Society for the Study of Women Philosophers, Inc.
a non-profit, tax-exempt educational charity 501(c)3 Internal Revenue Code

Diotima of Mantinea, teacher of Socrates.

Welcome to the study of women philosophers. You know the men's names: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Mill, Kant, Hegel, Wittgenstein....and many more.

Since 2300 BCE women have been teaching and writing philosophy.

Women have contributed to every specialty area within philosophy: ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, logic, social and political philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, etc.  

Women's participation in the discipline includes all specialties of philosophical inquiry.

View sample clips from

Busted!! A Pictorial History of Women Philosophers

Volume 2:

The Late Renaissance

through the Enlightenment

Margaret More Roper

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

Pictured above:

Zeb un Nisa on the cover of DVD Volume 2

Members of the Society for the Study of Women Philosophers have engaged in "recovery projects" that document the contributions of nearly 200 women to philosophy. Women's contributions include ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, early modern philosophy, as well as 19th and 20th century philosophy. Most of the women philosophers we have found come from the western tradition.  HOWEVER:

Women have contributed to philosophical discussions within Shinto, Daoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Jaina,  Islam as well as Judaism and Christianity.  

Society members also undertake "restoration projects" -- the scholarly work needed to authenticate texts, confirm authorship and create modern editions and translations of works by early women philosophers.

Anna Julia Cooper

1858-1964

En Hedu' Anna

(death mask)

circa 2300 BCE

The Society for the Study of Women Philosophers offers a positive, welcoming climate within the discipline of philosophy for women and men who want to promote scholarship by and about women philosophers.

We are building a fund to create travel scholarships for graduate students whose papers have been accepted (following blind peer review) for presentation at our conferences.

Our forward-looking perspective encourages philosophers to consider styles and genres other than the essay as ways in which philosophical concepts and arguments are expressed.