Partly a riposte to a sexist proposal for female education, partly a slashing critique of the conservative Edmund Burke, Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women marshaled the empiricism of John Locke and David Hume to argue that the sexual inequality considered “natural” by most Western men, even the French revolutionaries, was in fact, like all social phenomena, a product of historical contingency. Mary Wollstonecraft replied to vindicate the rights of women. AAI3125028.The French Revolution proclaimed the Rights of Men. Taylor, Natalie Fuehrer, 'The rights of woman as chimera: The political philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft' (2004).

Political science|British and Irish literature Recommended Citation

In this respect, my dissertation is an original approach to reading Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Wollstonecraft's hope for the relationship between men and women can be more fully elaborated by a consideration of the teaching on friendship put forth by Aristotle in the Nichomachean Ethics. Finally, I argue Wollstonecraft's political theory is consistent with that of Aristotle. Furthermore, political communities are not formed out of a desire to protect oneself from the aggression of others. In contrast to Rousseau and to Locke, Wollstonecraft does not argue that human beings are primarily motivated by self-preservation. Although I appreciate the valuable lessons Wollstonecraft gains from both Rousseau and Locke, I argue that Wollstonecraft departs from natural rights theory in two important respects, and consequently, rejects it as the foundation for her own political theory. My study of Wollstonecraft's political theory considers her relationship to each of these thinkers. In making her case, some scholars suggest, Wollstonecraft sounds more like her earlier predecessor, John Locke, than Rousseau. In response to this Rousseau's characterization of woman, Wollstonecraft asserts the natural equality of women and demands that they are educated to be rational and virtuous counterparts to men. Rousseau's ideal woman, Sophie, it seems to Wollstonecraft, departs from the fundamental tenets of Rousseau's explicitly political works, the natural equality and freedom of all human beings. Though A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is dedicated to a French diplomat, it is immediately clear that Wollstonecraft's primary interlocutor is Rousseau. Most political scientists argue that Wollstonecraft's political thought is derivative of either Jean-Jacques Rousseau's or John Locke's political thought. My dissertation examines the political theory of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Natalie Fuehrer Taylor, Fordham University The rights of woman as chimera: The political philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary wollstonecraft philosophy