Mary Astell: Theorist of Freedom from DominationPhilosopher, theologian, educational theorist, feminist and political pamphleteer, Mary Astell was an important figure in the history of ideas of the early modern period. Among the first systematic critics of John Locke's entire corpus, she is best known for the famous question which prefaces her Reflections on Marriage: 'If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?' She is claimed by modern Republican theorists and feminists alike but, as a Royalist High Church Tory, the peculiar constellation of her views sits uneasily with modern commentators. Patricia Springborg's study addresses these apparent paradoxes, recovering the historical and philosophical contexts to her thought. She shows that Astell was not alone in her views; rather, she was part of a cohort of early modern women philosophers who were important for the reception of Descartes and who grappled with the existential problems of a new age. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 87
Page xiv
... argument against the proto - liberal posi- tions of Milton and Locke . Astell argued that , by defending the public- private distinction , these proto - Whigs created a public zone of political participation , from which women were ...
... argument against the proto - liberal posi- tions of Milton and Locke . Astell argued that , by defending the public- private distinction , these proto - Whigs created a public zone of political participation , from which women were ...
Page xv
... arguments , made in the main body of her Reflections upon Marriage of 1700 , and later amplified in her 1706 preface to that work , can be shown to have predated Leslie's by three years . Moreover , they are arguments characteristic of ...
... arguments , made in the main body of her Reflections upon Marriage of 1700 , and later amplified in her 1706 preface to that work , can be shown to have predated Leslie's by three years . Moreover , they are arguments characteristic of ...
Page 5
... argued against the Hobbesian and Filmerian notion of freedom as the power ' to do as one lists ' , and in favour of the classical notion of freedom as the power to erect a principle of action and follow it . In this respect she followed ...
... argued against the Hobbesian and Filmerian notion of freedom as the power ' to do as one lists ' , and in favour of the classical notion of freedom as the power to erect a principle of action and follow it . In this respect she followed ...
Page 15
... Argument so thick , that there is no beatin ' em out . For my part I shall not envy ' em their refuge , let ' em lie ... argument of last resort to which Hobbes and Locke appeal to justify the power of men over women- that it falls to ...
... Argument so thick , that there is no beatin ' em out . For my part I shall not envy ' em their refuge , let ' em lie ... argument of last resort to which Hobbes and Locke appeal to justify the power of men over women- that it falls to ...
Page 16
... argument that reworks Machiavellian and Hobbesian arguments about the origins of imperium in coercion while replicating Hobbes's argument that mothers in the state of nature have dominion over their children because only they have the ...
... argument that reworks Machiavellian and Hobbesian arguments about the origins of imperium in coercion while replicating Hobbes's argument that mothers in the state of nature have dominion over their children because only they have the ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
argued argument Astell's Bishop Cambridge Platonism Cambridge Platonists Cambridge University Press Cartesian Charles Christian Religion cited civil claim Clarendon Concerning the Love constitutional critique Damaris Damaris Masham debate Defoe Descartes Discourse Dissenters divine doctrine Drake early modern edition Ellenzweig England English feminist Filmer Folger Library freedom from domination Glorious Revolution Goldie Head in St High Church History Hobbes and Locke Hobbes's Ibid ideas Impartial Enquiry James John Locke Judith Drake king King's Head Ladies Leslie Liberty before Liberalism Locke's Two Treatises Lockean London Lord Malebranche Mary Astell Masham Milton mind Moderation Truly monarchy natural rights Norris Norris's notion occasional conformity Oxford pamphlet Parliament patriarchalism Paul's Church-yard philosophical Printed published Quentin Skinner reason reference Reflections upon Marriage religious republican rhetorical Roman Sacheverell Serious Proposal sermon Shaftesbury Short-Ways Skinner slavery social contract soul Stillingfleet theory things Thomas Hobbes tion toleration Treatises of Government Whig William women