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. |
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Page xiv
... Causes of Rebellion and Civil War , the first two analyzed in more detail in Chapter 5. An Impartial Enquiry , Astell's history of the English Civil War , is a cautionary tale that takes 1649 as an analogue for the possible return of ...
... Causes of Rebellion and Civil War , the first two analyzed in more detail in Chapter 5. An Impartial Enquiry , Astell's history of the English Civil War , is a cautionary tale that takes 1649 as an analogue for the possible return of ...
Page 1
... causes , and particularly women's education , Astell is said to have been the model for Richardson's Clarissa ; and , as late as 1847 , Lilia , heroine of Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Princess , dreams of a women's college cut off from ...
... causes , and particularly women's education , Astell is said to have been the model for Richardson's Clarissa ; and , as late as 1847 , Lilia , heroine of Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Princess , dreams of a women's college cut off from ...
Page 9
... and magical beliefs ; involvement in foreign and sometimes treasonable causes ; and , not least , the activities of secret police particularly draconian under Elizabeth's secretary of state , Early Modern Women and Myth of the State ' 9.
... and magical beliefs ; involvement in foreign and sometimes treasonable causes ; and , not least , the activities of secret police particularly draconian under Elizabeth's secretary of state , Early Modern Women and Myth of the State ' 9.
Page 20
... Cause as her Advocates usually do under Pretence of defending it .... To plead for the Oppress'd and to defend the Weak seem'd to me a generous Undertaking'.76 By comparison : 77 Your whissling Wits may scoff at [ women ] , and what ...
... Cause as her Advocates usually do under Pretence of defending it .... To plead for the Oppress'd and to defend the Weak seem'd to me a generous Undertaking'.76 By comparison : 77 Your whissling Wits may scoff at [ women ] , and what ...
Page 31
... cause of the bitter animosity that inspired his response . Rather , it is said to lie in Locke's mistaken belief that Norris had broken the seal of a personal letter to Lady Damaris Masham that Locke had requested Norris deliver for him ...
... cause of the bitter animosity that inspired his response . Rather , it is said to lie in Locke's mistaken belief that Norris had broken the seal of a personal letter to Lady Damaris Masham that Locke had requested Norris deliver for him ...
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