Notes on the Women Philosophers
of the 17th and 18th Centuries Peter Suber, Philosophy Department, Earlham College

Contents

• Histories
• Anthologies
• Particular Women Philosophers

Histories

Barth, Else M. Women Philosophers:  A Bibliography of Books through 1990. Philosophy Documentation Center, 1992.

Dykeman, Therese Boos. American Women Philosophers, 1650-1930:  Six Exemplary Thinkers. Edward Mellen Press, 1993. In Lilly Library, B/850/A4.4/1993.

McAlister, Linda (ed.). Hypatia's Daughters:  1500 Years of Women Philosophers. Indiana University Press, forthcoming.

Reynolds, Myra. The Learned Lady in England, 1630-1760. Houghton Mifflin, 1920.

Smith, Hilda. Reason's Disciples:  Seventeenth Century English Feminists. University of Illinois Press, 1982.

Tuana, Nancy. Woman and the History of Philosophy. Paragon House, 1992.

Waithe, Mary Ellen (ed.). History of Women Philosophers. Martinus Nijhoff / Kluwer Academic Publishers, 3 vols., 1987-1991.

• Vol. 1: Ancient Women Philosophers, 600 BC - 500 AD. Nijhoff, 1987. In Lilly Library, B/105/.W6/A53/1987.
• Vol. 2: Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment Women Philosophers, A.D. 500-1600. Nijhoff, 1989. In Lilly Library, B/105/.W6/M39/1989.
• Vol. 3: Modern Women Philosophers, 1600-1900. Kluwer, 1991. In Lilly Library, B/105/.W6/M63/1991.

Anthologies

Atherton, Margaret (ed.). Women Philosophers of the Early Modern Period. Hackett Pub. Co., 1994.

Dykeman, Therese Boos (ed.). The Neglected Canon:  Nine Women Philosophers from the First to the Twentieth Century. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999.

Kersey, Ethel M. Women Philosophers: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Press, 1989. In Lilly Library, REF/B/105/.W6/K4.7/1989.

Mahowald, Mary (ed.). Philosophy of Woman:  Classical to Current Sources. Hackett Pub. Co., third ed., 1994. (Mostly male philosophers on the subject of women.)

O'Neill, Eileen (ed.). Women Philosophers of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries:  A Collection of Primary Sources. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

Particular women philosophers
(chronological by year of birth)

Bradstreet, Ann; 1612/13 - 1672; English

• Ann Bradstreet, Meditations Divine and Moral, excerpted in Dykeman (1993) at 37-57.
• Ann Bradstreet, The Works of Ann Bradstreet in Prose and Verse, ed. John Harvard Ellis, Charleston: Cutter, 1867; reprinted by Peter Smith, 1962.
• More bibliography in Dykeman (1993) at 58-60.

Elisabeth, Princess of Bohemia; 1618 - 1680; German

• Portions of her correspondence with Descartes are printed in Atherton's anthology.
• Elizabeth Godfrey (Jessie Bedford). A Sister of Prince Rupert, Elizabeth Princess Palatine and Abbess of Herford. London: John Lane the Bodley Head, 1909.
• Bernice Zedler, "The Three Princesses," Hypatia, 4, 1 (Spring 1989) 28-63.
• Ruth Mattern, "Descartes's Correspondence with Elizabeth: Concerning the Union and Distinction of Mind and Body," in Michael Hooker (ed.), Descartes: Critical and Interpretive Essays, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978, pp. 212-222.
• Daniel Garber, "Understanding Interaction: What Descartes Should Have Told Elizabeth," Southern Journal of Philosophy, 21, Supplement, (1983) 15-32.

Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle; 1623 - 1673; English.

• Margaret Cavendish. Philosophical Letters. London: 1644.
  • Excerpts also printed in Atherton's anthology.
• Lisa T. Sarasohn, "A Science Turned Upside Down: Feminism and the Natural Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish," Huntington Library Quarterly, 47 (1984) 299-307.
• Londa Schiebinger, "Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle," in Mary Ellen Waithe, vol. III, pp. 1-20.

