Female Philosophers?

[Chester_Copperpot]

We have Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Confucius, Lao Tzu, etc etc; however, the female philosopher is somewhat non-existent. There are a few but no female has made an impact like some of the male philos of the past and present. Why is that? A female’s perspective is always welcome. Peace

 

[beastboy]

What about Oprah?

 

[danielson]

vagina monologues? <shudder>



back then i don;t think women had the chance to philosophise.....

 

[WODIN]

Never trust anything that can bleed for seven days and not die. I think Plato said that and it pretty much put an end to any females having an impact on the Philosophical community.

 

[plornive]

Women have traditionally been relegated to roles of emotional victimhood by whatever means. Philosophy is the study of reason.

Women have had less social power and influence than men. Their thoughts have been regarded as irrelevant, and silenced.

 

[Outtlaw]

because back in the days of those famous guys, women were´nt considered on the same level as men. Nobody gave a damn what they thought about anything.

 

[Chester_Copperpot]

I agree and understand what you gents are saying, but let's look past that "role of women in the past" issue for a second, regardless, not too many women have dropped knowledge of a mind boggling proportion, I wish one would step up to the plate just to see what could be added into the mix. peace

 

[Zebo]

Ayn Rand/ Objectivism

 

[Mandinka2]

Ayn Rand/ Objectivism

Correct!

 

[nvrbuffenuff_girl]

We have Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Confucius, Lao Tzu, etc etc; however, the female philosopher is somewhat non-existent. There are a few but no female has made an impact like some of the male philos of the past and present. Why is that? A female’s perspective is always welcome. Peace

Christine de Pizan in the Middle Ages wrote a work for women that is still fascinating today; Karoline von Günderode combined philosophy with poetry, Rahel Varnhagen practised philosophy in form of sophisticated discussions in her parlour; Simone Weil used her keen intelligence to stand up for the rights of the poor and underprivileged; Edith Stein, who as a woman wasn’t allowed to become a professor, still didn’t give up; Hannah Arendt managed to combine thoughts, actions, politics and philosophy and Simone de Beauvoir developed her own philosophy of existentialism, independent of Sartre.

Seven women who proved how fascinating and lively thinking can be. Their example encourages others to take their own thoughts seriously.

 

[Scarlett33]

good answer nvrbuffenuff! I couldn't think of shit to say here. I could think of lots of good female authors,however no true philosophers.

 

[nvrbuffenuff_girl]

good answer nvrbuffenuff! I couldn't think of shit to say here. I could think of lots of good female authors,however no true philosophers.

Thanks!

There are more female philosophers but those sevens were the first that came to mind.

Where are all the female philosophers? The history of philosophy is decidely male. This will change. Female philosophers may be less unworldy and more practical. Philosophy, at worst, is a kind of male intellectual vandalism. Female philosophers will resist philosophy as a means of locking intellectual antlers? I hope so. We shall see.

 

[nvrbuffenuff_girl]

I thought of more...

As you probably already know, in Western philosophy, from the time of Socrates and Plato (c. 470 B.C.E.) in Greece to even as late as the 1960s in the United States, women were not encouraged to engage in philosophy. In fact, they were not allowed to participate in political affairs in Greece; this was true even in America until the 1920s when women obtained suffrage rights. It took until 1980 for a female to be a candidate for Vice President.

The first females who wrote influential philosophical pieces, as far as I know, were Anne Conway (1631-1679), Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), and Harriet Taylor (1807-1858). Anne Conway lived in Germany, wrote about God and the problem of evil, and it is presumed that Leibniz took some of her ideas and put it into his work Theodicy. Wollstonecraft and Taylor (wife of John Stuart Mill) both argued for equal rights for women.

You should know, however, that there are many female philosophers working now at universities, who have recently contributed and will continue to contribute much to the philosophical scholarship


Other female philosphers that I thought of:

Hypatia
Olympe de Gouges
Aspasia
Hrotsvit of Gaandersheim
Hildegard of Bingen
Margaret Beaufort
Sor Juana
de Genlis
Germaine de Staël
Belle van Zuylen
Gabrielle-Emilie du Châtelet
Angela Y. Davis

and there are still more that Im sure I missed

 

[gettinlarger]

Never trust anything that can bleed for seven days and not die.

Quote of the year.

 

[Baoh]

Female philosophers may be less unworldy and more practical.

No to the "less unworldy", which will make the "more practical part" happen just a few days after never.

lol

 

[Baoh]

Re: I thought of more...

As you probably already know, in Western philosophy, from the time of Socrates and Plato (c. 470 B.C.E.) in Greece to even as late as the 1960s in the United States, women were not encouraged to engage in philosophy.

Ah, the "Golden Age".

 

[atlantabiolab]

Ayn Rand/ Objectivism

Enough said. Maligned philosopher because of her advocacy of rational egoism and stance that reality is real, which counters the neo-mystics and their ideology that reason is impotent.

 

[strider364]

Never trust anything that can bleed for seven days and not die. I think Plato said that and it pretty much put an end to any females having an impact on the Philosophical community.

Words I live by.

 

[slobberknocker]

Sapho. She mostly wrote about lesbian sex though.