Women in philosophy

1. 19th Century, part 1: the women
“Women have been largely excluded from
philosophical history,” but their real contributions
have also been neglected. Consider again the
tragedy of Hypatia, for instance.

2. J.S. Mill’s friend Harriet Taylor
(1807-1858) (bbc) made a huge
contribution in the 19th century,
as did others whose overlooked
stories are detailed by Jennnifer
Michael Hecht in Doubt: A History
:Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B.
Anthony, Ernestine Rose, Fanny
Wright, Isabella Hooker… And
here’s a list compiled by the BBC;
here’s another.

3. When I asked my colleague Dr.
Magada-Ward for her list of
the half-dozen most important
feminist philosophers, here’s
what she came up with: susan
bordo, nancy tuana, shannon
sullivan, nancy hartsock,
evelyn fox keller, helen
longino, lisa heldke, maragret
urban walker, bell hooks,
carolyn korsmeyer, hilde hein,
and carolee shneeman…

4. …judith butler,
simone de beauvoir, carol
gilligan, dorothy dinnerstein,
sandra harding, angela davis,
maria lugones, claudia card,
elizabeth spelman, donna
haraway…

5. One’s life has value so long as
one attributes value to the life
of others, by means of love,
friendship, indignation and
compassion. Simone de
Beauvoir

6. Many of these women share Mary Wollstonecraft’s suspicions about “romantic love”
being a social construction and imposition to reinforce traditional gender inequality
and keep women in their place (the kitchen, the bedroom, the home in general).
In philosophy especially they challenge the easy dichotomy that associates mind with
reason, culture, and masculinity, and the body with instinct, nature, and femininity.
They bristle at Aristotle’s active/passive paradigm of procreation and its suggestion
that “the male is more fully able to actualize his potential” as a matter of metaphysical
and biological reality (rather than historical sexist exclusion).

7. Many feminists think the whole
western scientific mindset is due
for an overhaul. Evelyn Fox Keller:
“the emphasis on power and
control so prevalent in western
science [is] a projection of a
specifically male consciousness…
that conjoins the domination of
nature with the insistent image of
nature as female…”

8. It will be a good day for humanity,
will it not, when all of us can rise
above gender (and race, ethnicity,
religion, politics) and accept the
plurality of our differences on
equal terms? We’re not there yet.
But to this “happy pragmatist” it
looks like we’re moving in the right
direction.

9. The 20th century has (finally!)
been more hospitable and
receptive to female perspectives. It
was 1920 before the suffragists
succeeded in wresting the vote,
but it’s been a magnificent chorus
ever since. Simone de Beauvoir,
Hannah Arendt, Kate Millett, Susan
Bordo, Genevieve Lloyd, Maya
Angelou, Martha Nussbaum…
many more women’s voices are
being raised and heard, to our
collective good fortune.

10. anne newport royall

11. harriet martineau

12. frances fanny wright

13. ernestine rose

14. Dorothea (Brendel) Mendelssohn

15. elizabeth cady stanton