Conway, Anne Finch, Viscountess of; 1631 - 1678; English

• Anne Finche, Viscountess Conway. A chronology from Bill Uzgalis.
• Anne Conway. The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy. Edited by Peter Lopston, Martinus Nijhoff, 1982 (original 1692). In Lilly Library, B/1201/.C553/P7416.
  • Excerpts also printed in Atherton's anthology.
  • Introduced monads before Leibniz.
  • God is a substance with infinite attributes.
• Brown, Stuart, "Leibniz and More's Cabalistic Circle," in Sarah Hutton (ed.), Henry More (1614-1687) Tercentenary Studies, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990, pp. 77-95.
• Duran, Jane, "Anne Viscountess Conway: A Seventeenth Century Rationalist," Hypatia, 40, 1 (1989) 64-79.
• Frankel, Lois, "Anne Finch, Viscountess Conway," in Mary Ellen Waithe (ed.), A History of Women Philosophers, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991.
• Frankel, Lois, "Anne Finch, Visountess Conway," in Mary Ellen Waithe, vol. III, pp. 41-58.
• Frankel, Lois, "Motion and Emanation in the Principles of Anne Conway," delivered at conference on New Trends in Feminist Philosophy, Ohio State University, April 1985.
• Frankel, Lois, "The Value of Harmony," in Steven Nadler (ed.), Causation in Early Modern Philosophy: Cartesianism, Occasionalism, and Pre-established Harmony, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993, pp. 197-216.
• Merchant, Carolyn, "Anne Conway: Quaker and Philosopher," Guilford Review, (Spring 1986) 2-10.
• Merchant, Carolyn, "The Vitalism of Anne Conway: Its Impact on Leibniz's Concept of the Monad," Journal of the History of Philosophy, 17, 3 (July 1979) 255-69.
• Nicholson, Marjorie Hope (ed.). The Conway Letters: The Correspondence of Anne, Viscountess Conway, Henry More and their Friends, 1642-1684. Oxford UP, 1992, revised edition. In Lilly Library, FRIENDS/BX/7795/.C76/A4.
• Popkin, Richard H., "The Spiritualistic Cosmologies of Henry More and Anne Conway," in Sarah Hutton (ed.), Henry More (1614-1687) Tercentenary Studies, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990, pp. 97-114.
• Stoneburner, Carol O., Theodor Benfey, Robert Kraus (eds.). Perspectives on the Seventeenth Century World of Viscountess Anne Conway. Special issue of the Guilford Review, no. 23 (Spring 1986).

Damaris Cudworth, Lady Masham; 1659 - 1708; English

• Daughter of Ralph Cudworth and friend of John Locke.
• Masham, Damaris Cudworth. A Discourse Concerning the Love of God. London, 1696.
  • Because women were denied an education, their religious beliefs formed without adequate questioning or understanding.
  • Life of virtue requires use of understanding (virtue for women is more than mere chastity); hence education is necessary.
• Masham, Damaris Cudworth, "Letters to Locke," edited by E.S. de Beer, in The Correspondence of John Locke, Oxford University Press, vols. II and III, 1976.
• Masham, Damaris Cudworth. Occasional Thoughts in Reference to a Virtuous or Christian Life. London, 1705.
• Masham, Damaris Cudworth, "Correspondence with Leibniz," in Margaret Atherton (ed.), Women Philosophers of the Early Modern Period, Hackett, 1994.
• Masham, Damaris Cudworth, "Letters to Leibniz," in Die Philosophischen Schriften von Leibniz, vol. III. Berlin, 1975-80.
• Frankel, Lois, "Damaris Cudworth Masham: A Seventeenth Century Feminist," Hypatia, 40, 1 (1989) 80-90.
• Hutton, Sarah, "Damaris Cudworth, Lady Masham: Between Platonism and Enlightenment," The British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 1, 1 (Spring 1993) 29-54.
• O'Donnell, Sheryl, "'My Idea in Your Mind': John Locke and Damaris Cudworth Masham," in Ruth Perry and Martine Watson Brownley (eds.), Mothering the Mind, Holmes and Meier, 1984, pp. 26-46.

Astell, Mary; 1666 - 1731; English

• Astell, Mary. An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex. NY: Source Book Press, 1970. In Lilly Library, HQ/1201/.E8.
• Astell, Mary. The First English Feminist: Reflections Upon Marriage and other writings by Mary Astell. Edited by Bridget Hill. St. Martin's Press, 1986.
• Astell, Mary. Letters Concerning the Love of God. London, 1695.
• Astell, Mary. A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest. London: R. Wilken, 1694.
  • Reprinted: Source Book Press, 1970. In Lilly Library, HQ/1201/.A8.
  • Excerpts also printed in Atherton's anthology.
  • Argued that God gave women reason, and intended them to use it. Advocated education for women. Women should seek approval of God, not men.
  • Improved education for women would improve their marriages.
  • A Christian, but thought the Adam and Eve story was not to be taken literally.
• Astell, Mary. A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, Part II: Wherein a Method is Offer'd for the Improvement of their Minds. London, 1697.
• Astell, Mary. Reflections upon Marriage, Occasion'd by the Duke and Duchess of Mazarine's Case; which is also consider'd. London, 1700.
• Astell, Mary. Moderation Truly Stated: Or a Review of a Late Pamphlet entitl'd Moderation a Vertue with a Prefatory Discourse to Dr. D'Avenant concerning his late Essays on Peace and War. London, 1704.
• Astell, Mary. A Fair Way with the Dissenters and their Patrons. London, 1704.
• Astell, Mary. An Impartial Enquiry into the Causes of Rebellion and Civil War in this Kingdom. London, 1704.
• Astell, Mary. The Chrstian Religion as Profess'd by a Daughter of the Church of England. London, 1705.
• Astell, Mary. Bartelmy Fair or an Enquiry after Wit in which due Respect is had to a Letter concerning Enthusiasm. London, 1709.
• Kinnaird, Joan, "Mary Astell and the Conservative Contribution of English Feminism," Journal of British Studies, XIX, 1 (Fall 1979) 53-75.
• Perry, Ruth. The Celebrated Mary Astell: An Early English Feminist. University of Chicago Press, 1986. In Lilly Library, HQ/1595/.A7/P47.
• Squadrito, Kathleen, "Mary Astell's Critique of Locke's View of Thinking Matter," Journal of the History of Philosophy, XXV, 3 (July 1987) 433-439.
• Squadrito, Kathleen, "Mary Astell," in Mary Ellen Waithe, vol. III, pp. 87-99.

