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Welcome to Women Philosophers web site!


Women Philosophers have been at work since ancient times. My hope is that the information on this web site will be useful to all persons interested in this topic.

There are not too many schools that offer courses about women philosophers. Certainly there are few textbooks on the subject. And yet I think you will find this a fascinating subject.

Did you know that: ?

  • A few thousand years before Pythagoras (the Father of Philosophy), a woman known as En Hedu'Anna was doing philosophy? She lived in the Middle East, in the area now designated as Syria and/or Iraq.

  • A woman who became Empress of the Roman Empire restored philosophy to Rome after all the active philosophers had been killed or exiled by Nero.

  • Women's monasteries in Europe were home to many women philosophers. The Abbess Hroswitha , for example, not only practiced philosophy but wrote a number of philosophical plays.

  • A woman philosopher is one of Japan's great epic authors.

  • The work of a female British philosopher established the distinction between philosophy and the empirical sciences that is generally accepted in Western universities. (Remember that Newton, Galileo and others published their works as Natural Philosophy, not science)

This site is only in its beginning stages. My hope is that it will include women from around the world....that scholars proficient in more languages than I and those who know more cultures than I do, will contribute their knowledge to this project.

Alphabetical List of Women Philosophers

NOTE: Women are listed under their first names since this is the name that remains constant throughout life for most women. The only exceptions are for women whose title has become ingrained in usage eg. EnHeduAnna is listed under E and not H.

A - B

Aesara of Lucania , Aganice , Akka Mahadevi, Ambapali , Anna Brackett , Anna Doyle Wheeler , Anna Maria Van Schurman , Anne Finch , Arete of Cyrene , Asnat Barzani (Asenath Barzani) Aspasia of Miletus, Axiothea of Philesia

Ban Zhao , Bathsua Makin, Beatrice of Nazareth, Bruriah

C - D

Catharine Macaulay , Catharine of Alexandria , Catharine Trotter Cockburn , Christine Pisan , Cleaobulina of Rhodes, Damaris Cudowrth Masham, Dhouda of Gascony , Diotima of Mantinea

E - F

Early-Pythagoreans, Ellen Mitchell , Elizabeth Cary Cabot Agazziz , Elizabeth of Bohemia, Emilie du Chatelet , EnHedu'Anna,

G - H

Gargi , Gertrude the Great , Grace C Bibb, Hadewijch of Brabat , Hannah Arendt , Harriet Martineau , Helena Lucretia Cornaro Piscopia, Helfta-Monastery, Herrad of Hoehenbourg , Hild of Streonshalh , Hilda of Whitby , Hildergard of Bingen , Hipparchia , Hortense de Meritens , Hroswitha of Gandersheim, Hypatia of Alexandria

I - J

Jenny Poinsard d'Hericourt, Juidth Sargetn Murray , Julia Domna , Julian of Norwich , Julie Velten Favre

K - O

Kristina Wasa , Laura Bassi , Lasthenia of Mantinea , Lopamudar of India ,

Macrina, the Elder , Macrina, the Younger , Maitreyi of India , Marcella , Margaret Cavendish , Marie-le-Jars-de-Gournay, Marietta Kies , Mary Astell Mary Fairfax Somerville Mary Wollstonecreaft , Mechtild of Magdeburgh , Melissa , Murasaki Shikibu of Japan ,

Olympe de Goudges , Oliva Sabuco ,

P - S

Pan Chou , Perictione I, Perictine II Phintys of Sparta, Pythagorean women (early) , Romasa of India , Simone Weil , Sophia , Susan Blow , Susanne Langer ,

T - Z

Theano , Themistoclea

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End of Current List. NOTE: I am adding information about 2 -3 women each week. If you want to receive notice of these additions, just subscribe to the RSS feed. See: the Navigation column to the left.

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