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The Enlightenment came to advance ideals of liberty, progress, and tolerance. For those women who were able to discuss and advance new ideals, discourse on religion, political and social equality, and sexuality became prominent topics in the salons, debating societies, and in print. While women in England and France gained arguably more freedom ...
- Anne Conway (1631-1679) Anne Conway’s Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy is a highly original work and one well ahead of its time. Capturing Conway’s frustrations with Cartesian dualism, this treatise, originally published in Latin, describes a unique metaphysics that sees mind and body as inextricably commingled, with differences between them emerging only gradually or incrementally.
- Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1749) According to the philosopher Ruth Hagengruber, Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet, was concerned with no less than “the re-examination of the Bible, the rewriting of Newtonian physics, and also with outlining a new methodology for philosophy and science.”
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) Mary Wollstonecraft, perhaps the best known woman philosopher of the Enlightenment, experienced firsthand the social upheaval that was the French revolution.
Jun 1, 2023 · Learn how women participated in the Enlightenment era discourse on topics such as reason, happiness, rights, and equality. Explore the contributions of female philosophers, writers, and activists who challenged the status quo and advocated for women's education and civic participation.
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- Margaret (née Lucas) Cavendish: Scientist & Writer. Born in Colchester, Essex, in 1623, Margaret Cavendish was a notable English philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction writer, and playwright.
- Anna Maria Sibylla Merian: Naturalist. Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox. Sign up to our Free Weekly Newsletter. Maria Sibylla Merian was born in the seventeenth century in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Marie-Sophie Germain: Professor of Mathematics. Sophie Germain was a French mathematician and physicist who lived from 1776 to 1831. Born in Paris, Germain made significant contributions to mathematics, including number theory, elasticity theory, and the study of Fermat’s Last Theorem.
- Catharine (née Sawbridge) Macaulay: Historian. Catharine Macaulay was an influential English historian, political writer, and philosopher who lived from 1731 to 1791.
——Rousseau, Emile As the Enlightenment thinkers started to theorize about humanity in general, gender became an unavoidable topic. As anatomical studies on the human bodies developed, understanding about the foundational physical constitution between men and women had already widely gained recognition.
Women of the Enlightenment. As knowledge expanded, a few talented women made their mark. The Enlightenment was an era in which ideas about knowledge and learning changed. In Western Europe during the 1700s, many believed that every person could become enlightened through the use of reason. Scholarship bloomed, with men and some women studying ...
Dec 7, 2023 · Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an Enlightenment philosopher who, as author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, is widely credited as the founder of feminism. Wollstonecraft called for equal education opportunities for men and women, and she stressed the benefits to society as a whole of improving the situation of women in this and ...
