Introduction
Philosophy has long been considered the domain of great male thinkers - from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and Hegel. But what about the women who have contributed to this field throughout history? In "How to Think Like a Woman," author Regan Penaluna takes readers on a personal and historical journey to uncover the hidden tradition of women philosophers.
As a young woman passionate about life's big questions, Penaluna was drawn to philosophy in college. She pursued it as a career, embarking on a PhD program with high hopes. However, she soon found herself worn down by the sexism ingrained in academic philosophy. This experience led her on a quest to discover the forgotten voices of women thinkers throughout history.
Through a blend of memoir, biography, and philosophical inquiry, Penaluna introduces us to four remarkable women philosophers: Mary Astell, Damaris Masham, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Catherine Cockburn. Their stories challenge our assumptions about the history of ideas and what it means to "think like a woman."
Philosophy's Woman Problem
The world of academic philosophy has long had a problem with women. Despite its lofty ideals of pursuing universal truths, the field has consistently devalued and excluded women's voices throughout history.
This exclusion dates back to ancient Greece, where philosophers like Aristotle referred to women as "deformed males." During the Age of Enlightenment, even progressive thinkers like Hume and Kant accepted women's intellectual inferiority as a given. Hegel went so far as to compare women to plants, asserting their inability for rational thought.
The problem extended beyond theory. For centuries, women were denied access to universities and scholarly discourse. The rare few who managed to educate themselves were met with derision and patronization from their male counterparts.
Shockingly, this hostility towards women in philosophy persists even in modern times. Sexual harassment, lack of mentorship, and casual sexism continue to pose obstacles for women at every stage of their academic careers. Women's philosophical contributions and feminist perspectives are often dismissed as peripheral or unserious.
Penaluna recalls not encountering a single female philosopher in her undergraduate curriculum. This erasure of women from the philosophical canon has far-reaching consequences. It creates a self-perpetuating cycle where the scarcity of women philosophers is seen as evidence of women's inability to philosophize. Young women entering the field internalize these stereotypes, losing faith in their own capabilities.
As Penaluna confronted her own self-doubt throughout her academic journey, she observed how the few women in her program were silenced and marginalized. Desperate for inspiration, she turned to the archives, hoping to uncover a lineage of women philosophers.
What she discovered astonished her – women thinkers had been present all along, concealed within the margins of the male-authored canon. Their legacy proves that women are not merely capable of philosophy – they are vital to the discipline.
Mary Astell: Champion of Female Education
Mary Astell, born in 1666, emerged as one of the first English feminist philosophers despite the immense obstacles facing women of her time. Receiving an uncommon education for a girl thanks to her progressive uncle, Astell's world was upended when he passed away. Faced with a future of domestic toil and no marriage prospects due to her family's dwindling finances, the 22-year-old Astell took a bold step. She sewed her meager savings into her dress and boarded a carriage for London, determined to earn a living through her writing.
Astell's most renowned work, "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies," passionately argued for women's right to education. She envisioned an all-female college where women could nurture their minds, free from the constraining influence of men. Reason, she maintained, was essential to the soul, and women had an equal right to cultivate their God-given intellect.
Her ideas sent shockwaves through the male intellectual establishment. With wit and erudition, Astell dismantled the arguments of prominent male philosophers like Hobbes, Locke, and Milton, revealing the inconsistencies in their notions of freedom and equality. True liberty, she asserted, meant allowing women to choose their own path, whether as wives, mothers, or scholars.
Astell's words struck a deep chord with Penaluna as she grappled with finding her place in the male-dominated world of academic philosophy. Like Astell, Penaluna's confidence was eroded by the casual sexism she faced from professors and peers. One professor, for example, suggested that women might be less intelligent than men, explaining the scarcity of female philosophers.
Drawing inspiration from Astell, Penaluna found comfort and motivation in the community of female friends and scholars she cultivated. Yet she also recognized certain moral blind spots in Astell's philosophy – particularly her neglect of lower-class and non-white women. Painful as it was to acknowledge, Penaluna recognized the same unexamined privilege and prejudice within herself.
In engaging with Astell's legacy, Penaluna came to understand her personal philosophical journey as inextricably connected to the broader struggle for women's equality – a struggle that demanded ongoing self-reflection and growth. Astell's story invites us to reflect on what it takes for women to carve out spaces for intellectual flourishing in the face of patriarchal oppression. The life of the mind is not a male prerogative but the birthright of all curious souls courageous enough to claim it.
