Shaping Women Philosophers

Studies on the Archaeology of the Female Intellectual Identity in Early Modern Europe

Series: 

This volume explores the shaping of women philosophers in early modern Europe by focusing on the emergence and formation of female intellectual identities. In fifteen chapters, experts in history of philosophy and related fields examine the discursive conditions that shaped women’s participation in the learned world, the intellectual domains that allowed women to express their thought, the ways in which women created their own intellectual identities, and how the representation of women philosophers in subsequent historiography re-inforced women’s marginalization. Case studies stem from the late Renaissance up to the beginning of the 19th century, ranging from Europe’s South in Italy, Spain and Portugal up to Northern Europe in Denmark and Sweden.

Contributors include Sabrina Ebbersmeyer, Sarah Hutton, Paola Rumore, Corey W. Dyck, Carme Font Paz, Anne-Sophie Sørup Wandall, Jacqueline Broad, Rosa Skytt Burr, Elisabet Göransson, Martin Fog Arndal, Andrew Janiak, Martina Reuter, Matilda Amundsen Bergström, and Eyja M.J. Brynjarsdóttir.
Copyright Year:
2025
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-70315-5
Publication:
20 Oct 2025
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-70314-8
Publication:
30 Oct 2025
Cover Shaping Women Philosophers

Prices from (excl. shipping):

€135.04€128.00 excl. VAT
Add to Cart
Front Matter
Preliminary Material
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
Figures
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Precarious Identities of Early Modern Women Philosophers
Part 1 Who Gets to Be a Philosopher? Women on the Margins of Philosophy
Chapter 2 Can Women Philosophers Be Ingenious? On the Debate about the Ingenium Philosophicum and the Case of Elisabeth of Bohemia
Chapter 3 Reading between the Lines
Chapter 4 A Philosophy of One’s Own. Wilhelmine von Bayreuth’s Thoughts on Philosophy According to a Still Unpublished Manuscript
Chapter 5 Enlightening Women: Pedagogy and Philosophy in Late 18th-Century Germany
Part 2 Empowering Women’s Thought: the Intersection of Religion and Stoicism
Chapter 6 On Divine Bondage: Obedience and Freedom of Conscience as Paths for Intellectual Inquiry in Early Modern Women’s Spiritual Writings
Chapter 7 A Radical Choice: Challenging the Standard Narrative of Anna Maria van Schurman’s Intellectual Legacy
Chapter 8 Mary Chudleigh, Stoicism, and Female Sagehood
Part 3 Defying Convention: Re-negotiating Women’s Role in the Intellectual World
Chapter 9 Subverting Supra Sexum: Birgitte Thott on Women’s Epistemic and Ethical Limits
Chapter 10 Negotiating a Career and an Intellectual Identity. Some Observations on Sophia Elisabeth Brenner’s Poetry and Correspondence
Chapter 11 Mary Wollstonecraft as Political Ecologist: The Interwoven Organisations of Human, Nature, and Commerce
Part 4 The Power of (Non-)Reception: Consolidating Gendered Identities
Chapter 12 Émilie Du Châtelet’s Philosophical Orientation and Her Excision from the Modern Canon at Its Inception
Chapter 13 The Celebration of a Female Philosophe: Mary Wollstonecraft in Åbo Tidningar 1797–1798 and 1831
Chapter 14 “Fire and Profundity, Learning and Taste”. Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht’s Philosophical Poetry and Its Fate in History
Epilogue
Chapter 15 Making Space: Female Philosophical Identity in the 21st Century
Back Matter
Index
Sabrina Ebbersmeyer, Ph.D. (1999), is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. She has published numerous books, articles and book chapters on Renaissance and Early Modern philosophy, including Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618-1680): A Philosopher in her Historical Context (as co-editor, Springer, 2021).
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors

1 Introduction: the Precarious Identities of Early Modern Women Philosophers
 Sabrina Ebbersmeyer

Part 1 Who Gets to Be a Philosopher? Women on the Margins of Philosophy
 2 Can Women Philosophers Be Ingenious? On the Debate about the Ingenium Philosophicum and the Case of Elisabeth of Bohemia
 Sabrina Ebbersmeyer

3 Reading between the Lines: Intellectual Virtue and Epistemic Authority in the Correspondences of Elisabeth of Bohemia, Anne Conway, Damaris Masham, and Mary Astell
 Sarah Hutton

4 A Philosophy of One’s Own. Wilhelmine von Bayreuth’s Thoughts on Philosophy According to a Still Unpublished Manuscript
 Paola Rumore

5 Enlightening Women: Pedagogy and Philosophy in Late 18th-Century Germany
 Corey W. Dyck

Part 2 Empowering Women’s Thought: the Intersection of Religion and Stoicism

6 On Divine Bondage: Obedience and Freedom of Conscience as Paths for Intellectual Inquiry in Early Modern Women’s Spiritual Writings
 Carme Font Paz

7 A Radical Choice: Challenging the Standard Narrative of Anna Maria van Schurman’s Intellectual Legacy
 Anne-Sophie Sørup Wandall

8 Mary Chudleigh, Stoicism, and Female Sagehood
 Jacqueline Broad

Part 3 Defying Convention: Re-negotiating Women’s Role in the Intellectual World
 9 Subverting Supra Sexum: Thott on Women’s Epistemic and Ethical Limits
 Rosa Skytt Burr

10 Negotiating a Career and an Intellectual Identity. Some Observations on Sophia Elisabeth Brenner’s Poetry and Correspondence
 Elisabet Göransson

11 Mary Wollstonecraft as Political Ecologist: the Interwoven Organisations of Human, Nature, and Commerce
 Martin Fog Arndal

Part 4 The Power of (Non-)Reception: Consolidating Gendered Identities

12 Émilie Du Châtelet’s Philosophical Orientation and Her Excision from the Modern Canon at Its Inception
 Andrew Janiak
 13 The Celebration of a Female Philosophe: Mary Wollstonecraft in Åbo Tidningar 1797–1798 and 1831
 Martina Reuter

14 “Fire and Profundity, Learning and Taste”. Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht’s Philosophical Poetry and Its Fate in History
 Matilda Amundsen Bergström

Part 5 Epilogue

15 Making Space: Female Philosophical Identity in the 21st Century
 Eyja M.J. Brynjarsdóttir

Index
The volume is relevant to all researchers and students interested in reflecting on women’s marginalization in philosophy. Most chapters are accessible to undergraduate students, while some are also of valuable to a broader audience. Keywords: Women philosophers, early modern philosophy, female intellectual identity, letter writing, learned women, female sagehood, Stoicism, supra sexum, Euklaria, philosophical poetry, marginalization in philosophy, female intelligence, epistemic injustice, Anne Conway, Margaret Cavendish, Mary Astell, Émilie Du Châtelet, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Anna Maria van Schurman, Gilles Ménage, Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Elise Reimarus, Amalia Holst, Anne Wentworth, Mary of Agreda, Arcangela Tarabotti, Joanna da Gama, Mary Chudleigh, Birgitte Thott, Sophia Elisabeth Brenner, Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht.
  • Collapse
  • Expand

Manufacturer information:
Koninklijke Brill B.V. 
Plantijnstraat 2
2321 JC
Leiden / The Netherlands
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com