Feminist Interpretations of the Philosophical Canon

Author(s)Charlotte Witt
JournalSigns: Journal of Women in Culture and Society
AbstractThis essay reviews the Re-reading the Canon Series, which provides feminist interpretations of canonical philosophers from Plato to contemporary figures. The author traces how feminist philosophy transformed from the 1970s—when women philosophers were virtually absent from graduate education—to a robust field producing extensive scholarship. The essay identifies three categories of feminist work in philosophy’s history: revising the canon to include women philosophers, cataloging misogyny in canonical texts, and exploring resources for feminist theory. While acknowledging the series’ strengths in making feminist scholarship widely available across analytic and continental traditions, the author notes its limited inclusion of women philosophers and questions integration strategies. The review examines how feminist interpreters appropriate canonical ideas for political purposes, revealing diverse feminist perspectives and challenging philosophy’s self-image as gender-neutral and apolitical. Ultimately, the essay argues for reimagining philosophy as a situated, pragmatic activity.
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Keywordsfeminist philosophy, philosophical canon, history of philosophy, women philosophers, feminist theory, gender and philosophy, curriculum integration, metaphilosophy, situated knowledge, pragmatism, appropriation, philosophical methodology
This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work.
Date Published Winter 2006
Volume31
Issue2
Pages537-552
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/491677
Google Scholar Linkhttps://scholar.google.ca/scholar?cluster=3983861201117977619&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5
Open Access?No

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