Cockburn, Catharine Trotter; 1679 - 1749; English

• Catharine Trotter Cockburn. The Works of Mrs. Catharine Cockburn, Theological, Moral, Dramatic, and Poetical, several of them now first printed, revised, and published with an account of the life of the author by Thomas Birch. London, 2 vols., 1751.
  • Some of the works included in this edition are:
  • A Defense of Mr. Locke's Essay of Human Understanding, 1702.
    • Excerpts printed in Atherton's anthology.
  • A Discourse concerning a Guide in Controversies, 1707.
  • A Vindication of Mr. Locke's Christian Principles, 1743.
  • Remarks upon some Writers in the Controversy concerning the Foundation of Moral Virtue and Moral Obligation. With some thoughts concerning Necessary Existence; the Reality and Infinity of Space; the Extension and Place of Spirits; and on Dr. Watt's Notion of Substance, 1743.
• Waithe, Mary Ellen, "Catharine Trotter Cockburn," in Mary Ellen Waithe, vol. III, pp. 101-25.
• Bolton, Martha Brandt, "Some Aspects of the Philosophy of Catharine Trotter," Journal of the History of Philosophy, 31, 4 (October 1993) 565-588.

Warren, Mercy Otis; 1728 - 1814; English

• Mercy Otis Warren, Observations on the New Constitution, excerpted in Dykeman (1993) at 83-102.
• Bibliography in Dykeman (1993) at 103-05.

Macaulay, Catherine; 1731 - 1791; English

• Macaulay, Catherine. Letters on Education with Observations on Religious and Metaphysical Subjects
• Macaulay, Catherine, An Address to the People of England, Scotland, and Ireland, on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs

Murray, Judith Sargent; 1751-1820; English

• Judith Sargent Murray, "On the Equality of the Sexes," excerpted in Dykeman (1993) at 136-47; "Observation on Female Abilities," excerpted in Dykeman (1993) at 148-79.
• Bibliography in Dykeman (1993) at 180-87.

Wollstonecraft, Mary; 1759 - 1797; English

• Wollstonecraft, Mary. Original Stories from Real Life. Woodstock Books, 1990 (original 1791). In Lilly Library, PR/5841/.W8/O7.
• Wollstonecraft, Mary. The Rights of Women, and The Subjection of Women. J.M. Dent and Sons, 1929. In Lilly Library, HQ/1596/.G6.
• Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
• Wollstonecraft, Mary. Vindication of the Rights of Men.
• Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft. Cornell University Press, 1979. In Lilly Library, PR/5841/.W8/253.
• A Wollstonecraft Anthology. Columbia University Press, 1990. In Lilly Library, PR/5841/.W8/A6.

Shepherd, Lady Mary; 1777 - 1847; English

• Lady Mary Shepherd. Essays on the Perception of an External Universe. London: John Hatchard and Sons, 1827.
  • Excerpts also printed in Atherton's anthology.
• Lady Mary Shepherd. An Essay upon the Relation of Cause and Effect, controverting the Doctrine of Mr. Hume, concerning the Nature of that Relation. London: T. Hookham, 1824.
• Lady Mary Shepherd, "Lady Mary Shepherd's Metaphysics," Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, 5, 30 (July 1832) 697-708.

Other philosophical women of the period, on whom I will have sections as I expand this file:

• Sophie, Electress of Brunswick
• Princess Caroline
• Madame Émelie du Chatelet; 1706 - 1749; French
  • Voltaire and Mme du Chatelet. Princeton University Press, 1941. In Lilly Library, PQ/2103/.D7/W3.
• Staël-Holstein, Anne Louise Germaine Necker, Baronne de. 1766 - 1817. French.
• Teresa of Ávila, Saint. 1515 - 1582. Spanish.

This file is an electronic hand-out for the course, Rationalism & Empiricism. It is a work in progress.