Feminist Interpretations of Mary Astell

Published by Penn State University Press 2016

Feminist Interpretations of Mary Astell

Edited by: Alice Sowaal and Penny A. Weiss

In the series Re-Reading the Canon

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271077604

Overview
Contents

About this book

Often referred to as a proto-feminist, early modern English philosopher and rhetorician Mary Astell was a pious supporter of monarchy who wrote about gender equality at a time when society tightly constrained female agency. This diverse collection of essays situates her ideas in feminist, historical, and philosophical contexts.

Focusing on Astell’s work and thought, this book explores the degree to which she can be considered a “feminist” in light of her adherence to Cartesianism, Christian theology, and Tory politics. The contributors explore the philosophical underpinnings of Astell’s outspoken advocacy for the autonomy and education of women; examine the intricacies underlying her theories of power, community, and female resistance to unlawful authority; and reveal the similarities between her own philosophy of gender and sexual politics and feminist theorizing today.

A broad-ranging look at one of the most important female writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this volume will be especially valuable to students and scholars of feminist history and philosophy and the early modern era.

Aside from the editors, the contributors are Kathleen A. Ahearn, Jacqueline Broad, Karen Detlefsen, Susan Paterson Glover, Marcy P. Lascano, Elisabeth Hedrick Moser, Christine Mason Sutherland, and Nancy Tuana.

Author / Editor information

Sowaal Alice :

Alice Sowaal is Associate Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University. She has written widely on Descartes and Mary Astell.Weiss Penny A. :

Penny A. Weiss is Professor of Political Science at Saint Louis University. Her most recent book is Cannon Fodder: Historical Women Political Figures, also published by Penn State University Press.

Reviews

“This volume is a welcome addition to the historical scholarship on Mary Astell, offering papers that explore the philosophical significance of this undeservedly overlooked thinker. What makes this collection especially engaging is its very topical exploration of Astell's feminism, finding in her a treatment of diverse but related issues including gendered power relations, self-esteem and women's empowerment, trauma and its effects, anti-essentialism, and systematized gender discrimination.”
—Patricia Sheridan, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

“That we have come to a point where it is possible to offer a set of substantive essays concerning the works of a noncanonical early modern philosopher speaks to the hard work that feminist historians of philosophy have been engaged in for the past number of years. Indeed, it is a major strength of this volume that it takes seriously the work of an early modern woman both as a possible subject for feminist consideration and analysis, and also as a philosopher of note in her own right.”
—Melissa Frankel, Hypatia Reviews Online

“A fascinating, timely, and scholarly rereading of the work of Mary Astell that moves her from a mere curiosity—a seventeenth-century woman with feminist leanings—to a full-fledged participant in many of the philosophical issues of her day and a contributor to our contemporary debates.”
—Margaret Atherton, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

“[A] rich and original collective volume which contributes to further establish the stature of Mary Astell as a daring philosopher and theologian; it is still necessary to do so, a little over thirty years after the inaugural work of Ruth Perry, The Celebrated Mary Astell: An Early English Feminist.”
—Guyonne Leduc, XVII–XVIII

“Each of the nine contributors to this volume brings a clear focus and meticulous documentation to her argument, and perhaps most remarkable is the enthusiastic support of Astell as a serious and original philosopher yet tempered by a historically contextualized reading of her role as feminist.”
—John A. Dussinger, The Scriblerian

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Nancy Tuana Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
1 Locations and Legacies Reading Mary Astell and Re- Reading the Canon Penny A. Weiss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Mary Astell and the Virtues Jacqueline Broad Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
3 Mary Astell’s Account of Feminine Self-Esteem Kathleen A. Ahearn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
4 Mary Astell and the Development of Vice Pride, Courtship, and the Woman’s Human Nature Question Alice Sowaal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
5 Custom, Freedom, and Equality Mary Astell on Marriage and Women’s Education Karen Detlefsen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
6 Further Reflections upon Marriage Mary Astell and Sarah Chapone Susan Paterson Glover Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
7 Mary Astell Some Reflections upon Trauma Elisabeth Hedrick Moser Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
8 “From the Throne to Every Private Family” Mary Astell as Analyst of Power Penny A. Weiss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
9 Mary Astell’s Feminism A Rhetorical Perspective Christine Mason Sutherland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
10 Mary Astell on the Existence and Nature of God Marcy P. Lascano Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	168
11 The Emerging Picture of Mary Astell’s Views Alice Sowaal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 248
Keywords: Sowaal; Weiss; ”proto-feminist”; Mary Astell; ”gender equality”; history; ”Cartesianism”; ”Christian theology”; ”Tory politics”

eBook

Published: May 2, 2016
ISBN: 9780271077604