Is it true or not that women have ever been philosophers?

Abstract

This article is mainly based on the results obtained during the research project “The Second Plan: Women in Russian Philosophy”, supported by a grant from the National Centre of Science of Poland. The project was implemented in close international cooperation with Russian and Polish researchers at the University of Zelenogur (Poland). It is shown that despite the fact that among the great philosophers, creators of original philosophical systems, there were no women, women had a significant influence on the development of world philosophical thought, acting as mentors, inspirers, interpreters, assistants, wives and girlfriends of philosophers. Women also have their own place in the history of Russian philosophy which can not be ignored or underestimated. Thus, there were historians of philosophy (e.g. M. Bezobrazova, L. Salome), teachers of philosophy (K. Miloradovich), translators of philosophical works (K. Miloradovich, E. Ameni­ts­kaya, E. Kazanovich), owners and editors of philosophical publishing houses (M. Morozova, O. Bezobrazova), assistants of philosophers and co-authors of philosophical works (S. Spielrein), public figures, revolutionaries and fighters for women’s rights, including higher education for women (L. Akselrod), organizers and ideologists of literary and philosophical movements (Z. Gippius). The urgency of the so-called “women issue” in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is noted (V.V. Rozanov, N.K. Mikhailovsky, N.N. Strakhov). The conclusion is made that at that time in Russia there was an objective need for the inclusion of women in the philosophical community.