Women Philosophers in Nineteenth-Century Britain puts the work of nineteenth-century women philosophers into conversation around issues such as naturalism, mind, and morality. It is a bold and pioneering study, fluently written and admirably clear. This book should quickly, and rightly, become essential reading for all scholars of the period.
Stone focuses on the work of twelve women, as follows (3–5). Mary Shepherd (1777–1847) is perhaps best known for her metaphysics of causation. Harriet Martineau (1802–76), “nineteenth-century intellectual powerhouse,” wrote on all kinds of subjects; within philosophy, she is known for her materialism and atheism. Ada Lovelace (1815–52), groundbreaking computer programmer, also produced philosophy of mind. George Eliot (1819–80), “perhaps the greatest nineteenth-century British novelist,” also wrote and translated philosophy. Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904), once “extremely well known and highly regarded,” grounded her political activity on philosophy, considering topics such as atheism, the mind, moral epistemology, and aesthetics. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky...
