Sixteen centuries ago the Neoplatonist philosopher Hypatia was murdered by a mob of Christians. Ever since, she has been remembered in poems, plays, paintings, and films as a victim of religious intolerance whose death symbolized the end of the classical world. But before she was a symbol Hypatia was a person. As one of antiquity's best-known female scholars, Hypatia's immense skills as a philosopher and mathematician redefined the intellectual life of her home city of Alexandria. Her talent (...) as a teacher enabled her to assemble a circle of dedicated male students. Her devotion to public service made her a force for peace and good government in a city that struggled to maintain trust and cooperation between pagans and Christians. These intellectual and political triumphs were all the more astonishing for being accomplished in a climate of gossip, scrutiny, and misogyny.Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher is a major new account of this remarkable woman and the culturally rich and turbulent context in which she lived. Utilizing new techniques for reading ancient letters and mathematical and philosophical commentaries-as well as a number of previously unnoticed early modern sources-Edward J. Watts provides a revelatory narrative of Hypatia's life, her formidable achievements, the tragic story of the events that led to her murder, and the rich legacy of her life and death. (shrink)

Hartry Field distinguished two concepts of type‐free truth: scientific truth and disquotational truth. We argue that scientific type‐free truth cannot do justificatory work in the foundations of mathematics. We also present an argument, based on Crispin Wright's theory of cognitive projects and entitlement, that disquotational truth can do justificatory work in the foundations of mathematics. The price to pay for this is that the concept of disquotational truth requires non‐classical logical treatment.

Hypatia was born in Alexandria in the fourth century CE (there's disagreement about her age at death, so that different scholars put her year of birth at either about 370 or about 355CE). The daughter of the mathematician and philosopher, Theon, who taught at the university of Alexandria, attached to the world-famous library, and who seems to have been responsible for Hypatia's education, though she might also have been taught by Plutarch the Younger in Athens. She helped her (...) father with his books on mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy, and became a teacher at his school, eventually becoming its head. (shrink)

Hartry Field distinguished two concepts of type-free truth: scientific truth and disquotational truth. We argue that scientific type-free truth cannot do justificatory work in the foundations of mathematics. We also present an argument, based on Crispin Wright's theory of cognitive projects and entitlement, that disquotational truth can do justificatory work in the foundations of mathematics. The price to pay for this is that the concept of disquotational truth requires non-classical logical treatment.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Hypatia’s Daughters: Fifteen Hundred Years of Women Philosophers ed. by Linda Lopez McAllisterSue M. WeinbergLinda Lopez McAllister, editor. Hypatia’s Daughters: Fifteen Hundred Years of Women Philosophers. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996. Pp. xiv + 345. Cloth, $49.95. Paper, $22.50.Hypatia: born in the fourth century A.D.: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, teacher; brutally murdered in Alexandria in 415 A.D—whether for holding religious views regarded as heretical (...) or because she was a woman who dared to be a scholar and teacher remains a matter of speculation. Today, she gives her name to the journal for feminist philosophy. She is a symbol for those women who, over the centuries, have struggled to be part of the philosophical life of their time.Until very recently, the centuries that separated Hypatia from the present were assumed to have been a philosophical desert for women. But times have changed. Hypatia’s Daughters is a sign of this change. It contains eighteen articles on seventeen philosophers: Hypatia; Hildegard of Bingen, Heloise, and Christine de Pisan from the Middle Ages; Elizabeth of Bohemia, Sor Juana de la Cruz, Anne Conway, Damaris Masham, Catharine Trotter, Belle van Zuylen and Mary Wollstonecraft from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; Anne Doyle Wheeler and Harriet Taylor Mill from the nineteenth; Charlotte Perkins Oilman, Edith Stein, Hannah Arendt, and Angela Davis from the late nineteenth century into contemporary times. Few are known as well as they deserve, but many names are familiar even to non-specialists. Their ideas, however, are another matter.The collection in no way constitutes a definitive selection of women philosophers; those discussed are not presented as the most significant women philosophers in the history of philosophy. (A different kind of study would be necessary for evaluations of that kind.) The women here studied have little in common as a group; they wrote on many topics of philosophical concern; their views and their supporting reasoning differ. Further, as the subjects of the articles differ in their ideas, so do the contributors’ approaches and their methods of studying those ideas differ. These differences are the strengths of a collection that is stimulating, enlightening, provocative. The following examples indicate their range.Andrea Nye examines the correspondence of Heloise and Abelard and, in a second article, of Elizabeth of Bohemia and Descartes. Heloise and Elizabeth are usually regarded as passive followers or, at best, no more than serious questioners seeking answers of their correspondents. Nye’s fresh look at the Heloise-Abelard correspondence finds not only important differences between two ways of thinking, but also sees already underlying their disagreement what she calls the “macroquestion” of philosophy’s future: philosophy as “a professional discipline independent of political or social concerns or... an ongoing critical and cultural discourse.” (25) Elizabeth’s persistent questions to Descartes reveal ideas that challenge his views, especially on moral issues and physiological-psychological [End Page 164] phenomena; these are views that have a greater complexity than the basic issue of mind-body interaction that is usually identified as central to their exchange.Writing on Harriet Taylor Mill, Jo Ellen Jacobs examines changing attitudes towards her subject, beginning with views of Taylor Mill’s contemporaries and moving through the decades into our time. She finds parallels between criticisms of Taylor Mill and attitudes towards the so-called intellectual woman. In times encouraging of women, Taylor Mill is regarded as having made important contributions to the development of J. S. Mill’s thinking, in addition to writing and speaking about her own ideas and positions that did not always follow those of J. S. Mill. In less encouraging times, her significance tends to be minimized.Hannah Arendt is not usually thought of as a feminist. Joanne Cutting-Gray, through her discussion of Arendt’s early book on Rahel Varnhagen, develops implications of that study for Arendt as a “feminist thinker,” in particular through her focus on “the politics of alterity.” Cutting-Gray finds in the Varnhagen biography “an analogy between Jewish and female alterity [that] can stretch our understanding of women and politics.” (281)And there is more, much more: Martha Brandt Bolton’s scholarly examination of the philosophical works... (shrink)

