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"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 AstellÆs work and thought, this book explores the degree to which she can be considered a ôfeministö in light of her adherence to Cartesianism, Christian theology, and Tory politics. The contributors explore the philosophical underpinnings of AstellÆs 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.
List of contents
"Contents
Preface000
Nancy Tuana
Acknowledgments000
1Locations and Legacies: Reading Mary Astell and Re-Reading the Canon 000
Penny A. Weiss
2Mary Astell and the Virtues000
Jacqueline Broad
3Mary AstellÆs Account of Feminine Self-Esteem000
Kathleen A. Ahearn
4Mary Astell and the Development of Vice: Pride, Courtship, and the WomanÆs Human Nature Question000
Alice Sowaal
5Custom, Freedom, and Equality: Mary Astell on Marriage and WomenÆs Education000
Karen Detlefsen
6Further Reflections upon Marriage: Mary Astell and Sarah Chapone000
Susan Paterson Glover
7Mary Astell: Some Reflections upon Trauma000
Elisabeth Hedrick Moser
8ôFrom the Throne to Every Private Familyö: Mary Astell as Analyst of Power000
Penny A. Weiss
9Mary AstellÆs Feminism: A Rhetorical Perspective000
Christine Mason Sutherland
10Mary Astell on the Existence and Nature of God000
Marcy P. Lascano
11The Emerging Picture of Mary AstellÆs Views000
Alice Sowaal
References000
Index000
About the author
Alice Sowaal is Associate Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University. She has written widely on Descartes and Mary Astell.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.
Summary
A collection of essays on the early modern English writer, proto-feminist, and rhetorician Mary Astell. Includes discussions on human nature, equality, rationality, power, freedom, friendship, marriage, and education.