Damaris Masham: The Woman Behind the Man
Throughout the history of Western philosophy, women have played significant yet often unacknowledged roles in the lives and work of renowned male thinkers. These complex interactions reveal how even the most brilliant minds could be blinded by the misogynistic attitudes of their time, which failed to treat women as fully autonomous subjects.
Damaris Masham is a prime example of a woman who suffered under the constraints of a patriarchal society while making important contributions to philosophy. Born in 1659 into the intellectual hub of Cambridge University as the daughter of renowned philosopher Ralph Cudworth, Damaris absorbed the lively debates of the philosophers who gathered in her home. But when she yearned to delve deeper into the discipline, she was discouraged by those around her.
Masham channeled her frustration into poetry, imagining a future in which women would be recognized as men's intellectual equals. However, her life took a pivotal turn when, at the age of 22, she met the philosopher John Locke at a party in London. Their playful, intellectual correspondence blossomed into a complex relationship.
Locke became Masham's mentor, encouraging her to tackle the great philosophical questions of the day. Yet their bond was charged with romantic longing – and when Locke failed to propose marriage, Masham reluctantly married someone else. As she struggled to find time for philosophy amid the demands of managing an estate and raising stepchildren, Masham confessed to Locke that "household affaires are the opium of the soul."
Her fortunes changed when Locke moved into her home and she gained a live-in intellectual companion. Inspired by their discussions, Masham wrote her philosophical works, forcefully critiquing the misogynistic theories of thinkers like Nicolas Malebranche, who blamed mothers' imaginations for "monstrous" births. Against philosophers who preached austere detachment, Masham argued that love for God's creation – beginning with a mother's love for her child – was the foundation of virtue and inquiry.
In her final treatise, "Occasional Thoughts," Masham made her most passionate case for women's right to intellectual freedom. The core problem, she argued, was not merely women's exclusion from higher education, but the myriad ways society discouraged them from exercising their God-given reason. Masham called on mothers to cultivate this spirit of autonomous thought in their children – sons and daughters alike – planting the seeds for a more enlightened society.
Masham's story highlights the complex ways women have contributed to philosophy throughout history, often working in the shadows of more famous male thinkers. It challenges us to reconsider our understanding of intellectual partnerships and the true origins of philosophical ideas.
Mary Wollstonecraft: The Revolutionary Feminist
Amid her growing disillusionment with academic philosophy, Penaluna discovered a kindred spirit in Mary Wollstonecraft. Immersing herself in the eighteenth-century philosopher's fiery texts, she felt a jolt of recognition. Here was a woman who, centuries earlier, had wrestled with the same existential questions that consumed her: What does it mean to be a thinking woman in a world that undervalues women's minds? How can one reconcile the desire for love and recognition with the pursuit of intellectual autonomy?
Born in 1759 to an abusive father and a submissive mother, Wollstonecraft was determined from a young age to escape the fate of domesticity that entrapped most women of her time. Self-educated and fiercely independent, she carved out a precarious living as a writer in London, crafting polemical works that laid the foundation for modern feminism.
Wollstonecraft's most renowned treatise, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," was a searing call for gender equality. In it, she dismantled the arguments of philosophers like Rousseau who saw women as inferior creatures, fit only for pleasing men. Women, she insisted, had the same rational faculties as men and deserved the same rights and freedoms – including access to education, political participation, and economic self-determination.
Yet, as Penaluna discovered, Wollstonecraft's feminism was forged as much in the crucible of her turbulent personal life as through her philosophical writings. Time and again, she found herself torn between her hunger for love and her uncompromising commitment to her own intellectual and sexual autonomy. Her affairs with men like Gilbert Imlay and William Godwin forced her to grapple with the psychic costs of being a "female philosopher" in a society that saw such a creature as an aberration.
Reading Wollstonecraft's unfinished novel "Maria," which laid bare the emotional scars of a woman struggling to reconcile her desires with her principles, Penaluna felt a sense of kinship across the centuries. She saw how the trauma of female oppression could breed self-doubt and loathing. But she also glimpsed the liberating power of righteously channeled anger – empowering women to break free from the cage of societal expectations.