Two studies of women in philosophy, Michéle Le Doeuff's biography of Simone de Beauvoir Hipparchia's Choice (1991) and Fritz Mauthner's historical novel Hypatia (1892), question what kind of power and authority are available to philosophers. Mauthner's philosophy of language expands on Le Doeuff to outline how philosophy acts parallel to other sociohistorical discourses, relying on public consensus and on the negotiation of stereotypes to create a viable speaking subject for the female philosopher.

In this engrossing book, Maria Dzielska searches behind the legend to bring us the real story of Hypatia's life and death, and new insight into her colorful ...

This biography of Hypatia, the female philosopher and mathematician in Christian Egypt, provides background on her work and her life as an elite woman at this time. There are many myths about Hypatia, including her research, inventions and the impact of her murder, all based on a handful of contemporary resources. Through presenting the different theories and myths alongside the available evidence, this book will enable the reader to make their own interpretations about her life. Whilst the evidence (...) does leave many questions unanswered, this book provides the evidence as it stands, separating the myth from reality. There is very little published on Hypatia and she forms quite a niche market in the history of ancient Egypt. However, she is an interesting example of how multicultural Alexandria functioned at such an unstable political time, and provides anecdotal evidence of the atrocities that occurred. This book will appeal to scholars, lay people and political and religious researchers, and will show that the history of Egypt does not end at Cleopatra. (shrink)

The first issues of the journal Hypatia, published from 1983 through 1985, truly heralded the rebirth of a feminist philosophy. Women in philosophy had been silenced since the days of the fourth-century Alexandrian woman philosopher and mathematician, Hypatia. With the establishment of the journal by the Society for Women in Philosophy, feminist issues and philosophy were legitimized. The first three issues of the journal were actually published as special issues of Women's Studies International Forum. From this unique incubational (...) arrangement, the journal has grown to be a successful independent voice for feminist philosophical concerns. In response to demand, essays from those early, now out-of-print issues are being published in book form as a testament to the rebirth of feminist philosophy. (shrink)

