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 5
... 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 Aristotle , the Stoics and , curiously ...
... 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 Aristotle , the Stoics and , curiously ...
Page 8
... notion that Thrasymachus represents , of politics as structured by a struggle for power in which it falls to the ... notions like ' soft power ' and ' strong democracy ' seem to appeal to brute strength as the test of social power . 19 ...
... notion that Thrasymachus represents , of politics as structured by a struggle for power in which it falls to the ... notions like ' soft power ' and ' strong democracy ' seem to appeal to brute strength as the test of social power . 19 ...
Page 25
... notion of a primitive contract in pre - antiquity from which authority devolved makes specious assumptions about the nature of civilization . More grievous still , it endorses authorization by genetic title , a specious form of ...
... notion of a primitive contract in pre - antiquity from which authority devolved makes specious assumptions about the nature of civilization . More grievous still , it endorses authorization by genetic title , a specious form of ...
Page 39
... notions of freedom of speech and freedom of the press , she argued that the nature of the established church stipulated strict adherence to its doctrines and that non - conformity was tantamount to treason . Astell , who contributed ...
... notions of freedom of speech and freedom of the press , she argued that the nature of the established church stipulated strict adherence to its doctrines and that non - conformity was tantamount to treason . Astell , who contributed ...
Page 45
... notion of spirit as an ecstatic union of the soul and divine substance.47 The search for spiritual entities , vehicles of the soul , took the Cambridge Platonists in the direction of Neoplatonist pneumatology . The newly introduced doc ...
... notion of spirit as an ecstatic union of the soul and divine substance.47 The search for spiritual entities , vehicles of the soul , took the Cambridge Platonists in the direction of Neoplatonist pneumatology . The newly introduced doc ...
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