartes’s correspondence with contemporary philosopher Elisabeth of Bohemia, he retreats from strict dualism in reaction to her argument that emotions may actually inform decision making. Elisabeth’s critique stays lost to history due in part to the epistemological sexism underpinning bureaucratic neutrality and public administration. Structural Topic Modeling reveals embodied reasoning and interpersonal interdependence in Elisabeth’s critique, undermining the strict mind/body dualism that lurks in both bureaucratic neutrality and public administration.