L’article donne une vue d’ensemble sur la réception antique et moderne de la figure alexandrine de la philosophe païenne Hypatie, dont le martyre en 415 de notre ère symbolise l’obscurantisme religieux des premiers chrétiens. L’article étudie les mécanismes de la transmission antique des savoirs, laquelle fonde la longue tradition de l’histoire européenne des idées. Surtout, il interroge la valeur de la tradition produite autour des textes évoquant Hypatie : par exemple, les lettres que Synésios de Cyrène aurait adressées à celle (...) qu’il désigne comme sa Maîtresse. Celles-ci, loin de révéler la réalité historique d’un amour très platonicien entre un savant et une femme à l’intelligence perçue comme quasi-divine, semblent plutôt mettre en scène un couple philosophique fictif, qui, à l’instar de Diotime et Socrate, valorise finalement l’élu, seul entre les disciples capable de saisir l’essence de la parole philosophique. Après cette déconstruction du personnage de la philosophe néo-platonicienne, l’article interroge la production de l’Hypatie historique. Il analyse en particulier les débats autour de la paternité ou la co-paternité des œuvres d’Hypatie traitant de l’astronomie et des mathématiques avant de conclure sur l’importance de l’oralité dans la tradition philosophique antique, des Pythagoriciens aux cercles alexandrins de la fin du iiie siècle et du début du ive siècle de notre ère. (shrink)

This is a reply to Esther Frances's comment, "Some Thoughts on the Content of Hypatia," in which she makes specific reference to the special issue on "Feminist Ethics and Medicine" which I edited.

"I think many people would find it a useful resource, both in terms of information on particular philosophers and as a point of inspiration for designing courses that incorporate the work of women philosophers.... I expect I will refer individual students to this book as a resource for their own work and I will consult it in designing future courses." —Teaching Philosophy "With intelligence and agility, the writers [present] female thinkers who influenced the famous philosophers of their respective ages. This (...) should become a standard text in both philosophy and women’s studies classes and will have great appeal to lay readers as well. Highly recommended." —Library Journal This study of women philosophers from the Middle Ages to the 20th century covers a wide spectrum of ideas—from religion, to evolution, to political theory. This unique volume brings creative women thinkers into mainstream discussions of the history of philosophy. Contributors examine the work of, among others, Hildegard of Bingen, Vicountess Conway, Sor Juana, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah Arendt, Angela Davis, and Hypatia herself. (shrink)

Die Leistungen der spatantiken Philosophin Hypatia in Wissenschaft, Philosophie und in der Offentlichkeit Alexandrias beeindruckten ihre Zeitgenossen. Autoren beleuchteten die Personlichkeit und das Wirken der gelehrten Frau vom ausgehenden vierten bis ins sechste Jahrhundert. Ihnen verdankt sich eine vielstimmige Hypatia-Rezeption im wissenschaftlichen Diskurs, in der Literatur und jungst auch im Film.<BR> Die griechischen sowie die lateinische Quelle zu Hypatia werden in dieser Studie vorgelegt, ubersetzt und mit historisch-philologischer Genauigigkeit sowie nach textwissenschaftlichen Kriterien erstmals systematisch analysiert. Die Autorin (...) legt Wert auf die kontextuelle Interpretation der sehr unterschiedlichen Quellen, zu denen u.a. literarische Briefe, ein Epigramm sowie Berichte in Philosophie- und Kirchengeschichte zahlen. Anhand von intertextuellen Bezugen erhellt das Buch, in welche Traditionen sich die Texte zu Hypatia einreihen. Vorherrschende, stereotypisierte Zuschreibungen an die Philosophin werden hinterfragt. Ausgehend von der Pramisse, dass Texte Wirklichkeit herstellen, nimmt die Studie die Frage auf, welche Vorstellungen und Bilder Hypatias die spatantiken Autoren entwerfen.". (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: The Philosophical Tale.

This essay surveys twenty-five years of feminist epistemology in the pages of Hypatia. Feminist contributions have addressed the affective dimensions of knowledge; the natures of justification, rationality, and the cognitive agent; and the nature of truth. They reflect thinking from both analytic and continental philosophical traditions and offer a rich tapestry of ideas from which to continue challenging tradition and forging analytical tools for the problems ahead.

Offering a study of women philosophers, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, this is a comprehensive view of women in the history of philosophy. Covering various ideas - from religion, to evolution, to political theory, this volume brings creative women thinkers into mainstream discussion of the history of philosophy.

