Vindication of the Rights of Woman, A by Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797)

Vindication of the Rights of Woman, A by Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797)

by

Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but only appeared to be because they lacked education. She suggested that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagined a social order founded on reason. – Today, Wollstonecraft is considered a foundational thinker in feminist philosophy. Her early advocacy of women’s equality and her attacks on conventional femininity and the degradation of women presaged the later emergence of the feminist political movement. Feminist scholars and activists have cited both her philosophical ideas and personal struggles as important influences in their work.

This is one of the 12 Books That Changed the World by Melvyn Bragg. (Summary from Wikipedia and Alex Foster)

Recent Episodes

  • Brief Sketch of the life of Mary Wollstonecraft (incl. letter)

    55 years ago
  • Author's Introduction

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 1: The Rights and Involved Duties Of Mankind Considered

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 2: The Prevailing Opinion Of a Sexual Character Discussed

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 3: The Same Subject Continued

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 4: Observations On the State Of Degradation To Which Woman Is Reduced By Various Causes Part 1

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 4: Observations On the State Of Degradation To Which Woman Is Reduced By Various Causes Part 2

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 4: Observations On the State Of Degradation To Which Woman Is Reduced By Various Causes Part 3

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 5: Animadversions On Some Of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women As Objects Of Pity, Bordering On Contempt Part 1

    55 years ago
  • Chapter 5: Animadversions On Some Of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women As Objects Of Pity, Bordering On Contempt Part 2

    55 years ago