Women, Knowledge And Philosophy In Early Modern Period: An Alternative History
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Published:
Jul 7, 2025
Keywords:
Modern Philosophers, Knowledge, Philosophy
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Abstract
During the 20th century, feminist theories and social studies of science facilitated the revaluation of women’s roles in the construction of science and philosophy. These recent historiographical and philosophical studies provide ample evidence of the active participation of women in the production of philosophical-natural knowledge during this period. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how, through the developments in feminist history and philosophy of science, it has been possible to construct an alternative history of knowledge to that of the traditional canon. It is intended to show that by considering these advances and through the reading of women philosophers, it is possible to broaden our understanding of modern philosophy, including its diversity of themes, problems, and agents that have been rendered invisible throughout history.
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Cardona Fuentes, M. J. (2025). Women, Knowledge And Philosophy In Early Modern Period: An Alternative History. TRAZOS – Revista De Estudiantes De Filosofía, 2(8), 52-64. Retrieved from https://ojs.unsj.edu.ar/index.php/trazos/article/view/1406
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References
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Rossiter, M. W. (1980). «Women’s Work» in Science, 1880-1910. Isis, 71(3), 381- 398.
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Schiebinger, L. (2004). Nature’s body: Gender in the making of modern science.
Rutgers University Press. Schott, R. M. (Ed.). (1997). Feminist interpretations of Immanuel Kant. Pennsylvania State Univ. Press.
Waithe, M. E. (1991). A History of Women Philosophers: Modern Women Philosophers, 1600–1900. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Waithe, M. E. (2020). Sex, Lies, and Bigotry: The Canon of Philosophy. En S. Thorgeirsdottir & R. E. Hagengruber (Eds.), Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 3-17). Springer International Publishing.
Wilkins, E. (2014). Margaret Cavendish and the Royal Society. Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, 68(3), 245-260.
Witt, C. (2020). The Recognition Project: Feminist History of Philosophy. En S. Thorgeirsdottir & R. E. Hagengruber (Eds.), Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 19- 28). Springer International Publishing.
Beard, M. R. (1968). On understanding women. New York, Greenwood Press. http://archive.org/details/onunderstandingw0000bear
Bordo, S. (1987). The flight to objectivity: Essays on Cartesianism and culture. State University of New York Press.
Bowler, P. J., & Morus, I. R. (2007). Panorama general de la ciencia moderna. Crítica.
Cavendish, M. (2001). Observations upon Experimental Philosophy (E. O’Neill, Ed.; 1.a ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164504
Dotson, K. (2014). Conceptualizing Epistemic Oppression. Social Epistemology, 28(2), 115-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2013.782585 Fricker, M. (2011). Epistemic injustice: Power and the ethics of knowing (Repr). Oxford University Press.
Funkenstein, A. (2018). Theology and the scientific imagination from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century (Second edition). Princeton University Press.
Hagengruber, R. E. (2020). The Stolen History—Retrieving the History of Women Philosophers and its Methodical Implications. En S. Thorgeirsdottir & R. E. Hagengruber (Eds.), Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 43-64). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44421-1_4
Harding, S. G. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge? thinking from women’s lives. Cornell University Press.
Harding, S. G. (Ed.). (2003). Discovering reality: Feminist perspectives on epistemology, metaphysics, methodology, and philosophy of science (2. ed). Kluwer.
Hartsock, N. C. M. (2004). The Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism. En S. Harding & M. B. Hintikka (Eds.), Discovering Reality (Vol. 161, pp. 283-310). Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48017-4_15
Hirschmann, N. J., & McClure, K. M. (Eds.). (2007). Feminist interpretations of John Locke. Pennsylvania State University Press. Hirschmann, N. J., & Wright, J. H. (Eds.). (2012). Feminist interpretations of Thomas Hobbes. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Hutton, S. (2019). Women, philosophy and the history of philosophy. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 27(4), 684-701. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2018.1563766
Hutton, S. (2020). “Context” and “Fortuna” in the History of Women Philosophers: A Diachronic Perspective. En S. Thorgeirsdottir & R. E. Hagengruber (Eds.), Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 29-42). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44421-1_3 Jacobson, A. J. (Ed.). (2000). Feminist interpretations of David Hume. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Keller, E. F. (1995). Reflections on gender and science (10th anniversary edition). Yale University Press.
Kragh, H. (1989). Introducción a la historia de la ciencia. Crítica.
Manzo, S. (2022). Filósofas y filósofos de la modernidad. Nuevas perspectivas y materiales para el estudio. Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de la Plata.
Merchant, C. (1989). The death of nature: Women, ecology, and the scientific revolution. Harper & Row.
Monroy, N. (2003). Epistemología y sujeto en la filosofía antimecanicista de Margaret Cavendish. 29(3), 185-198.
O’Neill, E. (1997). Disappearing Ink: Early Modern Women Philosophers and Their Fate in History. En J. A. Kourany (Ed.), Philosophy in a Feminist Voice (pp. 17-62). Princeton University Press.
O’Neill, E. (2005). Early Modern Women Philosophers and the History of Philosophy. Hypatia, 20(3), 185-197.
Rossiter, M. W. (1980). «Women’s Work» in Science, 1880-1910. Isis, 71(3), 381- 398.
Rossiter, M. W. (1993). The Matthew Matilda Effect in Science. Social Studies of Science, 23(2), 325-341. https://doi.org/10.1177/030631293023002004
Schiebinger, L. (1996). The mind has no sex? Women in the origins of modern science (1. Harvard Univ. Press paperback ed., 6th print). Harvard Univ. Press.
Schiebinger, L. (2004). Nature’s body: Gender in the making of modern science.
Rutgers University Press. Schott, R. M. (Ed.). (1997). Feminist interpretations of Immanuel Kant. Pennsylvania State Univ. Press.
Waithe, M. E. (1991). A History of Women Philosophers: Modern Women Philosophers, 1600–1900. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Waithe, M. E. (2020). Sex, Lies, and Bigotry: The Canon of Philosophy. En S. Thorgeirsdottir & R. E. Hagengruber (Eds.), Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 3-17). Springer International Publishing.
Wilkins, E. (2014). Margaret Cavendish and the Royal Society. Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science, 68(3), 245-260.
Witt, C. (2020). The Recognition Project: Feminist History of Philosophy. En S. Thorgeirsdottir & R. E. Hagengruber (Eds.), Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy (Vol. 3, pp. 19- 28). Springer International Publishing.