Women in Philosophy

I’ve been reading and following a lot of women philosophers lately. It’s like a treasure trove of original thought that’s been hidden in plain site. Some 35 years ago when I picked up my BA in philosophy, it was a male dominated discipline. In my 4 years of study – I don’t think I read one page of philosophy written by a woman. What’s worse is that it didn’t seem at all strange to me. I just (wrongly) presumed it to be an unfortunate artifact of the preceding decades if not centuries of male dominated history - women just didn’t have the chance to develop their thinking to the extent men have.

The real criminal thing about my presumption is that I never thought to question it. Philosophers are supposed to be skilled at asking challenging questions. But this one I was blind to. That is the very handicap of privilege – and the very reason why philosophy must belong to a diversity of philosophers.

My current journey started when I stumbled upon Carrie Jenkins’ What Love is. It struck me as something wholly new and original. I was excited that here was clear evidence that there is progress in philosophy. I was envious and found myself regretting that i didn’t pursue that academic career in philosophy. In her book she comments that the topic of “love” is often excluded from philosophy, and yet I distinctly remember at least one classroom discussion on Plato’s retelling of Aristophanes’ story of the two faced, 8 limbed proto-humans cloven by the gods to be forever in search of their other half. Seriously? This is what I got instead of Simone de Beauvoir?

Carrie Jenkin’s work led me to Skye Cleary’s Existentialism and Romantic Love which gave me my first taste of de Beauvoir and the realization that there were serious gaps in knowledge. Hazel Rowley’s Tête-á-Tête quickly followed and then, last year,  I finally picked up the Ethics of Ambiguity. For someone interested in both Ethics and Existentialism, I should have read this text some 30 years ago.

I also picked up Bell Hooks’ The Will to Change and was surprised to learn that she taught at my school 2 years after I graduated. What a sad near miss, how might things be different if I had a chance to sit in on one of her classes? Of course she headed the Women’s Studies department, so why would some white male philosophy student take a class on feminism? Yes, I am complicit in my own ignorance.

Last year I read Down Girl, by Kate Mann and was once again blown away by such originality of thought. After reading this I could no longer “not see” the systemic misogyny that weaves itself into so many places in our culture including philosophy and the patriarchal cannon of which I was once a student.

I’m trying to fix that now, filling the gaps in my own knowledge. I’ve also contributed to Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting’s project to publish a collection of women philosophers titled, The Philosopher Queens - at least one step to hopefully erode the traditional cannon.

Meanwhile, Twitter and Instagram have made me a student again. Sandy Grant’s posts give me topics to ponder as she explores some of my favorite realms of existentialism, mindfulness, and hedonism - in preparation for a book I can’t wait to read. Myisha Cherry is exploring prejudice and social justice in her podcast (and book). 

It is exciting to see so much happening in philosophy right now and I think the women that are breathing fresh life into this age old discipline.