List of women philosophers
This is a list of women philosophers ordered alphabetically by surname. While the vast majority of major philosophers have been male, there are a number of influential female philosophers. Women have engaged in philosophy throughout the field's history. While there were women philosophers since the earliest times, and some were accepted as philosophers during their lives, almost no women philosophers have entered the philosophical Western canon.[1][2] According to Eugene Sun Park, "[p]hilosophy is predominantly white and predominantly male. This homogeneity exists in almost all aspects and at all levels of the discipline."[3] Some notable philosophers include Hypatia of Alexandria (ca. 370-415 AD), Anne Conway (1631-1679), Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), Sarah Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), Ayn Rand (1905-1982), Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), Elizabeth Anscombe (1919-2001), Mary Warnock (born 1924) and Susan Haack (born 1945).[4]
By period
Ancient philosophy
- Maitreyi (later Vedic period)
- Gargi Vachaknavi (born about 700 BC)
- Theano of Croton (6th century BC)
- Aristoclea of Delphi (6th century BC)
- Aspasia of Miletus (approx. 470–400 BC)
- Arete of Cyrene (4th century BC)
- Sosipatra of Ephesus (4th century BC)
- Hipparchia of Maroneia (4th century BC)
- Nicarete of Megara (flourished around 300 BC)
- Catherine of Alexandria (282–305)
- Ptolemais of Cyrene (3rd century BC)
- Aesara of Lucania (3rd century BC)
- Diotima of Mantinea (appears in Plato's Symposium)
- Ban Zhao (c. 35–100)D2
- Xie Daoyun (before 340–after 399)
- Theodora (5th-6th century AD)
Medieval philosophy
From the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century C.E. to the Renaissance in the 16th century.
- Hypatia (5th century AD)
- Aedesia of Alexandria (5th century AD)
- Héloïse d'Argenteuil (1090–1164), contributed to the ethical thought of Peter Abelard.
- Marguerite Porete (1250-1310)
- Tullia d'Aragona (c. 1510–1556)
- Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)
- Moderata Fonte (1555–1592), critic of religion, feminist
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), German abbess, composer, and philosopher.
Modern philosophy
The seventeenth and early twentieth centuries roughly mark the beginning and the end of modern philosophy.
- Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), political theoristC O R W
- Mary Astell (1666–1731)A B C D1 D2 R
- Laura Bassi (1711–1778), philosopher and physicist
- Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891)
- Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825–1921)D2
- Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930)W
- Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673)A B C R
- Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749)R
- Catharine Trotter Cockburn (1679–1749)A B C R W
- Anne Conway (1631–1679)A B C D1 O R W
- Helene von Druskowitz (1856–1918)
- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) (1819–1880)G R
- Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680)A B C R
- Sor Juana (1648–1695)
- Edith Stein (1891-1942)
Contemporary philosophy
- Felicia Nimue Ackerman (fl. 2014)
- Marilyn McCord Adams (born 1943)O