To think like a woman, Wollstonecraft teaches us, is to think against the grain of a male-dominated culture – to question every assumption, challenge every norm, and imagine a radically different way of being. Though her life was tragically cut short by complications from childbirth, Wollstonecraft's legacy endures as a beacon for future generations of feminists.
In Wollstonecraft's dazzlingly original blend of philosophical argument and personal confession, Penaluna found a model for her own intellectual and creative awakening. And in Wollstonecraft's unflinching honesty about the pleasures and perils of living as a free-thinking woman, she discovered a reflection of her deepest self – a portrait of the feminist as a young revolutionary.
Catherine Cockburn: A Mother and a Thinker
Discovering the legacy of female philosophers shaped Penaluna's identity as an academic. It also guided her through personal crises, including her decision to leave a troubled long-term marriage. But soon after finding a new partner, Penaluna encountered a fresh challenge: raising children.
Becoming a mother was a transformative experience that raised profound questions about the tension between intellectual ambition and maternal duty. Immersed in the exhausting, all-consuming work of caring for a newborn, Penaluna found herself grappling with feelings of resentment and guilt, envious of her husband's ability to leave for work each day without the burden of parental ambivalence.
In her quest for philosophical insight into the challenges of motherhood, she turned to the forgotten works of Catharine Cockburn. Born in 1679, Cockburn defied the constraints placed on women's minds from a young age, writing poetry, novels, and plays that asserted women's capacity for reason and advocated for their right to education. Her groundbreaking works, including "Love at a Loss" and "The Revolution of Sweden," subverted traditional gender roles and championed the ideal of the free-thinking woman.
Yet it was in Cockburn's private letters, written during the 17 years she retreated from public life to raise her children, that Penaluna found the most resonant reflections on the conflict between intellectual freedom and maternal responsibility. In fictional correspondences between female friends, Cockburn explored the shared oppression of women and the salvation to be found in mutual support. Her missives revealed a mind still very much alive and grappling with philosophical questions, even as she outwardly devoted herself to the duties of housewifery.
Cockburn's letters to her niece and son further illuminated her struggle to balance self-assertion with social expectation. To her niece, she offered guidance and intellectual encouragement while unapologetically defending her own work and reputation. To her son, she penned an impassioned "Letter of Advice" urging him to treat women as equals – grounding her feminist ethics in the belief that reason and benevolence were core to human nature.
In Cockburn's equivocal example, Penaluna found solace and inspiration. This was a woman who embraced the full complexity of her identity as both mother and thinker, who refused to subordinate her own happiness to the demands of duty, and who saw the fight for women's freedom as a systemic imperative.
While Cockburn offered no perfect solution to the dilemma of intellectual ambition and motherhood, her life and works show that the very act of grappling openly with these issues is a vital form of philosophical reflection. As the mother of feminist thought, Cockburn provides a model for everyone striving to be a philosopher, a parent, and, above all, a person in their own right.
The Hidden Legacy of Women Philosophers
Through her exploration of these four remarkable women thinkers, Penaluna uncovers a rich and largely forgotten tradition of feminist philosophy. These women were not merely passive recipients of male ideas, but active participants in the intellectual debates of their time. They challenged prevailing notions about women's capabilities and rights, often at great personal cost.
Mary Astell's vision of an all-female college was revolutionary for its time, anticipating the establishment of women's colleges centuries later. Damaris Masham's critique of misogynistic philosophical theories laid the groundwork for later feminist critiques of science and medicine. Mary Wollstonecraft's passionate defense of women's rights inspired generations of suffragists and feminists. Catherine Cockburn's reflections on motherhood and intellectual life continue to resonate with women today.
These women's works were not merely personal musings, but serious philosophical contributions that engaged with and challenged the dominant ideas of their time. They grappled with fundamental questions about human nature, morality, education, and social justice. In doing so, they expanded the boundaries of philosophical inquiry and demonstrated that women were capable of rigorous intellectual work.
Yet their contributions were systematically marginalized and forgotten. Male philosophers often appropriated their ideas without attribution, or dismissed their work as trivial or derivative. The sexist attitudes of their time prevented their full participation in academic institutions and scholarly debates. As a result, their voices were silenced and their legacy obscured.
Penaluna's journey of rediscovery highlights the importance of recovering this lost tradition. By bringing these women's stories and ideas to light, she challenges our understanding of the philosophical canon and the history of ideas. She shows that women have always been thinking and writing about the big questions, even when their contributions were not recognized or valued.
