Mary Astell: Theorist of Freedom from Domination

Philosopher, theologian, educational theorist, feminist, and political pamphleteer, Mary Astell was an important figure in the history of ideas of the early modern period in many contexts. (She contributed to the British debate over toleration and dissent from the 1690s, which inaugurated the modern secular state.) Patricia Springborg's study recovers the historical and philosophical contexts of her thought. She demonstrates that Astell was not alone in her views but, rather, part of a cohort of early modern women philosophers grappling with the existential problems of a new age.