- Alia Al-Saji (fl. 2014)
- Lilli Alanen (born 1946)
- Linda Martín Alcoff (born 1955)
- Amy Allen (fl. 2014)
- Alice Ambrose (1906–2001)
- Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937)
- Julia Annas (born 1946)
- G. E. M. Anscombe (1919–2001)C O R W
- Louise Antony (fl. 2014)
- Nomy Arpaly (fl. 2014)
- Babette Babich (born 1956)
- Annette Baier (1929–2012)O
- Dorit Bar-On (fl. 1990)
- Marcia Baron (fl. 2014)
- Nancy Bauer (born 1960)
- Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), author, feministD1 O R W
- Helen Beebee (fl. 2014)
- Seyla Benhabib (born 1950)
- Tina Fernandes Botts (fl. 2014)
- Peg Birmingham (fl. 2014)
- Susanne Bobzien (born 1960)
- Samantha Brennan (fl. 1997)
- Janet Broughton (fl. 2014)
- Teresa Blankmeyer Burke (fl. 2014)
- Inga Bostad (born 1963), Norwegian philosopher and educator
- Judith Butler (born 1956)
- Joan Callahan (professor emerita, 2011)
- Elisabeth Camp (fl. 2014)
- Nancy Cartwright (born 1944)O
- Ruth Chang (fl. 2014)
- Patricia Churchland (born 1943)C
- Hélène Cixous (born 1937)R
- Alice Crary (fl. 2014)
- Ann Cudd (fl. 2014)
- Chris Cuomo (fl. 2014)
- Izydora Dąmbska (1904–1983)
- Peggy DesAutels (fl. 2014)
- Penelope Deutscher (fl. 2014)
- Heather Douglas (born 1969)
- Raya Dunayevskaya (1910–1987)
- Dorothy Edgington (born 1941)
- Frances Egan (fl. 2014)
- Dorothy Emmet (1904–2000)
- Carla Fehr (fl. 2014)
- Carrie Figdor (fl. 2014)
- Gail Fine (fl. 2014)
- Juliet Floyd (fl. 2014)
- Philippa Foot (1920–2010)C O W
- Nancy Fraser (born 1947)
- Marilyn Frye (born 1941)
- Ann Garry (fl. 2014)
- Tamar Gendler (born 1965)
- Margaret Gilbert (born 1942)
- Mary Louise Gill (fl. 2014)
- Kathryn Gines (fl. 2014)
- Lydia Goehr (fl. 2014)
- Patricia Greenspan (fl. 2014)
- Germaine Greer (born 1939)
- Marjorie Grene (1910–2009)
- Susan Haack (born 1945)W
- Ruth Hagengruber (born 1958)
- Käte Hamburger (1896–1992), literary scholar
- Donna Haraway (born 1944)
- Sandra Harding (born 1935), feminist
- Sally Haslanger (fl. 2014)
- Jane Heal (born 1946)
- Virginia Held (born 1929)
- Ágnes Heller (born 1929)
- Jeanne Hersch (1910–2000)
- Mary Hesse (1924-2016)
- Pamela Hieronymi (fl. 2014)
- Jennifer Hornsby (born 1951)O
- Susan Hurley (1954–2007)
- Rosalind Hursthouse (fl. 2014)
- Luce Irigaray (born 1930)C O R
- Jenann Ismael (fl. 2014)
- Alison Jaggar (fl. 2014)
- Susan James (born 1951)
- Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins (fl. 2014)
- Barbara Johnson (1947–2009)
- Patricia Kitcher (born 1948)
- Eva Kittay (fl. 2014)
- Martha Klein (retired 2006)
- Martha Kneale (1909-2001)
- Helen Knight (1899–1984)
- Sarah Kofman (1934–1994)
- Christine Korsgaard (born 1952)
- Julia Kristeva (born 1941)C O R
- İoanna Kuçuradi (born 1936)
- Jennifer Lackey (fl. 2014)
- Susanne Langer (1895–1985)O R W
- Rae Langton (born 1961)
- Thelma Z. Lavine (1915–2011)
- Michèle Le Dœuff (born 1948)O R
- Hilde Lindemann (fl. 2014)
- Sharon Lloyd (fl. 2014)
- Helen Longino (born 1944)
- Béatrice Longuenesse (born 1950)
- Penelope Maddy (born 1950)
- Ruth Barcan Marcus (1921–2012)C O
- Noëlle McAfee (fl. 2014)
- Alison McIntyre (fl. 2014)
- Margaret MacDonald (1907–1956)
- Mary Kate McGowan (fl. 2014)
- Susan Mendus (born 1951)
- Christia Mercer (fl. 2014)
