- Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting
A book about women in philosophy by women in philosophy
For all the young women and girls sitting in philosophy class wondering
where the women are, this is the book for you. This collection of 21
chapters, each on a prominent woman in philosophy, looks at the impact that
women have had on the field throughout history. From Hypatia to Angela
Davis, The Philosopher Queens will be a guide to these badass
women and how their amazing ideas have changed the world.
This book is written both for newcomers to philosophy, as well as all those professors who know that they could still learn a thing or two. This book is also for those many people who have told us that there are no great women philosophers. Please pledge, read this book and then feel free to get back to us.
The two of us are young women who have studied and loved philosophy for many years. This book is borne out of frustration with the total lack of recognition for women in philosophy, not only its history but its current teaching.
Each chapter is written by a woman working in philosophy today. Our chapters and contributing authors include:
Diotima by Zoi Aliozi
Ban Zhao by Eva Man
Hypatia by Lisa Whiting
Lalla by Shalini Sinha
Anne Conway by Julia Bocherding
Mary Astell by Simone Webb
Mary Wollstonecraft by Sandrine Bergès
Harriet Taylor Mill by Helen McCabe
Christine Ladd-Franklin by Sara Uckelman
Mary Anne Evans by Clare Carlisle
Edith Stein by Jae Hetterley
Hannah Arendt by Rebecca Buxton
Simone de Beauvoir by Kate Kirkpatrick
Iris Murdoch by Fay Niker
Elizabeth Anscombe by Hannah Carnegy-Arbuthnott
Mary Warnock by Gulzaar Barn
Iris Marion Young by Desiree Lim
Anita L Allen by Ilhan Dahir
Azizah Y. al-Hibri by Nima Dahir
... and more exciting chapters yet to be announced.
Rebecca Buxton is a PhD student in International Development at the University of Oxford,
specialising in philosophy, ethics and forced migration. Rebecca previously
studied Philosophy at King’s College London. When she’s not working on her
PhD she writes as a Community Fellow for Refugees Deeply, a news
organisation specialising in forced displacement. In her spare time Rebecca
likes to visit her one-eyed goldendoodle, Duffy, back at home in Worthing.
Lisa Whiting is following in the footsteps of her philosophical idol, Mary Warnock,
working at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority as a
researcher. She previously studied Philosophy at Durham University,
specialising in the intersection between moral philosophy and social
psychology. Because she didn’t have enough to do she is now also studying
at Birkbeck for an MSc in Government, Politics and Policy. In her spare
time, she listens to podcasts, watches documentaries and enjoys a good
twitter rant.
Over 2000 years later, you would forgive people for assuming that men have been doing most of the thinking since then. Women have not seemed to fulfill Plato’s great prediction that they could become both great leaders and great philosophers. Or, at least, that is how the books and lectures of philosophy today make it look.
Books about the history of philosophy have not done women justice. In Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers only 2 women feature, with Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir taking the seats of honour. The same 2 share the limelight in Philosophy: The World’s Greatest Thinkers, which somehow has space for 58 men. You’re beginning to sense a theme.
This gap is not because there are no books being written about philosophy. On the contrary, some of our favourite philosophy books in recent years include, Golf and Philosophy: Lessons from the Links, Aristotle and an Aardvark go to Washington, and last but certainly not least, Surfing with Sartre. And yet, very little has been written to celebrate the work of great women. The only notable exception was written by a great philosopher herself, Mary Warnock, who wrote Women in Philosophy over 20 years ago.
The Philosopher Queens: 100%! What Happens Now?
Thursday, 11 October 2018
On Monday morning, at around 9am, The Philosopher Queens reached its crowdfunding target. After only three weeks of spamming you on Twitter, sending hundreds of emails, and generally shouting the news from the hilltops, we now know that this book will be published. The two of us want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the last few weeks and months. We are so humbled…
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- Posted on The Philosopher Queens by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting
The Philosopher Queens: Week Two, Chapter Announcement and 80%!
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, so we wanted to take a moment to update you on what’s been happening with The Philosopher Queens. First, a huge thank you to our new supporters (there are now 552 of you!). We are overwhelmed by your generosity in helping us reach the 80% milestone. A special shout-out to Corey Mohler from Existential Comics for publicly supporting the project and helping…
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The Philosopher Queens: Week One Complete!
Tuesday, 25 September 2018
We wanted to send a quick update to thank you all for your support in our first week of crowdfunding. We reached 30% last night, just before the one week mark, and we couldn’t be happier.
We’ve also had so many pledges from around the world, particularly Canada and New Zealand which is very exciting. We’re not quite sure what happened at the University of Calgary but we have so many supporters…
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The Philosopher Queens: We have a little announcement for you…
Friday, 21 September 2018
Thank you so much to everyone who has pledged so far and shown their support for the book. We never imagined reaching 20% within the first week and it gives us hope that so many people want this book to exist as much as we do. Please do continue to post and share as much as you can!
Now with the emotional stuff out of the way, we have an exciting announcement for you. Not only is our book written…
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These people are helping to fund The Philosopher Queens.
If you could have a dinner party and you could invite three of the philosophers from your book, who would you invite?
Thank you for your question, Flo! My invites would definitely go to Hannah Arendt, Azizah Y. al-Hibri and Angela Davis. Although I would love a dinner party with all 21!
Hi, I'm really keen to pledge for this, but because I'm currently in the US, the shipping costs are quite high. Are there any plans to include an E-book tier? I would love to pledge for that. Thanks!
Thank you for your question and interest in the book Saurabh! Now we have reached 100% funded, we have introduced an ebook only tier to help make the book more accessible to those living in other countries. We hope you enjoy
When is the book expected to be shipped please?
Hi Axelle, thanks for the question. The book only goes into production after we reach the crowdfunding target. So it usually takes at least a year before the book is finished and ready to be published. We're currently aiming for March 2020, although of course, that could change!
Any chance of an ebook only tier for those of us who just don't do physical books any more (and are on rather limited budgets)?
Hi Lesley, thank you so much for your question! Now we have reached 100%, we've introduced a new ebook pledge level to help with the tight budgets and shipping costs
Can I pledge the money as a gift to someone else, i.e. where the friend's name will be in the book?
Thank you for your question Alex! In short - yes. A full answer on how to do this can be found here http://help.unbound.com/unbound-for-readers/managing-your-subscriptions/changing-the-supporter-name-thats-printed-in-a-book
What peer review process will this work undergo?
Hi Clare, thank you for your question! As this is not an academic journal we do not have a formal peer review process. The book is aimed at a general audience and is not an academic volume. Each chapter will be fact-checked thoroughly by ourselves and our writers who are all excellent and highly qualified. I hope this helps.