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This module will examine the thought of some women philosophers from classical times to today, for example Diotima of Mantinea (c. 450 BC), Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), Heloise (1100?-1164), Anna Maria van Shurman (1607-1678), Elisabeth of Bohemia (1617-1680), Anne Conway (1631-1679), Damaris Cudworth Mashham (1658-1708), Émilie du Châtelet (1706-1749), Catharine Macaulay (1731-1791), Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), Harriet Taylor Mill (1807-1858), Jane Addams (1860-1935), Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), and Elisabeth Anscombe (1919-2001). Their philosophy will be examined in the light of that of their male contemporaries and the historical context, and an attempt will be made to assess their contribution as women and as philosophers to the development of philosophical thought. Reflection on women’s roles and the significance of these for cultural development will accompany the reading of the texts. Karen Warren (ed.): An Unconventional History of Western Philosophy: Conversations Between Men and Women Philosophers (Plymouth: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2008) will be used as a textbook.
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