WOMEN IN PHILOSOPHY: THE CASE OF HARRIET TAYLOR MILL
WOMEN IN PHILOSOPHY: THE CASE OF HARRIET TAYLOR MILL

Summary/Abstract: Feminist reflection of the traditional philosophical canon focuses not only on the criticism of open misogyny and sexism but it also pays attention to the various ways in which women are excluded from the area of philosophical output. One of the mechanisms used for reproducing and confirming the tradition of androcentrism in the history of European philosophy is the strategy of downgrading, making invisible, and concealing the position of women in the field of philosophy. A consideration of the position of Harriet Taylor Mill in the history of philosophical ideas is a good illustration of some of the more sophisticated forms of the strategies of exclusion; she is portrayed and perceived as an appendage to John Start Mill, her liberal feminist opinions are generally overlooked. A closer examination of her views on the issues of the emancipation of women formulated particularly in the article The Enfranchisement of Women shows that through her criticism of the subordinated social position of women and her defence of their emancipation, Harriet Taylor Mill contributed not only to the contemporary political struggle for women’s suffrage but also to the theory of feminism.

• Details
• Contents