Were there any radical women in the German Enlightenment? On feminist history of philosophy and Dorothea Erxleben’s Rigorous Investigation (1742)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12903222 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anne-Sophie Sørup Nielsen (University of Copenhagen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 143-163 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Intellectual History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1749-6977 • E-ISSN: 1749-6985 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17496977.2020.1862736 |
| OpenAlex | W3128943767 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 31 |
This article examines the term “Radical Enlightenment” as a historiographical category through the lens of the philosophical work of Dorothea Christiane Erxleben (1715–1762), a keen advocate for women’s education and the first female medical doctor in Germany. The aim of the article is to develop a methodological framework that makes it possible to critically assess the radicalism of Erxleben’s philosophical position as it is presented in her highly systematic work Rigorous Investigation (1742). In the first part of the article, the term “Radical Enlightenment” is briefly discussed in the German context. The second part is dedicated to articulating two methodological problems concerning the use of the term “radical” with regards to early feminist writings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The aim of this section is to develop a new approach to the classification of radical thinkers of this period. In the remaining three parts, this methodological approach is applied to the analysis of Erxleben’s views on equality and education, focusing on her call for women’s active participation in society. Finally, it is concluded that there is sufficient evidence to categorize vital parts of Erxleben’s philosophy as radical
Context (archaeology · Enlightenment · Epistemology · German · Historiography · Ignorance · Political radicalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · History · Law · Moravian Church and William Blake · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment
The family romance of the French Revolution
The Radical Enlightenment
Knowledge and Profanation
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Rebel daughters
The Rise of the Public in Enlightenment Europe
Die unanständige Gelehrtenrepublik
Women Philosophers of the Early Modern Period
A History of Women's Political Thought in Europe, 1400–1700
Gender and the Modern Research University
Condorcet
Martin Mulsow, Prekäres Wissen
Literacy and society in the west, 1500–1850∗
Eighteenth–Century German Opinions about Education for Women
| Highly cited | No |
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