Literary genre, method, and the scope of philosophy: The case of Margaret Cavendish’s Prefaces
Detlefsen, Karen
Literary genre, method, and the scope of philosophy: The case of Margaret Cavendish’s Prefaces - 2022.
42
The Physical and Philosophical Opinions provides interesting material for understanding Cavendish’s position on the intellectual equality or otherwise of women and men. While the text itself does not provide a definitive account of the subject, the prefatory material to the book, which includes autobiographical musings, helps explain why Cavendish finds the questions so difficult to grapple with. For, because women’s knowledge claims are routinely rejected as carrying value, evidence that women can bring to the question is frequently lost, so it is unclear that the question at hand is yet one that Cavendish and others at her time have sufficient evidence to answer. Turning to the wide range of genres in Cavendish’s oeuvres is crucial for gaining a full understanding of her approach to philosophical questions.
Literary genre, method, and the scope of philosophy: The case of Margaret Cavendish’s Prefaces - 2022.
42
The Physical and Philosophical Opinions provides interesting material for understanding Cavendish’s position on the intellectual equality or otherwise of women and men. While the text itself does not provide a definitive account of the subject, the prefatory material to the book, which includes autobiographical musings, helps explain why Cavendish finds the questions so difficult to grapple with. For, because women’s knowledge claims are routinely rejected as carrying value, evidence that women can bring to the question is frequently lost, so it is unclear that the question at hand is yet one that Cavendish and others at her time have sufficient evidence to answer. Turning to the wide range of genres in Cavendish’s oeuvres is crucial for gaining a full understanding of her approach to philosophical questions.
Réseaux sociaux