The Philosopher Queens - edited by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting

I'm on the blog tour today for this wonderful book.

Description

Where are the women philosophers? The answer is right here.

The history of philosophy has not done women justice: you've probably heard the names Plato, Kant, Nietzsche and Locke but what about Hypatia, Arendt, Oluwole and Young?

The Philosopher Queens is a long-awaited book about the lives and works of women in philosophy by women in philosophy. This collection brings to centre stage twenty prominent women whose ideas have had a profound but for the most part uncredited impact on the world.

You'll learn about Ban Zhao, the first woman historian in ancient Chinese history; Angela Davis, perhaps the most iconic symbol of the American Black Power Movement; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, known for examining the intersection of Islamic law and gender equality; and many more.

For anyone who has wondered where the women philosophers are, or anyone curious about the history of ideas it's time to meet the philosopher queens.

Review

This is a beautifully illustrated book and just to have and hold it is an experience in itself. Inside are larger versions of the cover illustrations.  I certainly never knew of the existence of the majority of these women philosophers or their work. It was a real eye opener to discover that some of them hail from many centuries ago. If you think this book is a complete guide, think again as there is a list of many more inside. But for now this is a very decent start.

I had intended to read a "Queen" a day but once I got started I found that I wanted to read more and so I did far many more than that in one sitting. I've never studied philosophy although I have read a few books on the subject over the years.  What I liked about this (apart from spotlighting unsung women) is that each philosopher has their life span shown and some background about their life is given as well as the basic concept of their take on philosophy. If you want to read more you can easily research using the information given. Also at the back of the book is a handy section about the individual authors who contributed to this book.

Two of the philosophers stood out for me. One was Mary Midgley who had a late start in life but wrote over 200 hundred books, articles and chapters between the ages of 59 and 99. She passed away in 2018. The other was Elizabeth Anscombe who wrote a ground breaking work entitled "Intention". This was mainly in response to the decision President Truman made to drop the atomic bomb in 1945. I found myself thinking of a parallel in the decisions made by world leaders during the pandemic times of 2020. There's certainly plenty of food for thought in this collection. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks to Random Things Tours for a copy of the book to review.