The Impact of Cartesian Philosophy on Early Modern Feminism

Jacqueline Broad (Monash University)

Abstract: This paper will discuss the impact of Cartesian epistemological,metaphysical, and ethical ideas on the feminist arguments of François Poulain de la Barre (1647-1723) and Mary Astell (1666-1731). In the scholarly literature to date, it is a common view that Descartes' method of doubt and his concept of the thinking self provided significant inspiration for early modern feminists. On the one hand, it is said, his radical method led these early feminists to challenge male authority, prejudice, and custom; on the other, his metaphysics of the self seemingly leant support to the idea that the human mind 'has no sex'. In this discussion, however, I propose to highlight other influential aspects of Cartesian philosophy for feminist thought, such as Descartes' views concerning freedom, error, and judgment, his philosophy of the passions, and his ethical ideas concerning virtue. I argue that it is an over-simplification to say that Poulain and Astell's core feminist insights owe their origins to the Cartesian method of doubt or to the idea that 'the mind has no sex'.