Women in Philosophy

1. Simone de Beauvoir
2. Iris Murdoch
3. Ayn Rand
4. Simone Weil
5. Comparison Page

1. Laura M. Kelly
2. Jeannemarie Miller

This page was created as the independent study of two philosophy minors at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY. Each student prepared her own research over a period of time with consultation of our faculty advisor Dr. Kate Lindemann as well as each other.

We (Laura and Jeannemarie) met in a meditation class we took together. During and after class,we would discuss our feelings and questions that our meditation had begun to stir up. We were both going through some trying times, questioning different aspects of our individual lives, "Who am I?, Where am I headed?, Why do I shape my relationships the way I do?, How/Where does God fit into my life?, Who/What should we be thinking about studying for our independent study?" We knew we wanted to study women in philosophy because they don't get enough attention and up until this point, we had studied predominantly male philosophers.

Jeannemarie was particularly interested in Simone Weil after reading Waiting for God for another philosophy class. Laura was turned on to Simone de Beauvoir after having done some research about her for a history class. When we talked to Dr. Kate Lindemann, our faculty advisor, she said it was a wonderful idea because the two contrasted each other so much.

We thought we should choose more than two philosophers, so Laura suggested Iris Murdoch. Laura had gone to a lecture given by Dr. Patricia O'Connor, professor at Queens College, about the philosopher and thought she might be interesting to study. While searching the library for information about these three women, we found a book titled, . We started with the table of contents, which listed all of the women the book discussed, and decided on Ayn Rand because she was the only one we knew nothing about.

As for the topics of Love, Self, and Soul, Simone Weil's essay titled "The Love of God and Affliction," was one that Jeannemarie thought was particularly influential in her time of confusion and question. It discussed the soul and God during a time when she was questioning her faith. Laura liked the concept of love after attending the lecture when Patricia O'Connor listed and discussed Iris Murdoch's four forms of love. Since we were both questioning events and trying to define and identify our True Selves, we chose to include the term self.

(*) designates a footnote and may be clicked on to go to the footnote page.

Works Cited and Acknowledgements for pictures and graphics.

Women in Philosophy. Last updated March 5, 1998. Web Page by Laura M. Kelly and Jeannemarie Miller. Send an e-mail to Jeannemarie or to LKelly.

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