Gender scholarship during the last four decades has shown that the exclusion of women's voices and perspectives has diminished academic disciplines in important ways. Traditional scholarship in philosophy is no different. The 'recovery project' in philosophy is engaged in re-discovering the names, lives, texts, and perspectives of women philosophers from the 6th Century BCE to the present. Karen Warren brings together 16 colleagues for a unique, groundbreaking study of Western philosophy which combines pairs of leading men and women philosophers over the past 2600 years, acknowledging and evaluating their contributions to foundational themes in philosophy, including epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Introductory essays, primary source readings, and commentaries comprise each chapter to offer a rich and accessible introduction to and evaluation of these vital philosophical contributions. A helpful appendix canvasses an extraordinary number of women philosophers for further discovery and study.

Karen J. Warren is professor of philosophy at Macalester College. She is a pioneer in ecofeminist philosophy and is the author of Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It is and Why It Matters.

Chapter 1 PrefaceChapter 2 Foreword: Including Women in Ancient and Medieval PhilosophiesChapter 3 Lead Essay: 2600 Years of the History of Western Philosophy Without Women: This Book as a Unique, Gender Inclusive AlternativeChapter 4Chapter One: Plato and DiotimaChapter 5 IntroductionChapter 6 Selections from Plato (Excerpts from the Symposium and the Phaedrus)Chapter 7 Selection from Diotima (Excerpts from the Symposium)Chapter 8 CommentaryChapter 9Chapter Two: Aristotle and Late Pythagorean WomenChapter 10 IntroductionChapter 11 Selections from Aristotle (Excerpts from Nicomachean Ethics, Metaphysics)Chapter 12 Selection from Late Pythagorean Women (Excerpts from Letters from Theano to Euboule, Theano to Kallisto, Theano to Nikostrate; and Periktione's, On the Harmony of Women; Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras)Chapter 13 CommentaryChapter 14Chapter Three: Augustine and HildegardChapter 15 IntroductionChapter 16 Selections from St. Augustine (Excerpts from Confessions, Literal Commentary on Genesis, and Trinity)Chapter 17 Selections from Hildegard (Excerpts from Scivias, Book of Divine Works, Hildegard ofBingen: Mystical Writings)Chapter 18 CommentaryChapter 19Chapter Four: Abelard and HeloiseChapter 20 IntroductionChapter 21 Selections from Abelard (Excerpts from The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard, Historia Calamitatum, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise)Chapter 22 Selections from Heloise (Excerpts from The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise)Chapter 23 CommentaryChapter 24Chapter Five: Descartes and ElisabethChapter 25 IntroductionChapter 26 Selection from Descartes (Excerpts from A Philosophical Correspondence: ElisabethPrincess Palatine and Rene Descartes)Chapter 27 Selection from Elisabeth (Excerpts from A Philosophical Correspondence: Elisabeth Princess Palatine and Rene Descartes)Chapter 28 CommentaryChapter 29Chapter Six: Hobbes and MacaulayChapter 30 IntroductionChapter 31 Selection from Hobbes (Excerpts from Leviathan)Chapter 32 Selections from Macaulay (Excerpts from Letters on Education)Chapter 33 CommentaryChapter 34Chapter Seven: Locke and MashamChapter 35 IntroductionChapter 36 Selection from Masham (Excerpts from Occasional Thoughts In Reference to a Virtuous or Christian Life)Chapter 37 Selection from Locke (Excerpts from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding)Chapter 38 CommentaryChapter 39Chapter Eight: Leibniz and ConwayChapter 40 IntroductionChapter 41 Selection from Leibniz (Excerpts from Monadology)Chapter 42 Selections from Conway (Excerpts from Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy)Chapter 43 CommentaryChapter 44Chapter Nine: Rousseau and WollstonecraftChapter 45 IntroductionChapter 46 Selections from Rousseau (Excerpts from Èmile and The Social Contract)Chapter 47 Selection from Wollstonecraft (Excerpts from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman)Chapter 48 CommentaryChapter 50Chapter Ten: Kant and Van SchurmanChapter 51 IntroductionChapter 52 Selection from Kant (Introduction to the Critique of Pure Reason)Chapter 53 Selection from van Schurman (Excerpts from The Learned Maid)Chapter 54 CommentaryChapter 55Chapter Eleven: Mill and TaylorChapter 56 IntroductionChapter 57 Selection from Mill (Excerpts from The Subjection of Women)Chapter 58 Selection from Taylor (Excerpts from The Enfranchisement of Women)Chapter 59 CommentaryChapter 60Chapter Twelve: Heidegger and ArendtChapter 61 IntroductionChapter 62 Selections from Heidegger (Excerpts from Letter on Humanism)Chapter 63 Selections from Arendt (Excerpts from Thinking and Moral Considerations: ALecture)Chapter 64 CommentaryChapter 65Chapter Thirteen: Dewey and AddamsChapter 66 IntroductionChapter 67 Selections from Dewey (Excerpts from Theories of Knowledge and Creative Democracy -The Task Before Us)Chapter 68 Selections from Addams (Excerpts from A Modern Lear and Introduction to Democracy and Social Ethics)Chapter 69 CommentaryChapter 70Chapter Fourteen: Wittgenstein and AnscombeChapter 71 Selection from Wittgenstein (Excerpts from Philosophical Investigations)Chapter 72 Selection from Anscombe (Excerpts from Intention and The Justice of the Present War Examined')Chapter 73 CommentaryChapter 74Chapter Fifteen: Sartre and BeauvoirChapter 75 IntroductionChapter 76 Selection from Sartre (Excerpt from Being and Nothingness)Chapter 77 Selection from Beauvoir (Excerpts from The Second Sex and She Came to Stay)Chapter 78 CommentaryChapter 79 Glossary of Key TermsChapter 80 Appendix A: Some Women Philosophers in the History of Western PhilosophyChapter 81 Appendix B: 2600 Years of Gender Exclusive Philosophy: Enough is Enough!A Student Perspective by the Book's Research Assistant