2019-2020 Academic Catalog

Apr 23, 2024

2019-2020 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

PHIL 254 - Women Philosophers in the Early Modern Period

Why are there no women in my textbook on early modern European philosophy? Descartes, Leibniz, Kant… it is likely that somebody pointing us to an example of an early modern philosopher will point us to a man. In this class we will read texts by female writers of the period and discuss their answers to some of the following questions: what makes something a law of nature? is space absolute or relative? how does the mind relate to the body? how should women be educated? and what are women’s rights? We will think about the role these women’s positions and arguments played in the philosophical debate of the time.

Besides engaging with these writers in detail, we will also step back to ask background questions about practices in teaching and research. We will think about how it is that a work becomes part of a canon of works that is taught in college classes and/or discussed in the scholarship. And we will reflect on the reasons for why women have been largely absent from what is regarded as the standard early modern canon.

Course Designation/Attribute: DI

Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring