Feminism & Philosophical Women in Russell’s Circle

Workshop Purpose

For an era finally starting to reflect on the historical marginalization of women in philosophy, Bertrand Russell should be an enigma. On the one hand, Russell constructively engaged with a host of female philosophers like Dorothy Wrinch, Victoria Welby, and Susan Stebbing. He wrote pioneering work on issues of interest to modern feminism, and could be counted on as an ally in many political causes important to women. But on the other hand, Russell’s advocacy of sexual freedom, though often done under the guise of women’s rights, shaded into personal relationships with women that have long been a source of concern. This workshop aims to reexamine Russell’s complicated relationship to women and to the emergence of modern feminism.

Speakers (abstracts on registration page)

• Sarale Ben Asher (University of Chicago) Jones and Russell on Denotation
• William Bruneau (University of British Columbia) Four decades, four women, and Russell, 1894-1931
• Siobhan Chapman (University of Liverpool) Ambrose and MacDonald: Two women who challenged Russell on ordinary language
• Sophia Connell (Birkbeck, University of London) Bertrand Russell on sex, marriage, and the right of fathers
• Landon D. C. Elkind (University of Alberta) Dorothy Wrinch and Bertrand Russell’s promotion of his other students
• Allauren Samantha Forbes (McMaster University) Sex, Suffrage, and Marriage: Russell and feminism
• Frederique Janssen-Lauret (University of Manchester) Constance Jones, Bertrand Russell, and Susan Stebbing on incomplete symbols
• C. S. I. Jenkins (University of British Columbia) Russell on women, love, and other non-philosophical topics
• Teresa Kouri Kissel (Old Dominion University) Susan Stebbing on logical atomism
• David Loner (University of Cambridge) Alice Ambrose, Bertrand Russell and merit and misogyny in the foundations debate at Cambridge, 1932-1937
• Gulberk Koc Maclean (Mount Royal University) A Moral and Intellectual Evaluation of Russell’s Romantic and Sexual Practices
• Scott Metzger (McMaster University) Welby’s Influence on Russell’s Turn to Use
• Marjorie Senechal (Smith College) Dorothy Wrinch and the Man of the Century
• Michael D. Stevenson (Lakehead University) Patricia Russell and her influence on Bertrand Russell, 1930 to 1944

Additional information

Please see the workshop website for any program-related (or Covid-related) updates or to register to attend: https://bertrandrussellsociety.org/russell-women-workshop/. Please contact the organizers with any questions. This workshop is locally organized by McMaster University’s Bertrand Russell Research Centre. It is also co-sponsored by the Bertrand Russell Society.