- Mary Midgley (born 1919)W
- Ruth Millikan (born 1933)O
- Iris Murdoch (1919–1999)O W
- Nancey Murphy (born 1951
- Jennifer Nagel (graduated 1990)
- Uma Narayan (born 1958)
- Susan Neiman (born 1955)
- Nel Noddings (born 1929)
- Kathryn Norlock (born 1969)
- Martha Nussbaum (born 1947)C O
- Peg O'Connor (born 1965)
- Kelly Oliver (born 1958)
- Onora O'Neill (born 1941)O W
- Maria Ossowska, (1896–1974)
- Ayn Rand (1905–1982)
- Janet Radcliffe Richards (born 1944)O
- Rosemary Radford Ruether (born 1936)
- Yvanka B. Raynova (born 1959)
- Helena Roerich (1879–1955)
- Avital Ronell (born 1952)
- Amélie Rorty (born 1932)
- Renata Salecl (born 1962)
- Debra Satz (fl. 2015)
- Jennifer Saul (fl. 2014)
- Susanna Schellenberg (born 1974)
- Naomi Scheman (fl. 2014)
- Londa Schiebinger (born 1952), feminist
- Sally Scholz (born 1968)
- Ofelia Schutte (professor emerita, 2012)
- Lisa H. Schwartzman (born 1969)
- Nancy Sherman (fl. 2014)
- Seana Shiffrin (fl. 2014)
- Vandana Shiva (born 1952), feminist
- Laurie Shrage (born 1953)
- Susanna Siegel (fl. 2014)
- Alison Simmons (born 1965)
- Dorothy Smith (born 1926)
- Holly Martin Smith (fl. 2014)
- Nancy Snow (fl. 2014)
- Miriam Solomon (fl. 2014)
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (born 1942)
- Susanne Sreedhar (fl. 2014)
- Susan Stebbing (1885–1943)W
- Edith Stein (1891–1942), pedagogueD1
- Helene Stöcker (1869–1943), feminist, sexual reformer
- Anita Superson (fl. 2014)
- Judith Jarvis Thomson (born 1929)C O W
- Valerie Tiberius (fl. 2014)
- Kate Tickel (born 1981)[5]
- Lynne Tirrell (fl. 2014)
- Margaret Urban Walker (fl. 2014)
- Georgia Warnke (fl. 2014)
- Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock (born 1924)O
- Simone Weil (1909–1943), critical marxistC D1 O R
- Elsie Whetnall (1897–c.1998)
- Jennifer Whiting (fl. 2014)
- Jessica Wilson (fl. 2014)
- Margaret Dauler Wilson (1939–1998)
- Charlotte Witt (born 1951)
- Monique Wittig (1935–2003)
- Susan Wolf (born 1952)
- Ursula Wolf (born 1951)
- Dorothy Maud Wrinch (1894–1976)
- Alison Wylie (born 1954)
- Naomi Zack (fl. 2014)
- Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski (born 1946)
- Ewa Ziarek (fl. 2014)
- Alenka Zupančič (born 1966)
Alphabetically
A
- Margaret Atherton (unknown)
- Felicia Nimue Ackerman (fl. 2014)
- Marilyn McCord Adams (born 1943)O
- Aedesia of Alexandria (5th century AD)
- Alia Al-Saji (fl. 2014)
- Lilli Alanen (born 1946)
- Linda Martín Alcoff (born 1955)
- Amy Allen (fl. 2014)
- Alice Ambrose (1906–2001)
- Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937)
- Julia Annas (born 1946)
- G. E. M. Anscombe (1919–2001)C O R W
- Louise Antony (fl. 2014)
- Tullia d'Aragona (c. 1510–1556)
- Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), political theoristC O R W
- Arete of Cyrene (4th century BC)
- Aristoclea (6th century BC)
- Nomy Arpaly (fl. 2014)
- Aspasia of Miletus (approx. 470–400 BC)
- Mary Astell (1666–1731)A B C D1 D2 R
- Anita Avramides (unknown)
B
- Babette Babich (born 1956)
- Annette Baier (born 1929)O
- Ban Zhao (c. 35–100)D2
- Rachel Barney
- Marcia Baron (fl. 2014)
- Laura Bassi (1711–1778), philosopher and physicist
- Nancy Bauer (born 1960)
- Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), author, feministD1 O R W
- Helen Beebee (fl. 2014)
