Inside the Minds of Forgotten Female Philosophers

Historically, the world of philosophy has kept women at an arm's length. An exercise that has bled into the present, explains associate professor at Copenhagen University Sabrina Ebbersmeyer.

Illustration by Carolina Diaz

When Sabrina Ebbersmeyer started studying philosophy in Germany, gender was not on her mind. Entering the academic sphere, Ebbersmeyer assumed she was playing in a neutral field. But Ebbersmeyer got wiser, not only in philosophy but also in realizing that being a woman in the philosophical arena meant the rules are not always to your advantage.

Today Ebbersmeyer is an associate professor at Copenhagen University and gender is on the top of her agenda. In November 2019, she started the research project ‘Archeology of the Female Intellectual Identity’. This title might lead your thoughts to the area of history, but even though the project does investigate how women historically have been kept out of the philosophical discipline, Ebbersmeyer was initially motivated by the experiences she had as a female philosopher, she says:

‘‘When I started studying philosophy in Germany there were no female philosophers in permanent positions at my university. Then I came to Copenhagen University and became the first woman appointed to a permanent position at the philosophy department at the university.’’

Not being represented in the academic field has real consequences, Ebbersmeyer points out:

‘’Sometimes when you go to a philosophy department as a woman you can end up feeling a little depressed. The pictures, the topics, and all the men working there make it difficult for women to associate and relate to that world. We hope to bring more women in and to make the field more diverse.’’

Through this project, Ebbersmeyer is determined to shine a light on some of the female thinkers who have been neglected, and this is important in a time where philosophy students are rarely introduced to women philosophers. Ebbersmeyer hopes to change this by reading some of the forgotten female thinkers:

‘’One of the thinkers I have focused on is the Danish Birgitte Thott. She is a great thinker but she has been very neglected, and today no one really knows about her. We want to edit her work and make it more accessible, and by that also make it known that there have been great female thinkers all through history.’’

A Threat to the Patriarchy

But why were these women thinkers kept out of the philosophical discipline and the public? And how is it possible that the allegedly equal and liberated societies of today still don't know about them? One reason is simply that allowing women in the public and academic sphere could constitute a threat to the status quo, Ebbersmeyer explains:

‘’I believe that the reason why women historically were kept out has something to do with power and patriarchy. I believe it could have been a very great threat to the patriarchy if women became intellectual figures and if they were represented in the public in general.’’

This combined with how women historically have been perceived by the philosophical world has resulted in the lack of female representation in philosophy today, Ebbersmeyer argues:

‘’A lot of philosophers from the past, all the way back to Aristotle and Plato, developed theories on how women were not fit for philosophy. These theories were kept and recognized up through the history of philosophy. The discipline became male-dominated, which also meant that the topics philosophers dealt with were topics that appealed more to men - all this made it difficult for women to make their voices be heard.‘’

Strengthening the Female bonds

Many issues have led us to the current state of academic philosophy, where women unfortunately still are underrepresented. But Ebbersmeyer does seem hopeful about the future. In her department, a mentoring program for women has been established. The idea is to create a network for the women who work with philosophy and the program has obtained results, Ebbersmeyer tells:

‘’Today we can see that a lot of academic friendships between women have evolved. Hopefully these friendships will keep some of the women in the philosophical discipline. And that is what I hope to do: to keep the women in philosophy. So many women start out doing philosophy and then end up in another field. I hope to create a shared identity for the women in philosophy which can make them feel like they have a place here as well.’’ Ebbersmeyer says.

In the future, the space for an intellectual female identity will hopefully be created, both within the history of philosophy and through a strengthened network of the female philosophers of today.