François Poulain de la Barre and the invention of modern equality / Siep Stuurman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stuurman, Siep.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poulain de La Barre, François, 1647-1723.

Poulain de La Barre, François.

Equality.

Feminist theory.

Enlightenment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 361 p. )

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2004.

Summary:

"In a tour de force of intellectual history, Siep Stuurman rediscovers the remarkable early Enlightenment figure Francois de Poulain de la Barre. A dropout from theology studies at the Sorbonne, Poulain embraced the philosophy of Descartes, became convinced of the injustice and absurdity of the subjection of women, and assembled an entirely original social philosophy.

His writings challenging male supremacy and advocating gender and racial equality are the most radically egalitarian texts to appear in Europe before the French revolution."

"In exploring Poulain's breakthrough, Stuurman sheds new light on the origins of the Enlightenment, the history of feminism, the emergence of rational Christianity, and the social and political implications of Descartes's philosophy. This work, the first comprehensive study of Poulain, brings to life the men and women of the Radical Enlightenment, who pioneered ideas about equality that would shape humankind to this day."--Jacket.

Contents:

The making of a philosopher

The feminist impulse

Cartesian equality

The power of education

Reason and authority

Anthropology and history

The road to Geneva

Rational Christianity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-354) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-674-04409-6

OCLC:

889235850

Publisher Number:

2027/heb09300 hdl