Hypatia and Synesius lived in a highly divisive time with religious extremism on the rise and the meaning and role of Classical cultural fixtures like paideia, philosophia and manteia being questioned and redefined. I examine Synesius’ Letters, Dion, and De Insomniis to tease out the universalizing and harmonizing tendencies between pagan and Christian, theoria and paideia, philosophia and manteia that Synesius’ writings, life and career embody. I look at Synesius’ synthesis of Iamblichean and Plotinian tendencies, a binary found in (...) modern scholarship, to show that theurgy was likely part of Hypatia’s teaching within a well-rounded curriculum that included classical paideia and philosophical theoria. Synesius advocates for the importance of paideia, including rhetoric and philosophia as aids in the step-by-step approach to the spiritual ascent, while also acknowledging the value and universal accessibility of theoria reached by desert monks and the dream-divination that everyone can experience in sleep. Paideia makes the fall from the heights of theoria more pleasant, while philosophia is essential for purifying the pneuma and making it receptive to divinely inspired dreams. I propose that it was in Hypatia’s school that Synesius internalized a quote that reconciles the two approaches to the ascent. While society at large was obsessed with ever widening opposites and binaries, Hypatia’s Synesius both overtly and covertly emphasized harmonization and unity that are at the heart of philosophia. (shrink)

This article is a profile of the journal Hypatia for TPM: its founding, its mission, and central themes that figure in its close to 30 year publication history. When the first issues of Hypatia appeared in the mid-1980s they were the culmination, in the mid-1980s, of a decade-long process of visionary debate in the Society for Women in Philosophy (SWIP) about what form a journal of feminist philosophy should take, and extended discussion of how to make it a (...) reality. The guiding vision and a signature strength of Hypatia has always been its pluralism. The touchstone for the new generations of feminist philosophers who founded and now sustain Hypatia has been the real world, experiential and political issues that have galvanized feminist activism and scholarship since the late 1960s – directing attention to new questions as well as reframing the old. (shrink)

This paper focusses on John Toland's influentialHypatia(1720), an account of the neo-Platonist philosopher and mathematician murdered in ancient Alexandria; it also considers segments of hisLetters to Serena(1704), and suggests various conjunctions between the two texts which confirm Toland's genuine and sustained feminist commitment. As I try to establish, Toland's concern is as much about contemporaneous events as it is about ‘disinterested’ history: by promoting Hypatia as the representative of philosophy in its perennial struggle with superstition and priestcraft, Toland is (...) able to underscore the wider case for an inclusive and capacious conception of ‘enlightenment’. (shrink)

At the 1992 Women in the History of Philosophy Conference at Cambridge, the contestability of the title "philosopher" was a major item of discussion. Historically, it seemed, women could claim the title only if there was no doubt that their work was original, where originality had everything to do with producing writings that did not "merely" derive from, comment upon, contribute to, or critique the works of male philosophers. The requirement is odd in an intellectual discipline shaped and sustained by (...) critical-constructive debate that constitutes both its history and its substance, many of whose canonical participants have directed their major efforts to corroborating, refuting, and/or extending the ideas of their semblables elsewhere or in other times. The "merely derivative" criterion is difficult to credit when it merely confirms fixed assumptions about women's place in a social order where they had no audible public voice and achieved minimal wider acknowledgement for their private utterances. For, although no simple conspiracy theory could account for women's philosophical silence, the original-versus-derivative distinction has often functioned as a double standard, recognizing many men as philosophers because of their engagement with topics that preoccupied other, already established philosophers, denying women recognition because of equivalent engagements. The injustice of these practices prompts Linda McAlister's project of collecting these eighteen articles, which span the time period from the work of Hypatia in the fourth century BC to the late-twentieth-century work of Hannah Arendt and Angela Davis. Many of the essays first appeared in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, some of them are reprinted from other journals, and five appear here for the first time. In presenting detailed, engaged philosophical analyses of the work of women philosophers, the essays begin to address the belief that women, "denied the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of their foremothers", have frequently had to enter philosophical discourse through the auspices of men. They attest to the contingencies of canon formation in determining who can claim a place in the lineage of the fathers. (shrink)

A response to the exchange between Esther Frances and Helen Bequaert Holmes on the contents of Hypatia.

Hypatia, as a journal, seems to adhere to the "party line" of academic philosophy. Is this a hindrance to creative feminist thinking?