Ancient Women Philosophers
Recovered Ideas and New Perspectives

This book studies largely unresearched ideas of ancient women philosophers and recovers their contributions to the history of philosophy.

Katharine R. O'Reilly (Edited by), Caterina Pellò (Edited by)

9781009013895, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 May 2025

290 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.423 kg

'This volume is a commendable achievement that will appeal to those with interests in ancient philosophy and its history, feminism, and those seeking to expand the philosophical canon to include marginalised groups and non-Western perspectives.' Vicky Roupa, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Despite the common misconception that ancient philosophy was the domain of male thinkers, sources confirm that ancient women engaged in philosophical activity. Bringing together a collection of essays on ancient women thinkers, with special focus on their ideas and contributions to the history of philosophy, this volume is about the earliest women philosophers, their breakthroughs, and the methods we can use to excavate them. The essays survey the methodological strategies we can use to approach the surviving evidence, retrieve the largely unresearched thought and the original ideas of ancient women philosophers, and carve out a space for them in the canon. The broad focus includes women thinkers in ancient Indian, Chinese, and Arabic philosophy as well as in the Greek and Roman philosophical traditions. The volume will be valuable for a wide range of researchers, teachers, and students of ancient philosophy.

Introduction: the value of women philosophers for the history of philosophy Caterina Pellò and Katharine R. O'Reilly
1. Beyond gender: the voice of Diotima Frisbee C. C. Sheffield
2. Sulabhā and Indian philosophy: rhetoric, gender, and philosophy in the Mahābhārata Brian Black
3. Women's medical knowledge in antiquity: beyond midwifery Sophia M. Connell
4. Ancient women epicureans and their anti-hedonist critics Kelly Arenson
5. Arete of Cyrene and the role of women in philosophical lineage Katharine R. O'Reilly
6. Women at the crossroads: life and death for the stoic wife Kate Meng Brassel
7. Pythagorean women and the domestic as a philosophical topic Rosemary Twomey
8. Perictione, mother of metaphysics: a new philosophical reading of on wisdom Giulia De Cesaris and Caterina Pellò
9. Not veiled in silence: the case for macrina Anna B. Christensen
10. Women philosophers and ideals of being a woman in Neoplatonic schools of late antiquity: the examples of Sosipatra of Ephesus and Hypatia of Alexandria Jana Schultz
11. Reappraising Ban Zhao: the advent of Chinese women philosophers Ann A. Pang-White
12. The reception of Plato on women: Proclus, Averroes, Marinella Peter Adamson
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]