Women Philosophers: Missing in Action?

Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant and many more – they are some of the world’s famous philosophers. They are the people who made a mark and changed how the way the human beings think and perceive things. They envisioned a world beyond our sights and develop a branch of knowledge that is widely to be studied today. However, these people mentioned above have one more thing in common besides philosophy in their blood, they are all of the same sex – they are all MEN.

Today, philosophy is usually defined as the “study of the most general and abstract features of the world and categories with which we think: mind, matter, reason, proof, truth etc. In philosophy, the concepts by which we approach the world themselves become the topic of enquiry" (Blackburn, 1994). To put it simply, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 – 43 B.C.), one of Romans best, simply defines it as “love for wisdom”. However, as we go through each and every philosopher in our education today, it is disturbing to notice that there are few women who are included in the list of the philosophers we study. And as seen in the definition, there is no reason for women not to study philosophy as well.

Personally, and also based on the stories of first women philosophers, I think culture and tradition during the early times played a vital role in this disparity between gender. Dr. Kate Lindemann, Ph.D. (2007), a professor emerita of philosophy at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, New York describes in her article about Lasthenia of Mantinea the status of women during ancient time:

Women citizens in Athens were circumscribed socially and by law. No woman could live on her own. Women were either in the household of their fathers or their husbands. If her husband died, his will could designate both her and her dowry to another man (citizen) of his choice. If there was no will, she could return to her fathers home or in some cases marry again - often to a widower relative. If her second husband died, she could, if she chose, go to live with one of her grown sons. But in no case could a citizen women live on her own. (n. pag.)

As a result of lack of women rights due to these laws, even if women were willing and eager to broaden there knowledge, they just hid to study or ‘made liaisons with Athenian citizen men in order to secure their protection’ (Lidenmann, 2007). One of them was Aspasia of Miletus, who made agreements with Athenians because women had no protection of the law during that time. However, women’s desire for education also led to greater heights. Lasthenia of Mantinea even cross-dressed just to study ‘with the boys’ in Athens. Furthermore, Lasthenia was not the only female to resort to this move. Axiothea of Phlius also dressed like a man just to study philosophy. Lasthenia and Axiothea were both students of Plato and ‘are said to have become disciples of Speusippus also’ (Laeritus as cited by Lidenmann, 2007). Though they are one of the first female philosophers, no works of them were published.

However, some women philosophers did shine out during ancient times. Hypathia was one of them. She was considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy. She interpreted great works of Plato and Aristotle. However she was killed by a Coptic Christian mob who blamed her for religious turmoil. There are different versions of her death. Some say that she was killed because she was a supporter of science against religion, while other say that she became powerful and influential that people of the church envied her.

Whatever the reasons, these and more caused the huge difference of women philosophers. Sadly, this carried on up to now. Dr. Evelyn Brister (2007), an expert in the fields of environmental philosophy, the philosophy of science, and feminist philosophy from Northwestern University, states that “…women’s participation in philosophy by earning bachelor’s degrees (31%), Master’s degrees (28%), PhD’s (27%), and the percentage that teach in any university-level job (21%)”. Dr. Brister also cited the following as the reasons to why this is:

· Philosophy is perceived as a masculine pursuit.

· Philosophical style (“the adversary method”) is at odds with women’s conversational style.

· Women lack interest in course content.

· Women are ignorant of what philosophy is and what uses a degree can be put to.

· There is inadequate advising and recruitment, or advising and recruitment targets men more than women.

· There is a lack of female role models.

· There is a hostile social environment (i.e., outright sexism). (n.pag)

Women philosophers of early times really lacked the opportunities. And we, the future generation, is greatly influenced by how thing were back then. Since women were deprived of the field, it was carried on that it was a branch of knowledge for males. And, as a product, there were few women philosophers who served as role models. Like I said, whatever the reasons maybe on why women philosophers are “missing in action”, one thing is for sure today: gender or sex in this instance shouldn’t serve as a hindrance in education, not only in philosophy, but in all aspects of knowledge.