Women, society and enlightenment: the emergence of a protofeminist phylosophy in Britain in the 18th century

Abstract

In the 18th century, thinkers from diverse areas of knowledge gave birth to a new epistemological perspective to the Western world. In philosophy, economy and politics, among other fields, groundbreaking ideas disrupted the paradigms of European thought. Those revolutionary concepts became historically known under the term Enlightenment. It is in that new intellectual scenario that a new group of authors emerges in Britain, questioning the position of social inferiority in which women are placed. William Alexander, Mary Astell, Catharine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft are some of the thinkers who write works with a protofeminist framework, launching the foundations for a philosophy of emancipation and equal rights for 18th century women. From the writings of philosophers such as David Hume, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (and a critical approach to them), those voices that claim for more equality in the treatment of female characters articulate a new positioning of women on historical, social and educational levels.