An Unconventional History of Western Philosophy: Conversations Between Men and Women Philosophers [Hardcover]

Gender scholarship during the last four decades has shown that the exclusion of women's voices and perspectives has diminished academic disciplines in important ways. Traditional scholarship in philosophy is no different. The 'recovery project' in philosophy is engaged in re-discovering the names, lives, texts, and perspectives of women philosophers from the 6th Century BCE to the present. Karen Warren brings together 16 colleagues for a unique, groundbreaking study of Western philosophy which combines pairs of leading men and women philosophers over the past 2600 years, acknowledging and evaluating their contributions to foundational themes in philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Introductory essays, primary source readings, and commentaries comprise each chapter to offer a rich and accessible introduction to and evaluation of these vital philosophical contributions. A helpful appendix canvasses an extraordinary number of women philosophers for further discovery and study.Karen J. Warrenis professor of philosophy at Macalester College. She is a pioneer in ecofeminist philosophy and is the author ofEcofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It is and Why It Matters.

This ground-breaking work has the potential to have a profoundly positive impact on philosophy as a discipline. Contemporary philosophers are nearly always engaged in dialogues with the past, and this book will help them to engage with female as well asmale historical figures. It will enhance our appreciation of women?s capacity for rigorous philosophical thought, enlarge our understanding of the parameters of philosophy itself, and promote a new perspective on the discipline as a co-operative, gender-inclusive enterprise. For the first time, teachers and students of philosophy are being offered a truly accurate and balanced introduction to the history of their subject... Jacqueline Broad, Department of Philosophy, Monash University, Victoria, AustralsN