- Seyla Benhabib (born 1950)
- Peg Birmingham (fl. 2014)
- Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891)
- Susanne Bobzien (born 1960)
- Inga Bostad (born 1963), Norwegian philosopher and educator
- Tina Fernandes Botts (fl. 2014)
- Janet Broughton (fl. 2014)
- Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825–1921)D2
- Teresa Blankmeyer Burke (fl. 2014)
- Judith Butler (born 1956)
C
- Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930)W
- Joan Callahan (professor emerita, 2011)
- Elisabeth Camp (fl. 2014)
- Nancy Cartwright (born 1944)O
- Catherine of Alexandria (282–305)
- Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)
- Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673)A B C R
- Ruth Chang (fl. 2014)
- Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749)R
- Marilena de Souza Chaui (born 1941)
- Patricia Churchland (born 1943)C
- Hélène Cixous (born 1937)R
- Catharine Trotter Cockburn (1679–1749)A B C R W
- Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1888–1966)
- Anne Conway (1631–1679)A B C D1 O R W
- Alice Crary (fl. 2014)
- Ann Cudd (fl. 2014)
- Chris Cuomo (fl. 2014)
D
- pl:Izydora Dąmbska (1904–1983)
- Peggy DesAutels (fl. 2014)
- Penelope Deutscher (fl. 2014)
- Diotima of Mantinea (appears in Plato's Symposium)
- Helene von Druskowitz (1856–1918)
- Raya Dunayevskaya (1910–1987)
E
- Dorothy Edgington (born 1941)
- Frances Egan (fl. 2014)
- George Eliot (1819–1880)G R
- Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680)A B C R
- Dorothy Emmet (1904–2000)
F
- Carla Fehr (fl. 2014)
- Carrie Figdor (fl. 2014)
- Gail Fine (fl. 2014)
- Juliet Floyd (fl. 2014)
- Moderata Fonte (1555–1592), critic of religion, feminist
- Philippa Foot (1920-2010)C O W
- Nancy Fraser (born 1947)
- Marilyn Frye (born 1941)
G
- Ann Garry (fl. 2014)
- Tamar Gendler (born 1965)
- Margaret Gilbert (born 1942)
- Mary Louise Gill (fl. 2014)
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)
- Kathryn Gines (fl. 2014)
- Lydia Goehr (fl. 2014)
- Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
- Alison Gopnik (born 1955), psychologist, philosopher of mind
- Olympe de Gouges (1748–1793), women's rights activist
- Marie de Gournay (1565–1645), critic of religion, feminist, translatorD2
- Celia Green (born 1935)
- Patricia Greenspan (fl. 2014)
- Germaine Greer (born 1939)
- Marjorie Grene (1910-2009)
- Cynthia M. Grund (born 1956), Danish-American philosopher, educator
H
- Susan Haack (born 1945)W
- Ruth Hagengruber (born 1958)
- Käte Hamburger (1896–1992), literary scholar
- Donna Haraway (born 1944)
- Sandra Harding (born 1935), feminist
- Marjorie Silliman Harris (1890–1976)
- Sally Haslanger (fl. 2014)
- Jane Heal (born 1946)
- Virginia Held (born 1929)
- Ágnes Heller (born 1929)
- Heloise (1101–1162)D2
- Jeanne Hersch (1910–2000)
- Mary Hesse (1924-2016)
- Pamela Hieronymi (fl. 2014)
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), German abbess, composer, and philosopher.D1 R
- Hipparchia from Thrakien (approx 325 BC), Cynic philosopher, wife of Crates of Thebes
- Jennifer Hornsby (born 1951)O
- Susan Hurley (1954–2007)
- Rosalind Hursthouse (fl. 2014)
- Hypatia of Alexandria (370–415) Greek Alexandrian Neoplatonist philosopher, mathematicianC R
I
- Luce Irigaray (born 1930)C O R
