| Author(s) | Jonathan Rée |
| Journal | British Journal for the History of Philosophy |
| Abstract | This text critiques common responses to the historical exclusion of women philosophers that either dismiss the value of philosophy entirely or advocate including more women without recognizing those already part of its history. It argues overlooking past women thinkers perpetuates the same sexist assumptions the responses aim to challenge. Figures like Walter Charleton respected women as intellectual equals, while predecessors like Leibniz and Conway made serious philosophical contributions. The concept of a philosophical “canon” parallels religious notions of divine inspiration rather than simply denoting an academic reading list. So failures to acknowledge women philosophers relate less to issues of fairness and more to beliefs about what constitutes canonical philosophy. Rediscovering lost women thinkers then requires decoding rigid assumptions about gender and knowledge production embedded in the field’s foundations. The incomplete recovery mirrors philosophy’s incomplete self-transformation. This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work. |
| Keywords | philosophy, women, history, canon, recognition This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work. |
| Date Published | January 1, 2002 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 641-652 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2002.10383083 |
| Google Scholar Link | https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=3999688117106900442&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5 |
| Open Access? | No |
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