Moreover, these women's experiences and perspectives offer unique insights into philosophical problems. Their position as outsiders in a male-dominated field allowed them to see things differently and question assumptions that male philosophers took for granted. Their lived experiences as women – dealing with societal constraints, balancing intellectual pursuits with domestic duties, and facing discrimination – informed their philosophical reflections in ways that enriched and expanded the field.
Thinking Like a Woman: A New Philosophical Approach
Through her engagement with these historical figures, Penaluna develops a new understanding of what it means to "think like a woman." This is not about essentializing female thought or claiming that women think in fundamentally different ways than men. Rather, it's about recognizing the unique perspectives and insights that come from women's lived experiences in a patriarchal society.
Thinking like a woman, in this context, means:
Questioning assumptions: Women philosophers have long had to challenge the sexist assumptions underlying much of traditional philosophy. This critical stance can be applied more broadly to question other unexamined beliefs and biases in philosophical thinking.
Valuing lived experience: Women thinkers often draw on their personal experiences to inform their philosophical reflections. This approach recognizes that embodied, situated knowledge is a valid source of philosophical insight.
Embracing complexity: The lives of women philosophers often involved navigating complex and contradictory demands. This experience fostered an ability to hold multiple perspectives and resist simplistic either/or thinking.
Recognizing interconnection: Women's philosophical writings often emphasize relationships, care, and social context, challenging the ideal of the isolated, autonomous thinker.
Pursuing practical wisdom: Many women philosophers were concerned with applying philosophical insights to real-world problems, particularly those affecting women's lives.
Cultivating resilience: The obstacles faced by women in philosophy fostered a spirit of determination and creativity in finding ways to pursue intellectual work despite societal constraints.
This approach to philosophy is not exclusive to women, nor are all women philosophers bound to think this way. However, it offers a valuable alternative to traditional philosophical methods that have often excluded or devalued women's contributions.
The Continuing Relevance of Women Philosophers
The stories and ideas of these historical women philosophers resonate deeply with contemporary issues. Their struggles to balance intellectual pursuits with societal expectations and domestic responsibilities mirror the challenges faced by many women today. Their critiques of sexist assumptions in philosophy and society remain relevant in our ongoing battles against gender discrimination and inequality.
Moreover, their philosophical insights offer fresh perspectives on perennial questions:
- Mary Astell's arguments for women's education challenge us to consider the ongoing barriers to equal educational opportunities.
- Damaris Masham's reflections on the relationship between reason and emotion speak to current debates in cognitive science and philosophy of mind.
- Mary Wollstonecraft's passionate defense of women's rights continues to inspire feminist activism and theory.
- Catherine Cockburn's grappling with the tensions between motherhood and intellectual life resonates with ongoing discussions about work-life balance and the gendered division of labor.
By recovering and engaging with these forgotten voices, we enrich our philosophical discourse and gain new tools for addressing contemporary challenges.
Conclusion: Reimagining the Philosophical Canon
"How to Think Like a Woman" is more than just a historical recovery project. It's a call to reimagine the philosophical canon and our understanding of what counts as philosophy. By bringing these women's voices to the forefront, Penaluna challenges us to reconsider the male-centric narrative of philosophical history and to recognize the vital contributions of women thinkers throughout the ages.
This reimagining has profound implications for how we teach and practice philosophy today. It calls for a more inclusive approach that values diverse perspectives and experiences. It challenges us to question our assumptions about what constitutes "serious" philosophical work and to recognize the philosophical significance of writings that have traditionally been dismissed as mere personal reflections or popular literature.
Moreover, Penaluna's journey shows how engaging with these historical figures can be a deeply personal and transformative experience. Through her encounters with Astell, Masham, Wollstonecraft, and Cockburn, she found models for navigating her own struggles as a woman in philosophy. Their stories provided her with inspiration, validation, and a sense of belonging to a long tradition of women thinkers.
Ultimately, "How to Think Like a Woman" invites us all – regardless of gender – to expand our philosophical horizons. By learning to think like a woman, in the sense of questioning assumptions, valuing lived experience, and pursuing practical wisdom, we can enrich our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. In doing so, we honor the legacy of these remarkable women philosophers and continue their work of pushing the boundaries of human thought.