- Jenann Ismael (fl. 2014)
- Alison Jaggar (fl. 2014)
- Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins (fl. 2014)
J
- Barbara Johnson (1947–2009)
- Dorthe Jørgensen (born 1959), Danish philosopher and educator, first Danish women to be awarded the honorary Dr.Phil
- Sor Juana (1648–1695)D2
- Constance Jones (1848–1922)
K
- Patricia Kitcher (born 1948)
- Eva Kittay (fl. 2014)
- Martha Klein (retired 2006)
- Helen Knight (1899–1984)
- Sarah Kofman (1934–1994)
- Christine Korsgaard (born 1952)
- Julia Kristeva (born 1941)C O R
- İoanna Kuçuradi (born 1936)
L
- Jennifer Lackey (fl. 2014)
- Susanne Langer (1895–1985)O R W
- Rae Helen Langton (born 1961)
- Thelma Z. Lavine (1915–2011)
- Michèle Le Dœuff (born 1948)O R
- Leontion (approx 300 BC), Epicurean
- Hilde Lindemann (fl. 2014)
- Sharon Lloyd (fl. 2014)
- Helen Longino (born 1944)
- Béatrice Longuenesse (born 1950)
- Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), anti-militarist, marxistR
M
- Catharine Macaulay (1731–1791)G
- Penelope Maddy (born 1950)
- Ruth Barcan Marcus (1921–2012)C O
- Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)R W
- Mary the Jewess (?1st–3rd century AD), alchemist
- Damaris Cudworth Masham (1659–1708)A B C R
- Noëlle McAfee (fl. 2014)
- Alison McIntyre (fl. 2014)
- Margaret MacDonald (1907-1956)
- Mary Kate McGowan (fl. 2014)
- Mechthild of Magdeburg (1210–1285)G
- Melissa (3rd century BC)
- Susan Mendus (born 1951)
- Christia Mercer (fl. 2014)
- Mary Midgley (born 1919)W
- Ruth Millikan (born 1933)O
- Iris Murdoch (1919–1999)O W
- Nancey Murphy (born 1951)
- Judith Sargent Murray (1751–1820)D2
N
- Uma Narayan (born 1958)
- Susan Neiman (born 1955)
- Nel Noddings (born 1929)
- Kathryn Norlock (born 1969)
- Martha Nussbaum (born 1947)C O
O
- Peg O'Connor (born 1965)
- Kelly Oliver (born 1958)
- Onora O'Neill (born 1941)O W
- Maria Ossowska, (1896–1974)
- de:M. A. C. Otto
P
- Adrian Piper (born 1948)
- Christine de Pizan (c. 1365–c. 1430)G R
R
- Ayn Rand (1905-1982)
- Janet Radcliffe Richards (born 1944)O
- Rosemary Radford Ruether (born 1936)
- Yvanka B. Raynova (born 1959)
- Helena Roerich (1879–1955)
- Avital Ronell (born 1952)
- Amélie Rorty (born 1932)
S
- Renata Salecl (born 1962)
- Debra Satz (fl. 2015)
- Jennifer Saul (fl. 2014)
- Ruth L. Saw (1901-1986)
- Susanna Schellenberg (born 1974)
- Naomi Scheman (fl. 2014)
- Londa Schiebinger (born 1952), feminist
- Sally Scholz (born 1968)
- Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678)D2 R
- Ofelia Schutte (professor emerita, 2012)
- Lisa H. Schwartzman (born 1969)
- Sally Sedgwick
- Lady Mary Shepherd (1777–1847)A C
- Nancy Sherman (fl. 2014)
- Seana Shiffrin (fl. 2014)
- Vandana Shiva (born 1952), feminist
- Laurie Shrage (born 1953)
- Susanna Siegel (fl. 2014)
- Alison Simmons (born 1965)
- Dorothy Smith (born 1926)
- Holly Martin Smith (fl. 2014)
- Nancy Snow (fl. 2014)
- Miriam Solomon (fl. 2014)
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (born 1942)
- Susanne Sreedhar (fl. 2014)
- Germaine de Staël (1766–1817)R
- Susan Stebbing (1885–1943)W
- Edith Stein (1891–1942), pedagogueD1
- Helene Stöcker (1869–1943), feminist, sexual reformer
- Gabrielle Suchon (1631–1703)R
- Anita Superson (fl. 2014)
- Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914)
T
- Harriet Taylor Mill (1807–1858)C D1 R
- Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582)C
- Theano (late 6th century BC)
- Themistoclea (fl. 6th century BCE) Teacher of Pythagoras
- Judith Jarvis Thomson (born 1929)C O W
- Valerie Tiberius (fl. 2014)
- Kate Tickel (born 1981)[6]
- Lynne Tirrell (fl. 2014)
V
- Gargi Vachaknavi, ancient Indian philosopher
W
- Margaret Urban Walker (fl. 2014)
- Georgia Warnke (fl. 2014)
- Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock (born 1924)O
- Simone Weil (1909–1943), critical marxistC D1 O R
- Victoria, Lady Welby (1837–1912)W
- Elsie Whetnall (1897–c.1998)
- Jennifer Whiting (fl. 2014)
- Jessica Wilson (fl. 2014)
- Margaret Dauler Wilson (1939–1998)
- Charlotte Witt (born 1951)
- Monique Wittig (1935–2003)
- Susan Wolf (born 1952)
- Ursula Wolf (born 1951)
- Mary Wollstonecraft, women's rights activist (1759–1797)C D1 G O R W
- Frances Wright (1795–1852)D2
- Dorothy Maud Wrinch (1894–1976)
- Alison Wylie (born 1954)
Z
- Naomi Zack (fl. 2014)
- Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski (born 1946)
- Ewa Ziarek (fl. 2014)
- Alenka Zupančič (born 1966)
Notes
- ^A – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in Margaret Atherton's Women Philosophers of the Early Modern Period. Hackett; 1994. ISBN 0-87220-259-3
- ^B – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in Jacqueline Broad's Women Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge; 2003. ISBN 0-521-81295-X
- ^C – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge University Press; 1999. ISBN 0-521-63722-8
- ^D1 – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in Jane Duran's Eight Women Philosophers: Theory Politics and Feminism. University of Illinois Press; 2006. ISBN 0-252-03022-2
- ^D2 – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in Therese Boos Dykeman's The Neglected Canon: Nine Women Philosophers – First to the Twentieth Century. Kluwer; 1999. ISBN 0-7923-5956-9
- ^G – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in Catherine Villanueva Gardner's Women Philosophers. Westview; 2003. ISBN 0-8133-4133-7 (paperback); ISBN 0-8133-6610-0 (hardcover)
- ^O – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press; 1995. ISBN 0-19-866132-0
- ^R – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in the Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge; 2000. ISBN 0-415-22364-4
- ^W – For more information about this person's contribution to philosophy see her entry in Mary Warnock's Women Philosophers. J.M. Dent; 1996. ISBN 0-460-87721-6
References
- ↑ Duran, Jane. Eight women philosophers: theory, politics, and feminism. University of Illinois Press, 2005.
- ↑ http://read.hipporeads.com/why-i-left-academia-philosophys-homogeneity-needs-rethinking/#
- ↑ http://read.hipporeads.com/why-i-left-academia-philosophys-homogeneity-needs-rethinking/#
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ten-great-female-philosophers-the-thinking-womans-women-299061.html
- ↑ Scott Firsing, Top Thirty-Five Young Foreigners Making an Impact in Africa, International Policy Digest, 1 October 2013
- ↑ Scott Firsing, Top Thirty-Five Young Foreigners Making an Impact in Africa, International Policy Digest, 1 October 2013