Abstract
The question “Why does the history of philosophy matter to feminist philosophy?” is a particular version of the question “Why does the history of philosophy matter to philosophy?” And the latter question opens up into debates over the methods and purposes of those philosophers who engage with the history of philosophy. But, of course, there is more than one way for the history of philosophy to matter. In this paper, I suggest that feminist historians of philosophy who are recovering the forgotten work of women philosophers are engaged in a project, which I call the recognition project. Furthermore, I argue that if we focus on the theme of recognition in both its epistemic and political aspects, we will be motivated to add “feminists” to the categorization of scholarly work in the history of philosophy.
Thanks to Ásta Sveinsdóttir for suggesting this title for my interpretation of feminist scholarship on the history of philosophy, and to the audience at Exploring Collaborative Contestations and Diversifying Philosophy Conference, Villanova (5/15) for useful discussion.
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Notes
- 1.
Laerke et al. (2013), 1, 3.
- 2.
See also Freeland’s important discussion of feminist work in the history of philosophy in “Feminism and Ideology in Ancient Philosophy” (2000).
- 3.
For an interesting and influential analysis that questions the opposition between appropriationists and contextualists in the Anglo-American tradition, see Wilson (1992).
- 4.
See “Feminist History of Philosophy”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- 5.
For a sampling of this kind of feminist scholarship (among other kinds and perspectives) see the Penn State Press series Re-Reading the Canon and my review of the series “Feminist Interpretations of the Philosophical Canon” (2006).
- 6.
Project Vox is a good example. http://projectvox.library.duke.edu.
- 7.
“Feminist History of Philosophy”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- 8.
For a discussion see Shapiro (2004).
- 9.
- 10.
For a useful discussion of these issues (though not in the context of the concept of recognition) see Lisa Shapiro’s “Some Thoughts on Women’s Place in the History of Philosophy” (2004).
- 11.
Although this paper considers feminist work on the history of philosophy as a recognition project, I believe that other attempts to diversify philosophy can also be understood as recognition projects.
- 12.
It is important to note, however, that some early modern women philosophers joined in a contemporary debate over the status of women in society. See Shapiro (2004).
- 13.
Freeland (2000), 389.
- 14.
- 15.
Huseyinzadegan (2018), “For What Can the Kantian Feminist Hope? Constructive Complicity in Appropriations of the Canon.”
- 16.
Huseyinzadegan (2018).
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Witt, C. (2020). The Recognition Project: Feminist History of Philosophy. In: Thorgeirsdottir, S., Hagengruber, R. (eds) Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy. Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44421-1_2
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