[SydPhil] 2026 Women in Philosophy Lecture

[Jane Johnson]

We are delighted to invite you to the 2026 Macquarie University Women in Philosophy Lecture. Prof Dalia Nassar (University of Sydney) will deliver this year's lecture entitled “What we Learn about Philosophy when we Stop Excluding Women: The Case of the Nineteenth Century”.

The lecture will be held Wednesday 4th November, 5-7pm at Macquarie University’s Wallumattagal Campus (North Ryde) in C122 Exhibition Space, 25 Wally’s Walk. For more information and to register go to:

https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/lQaGC4QOPEi609Z4RTOfGXs4V0CS?domain=forms.cloud.microsoft

Abstract
Until very recently, if you asked a philosopher who the women in the history of philosophy were, the reply would have been "there were no women in the history of philosophy.” However, as ground-breaking work across the history of philosophy has now demonstrated, not only were women interested in philosophical questions from the ancient period onwards, they also participated in the most crucial debates of their time, were widely read and highly influential. With these insights emerge a plethora of questions. Why, how, and when were women excluded from philosophy’s history? What does the exclusion of women say about philosophy, its history, and their relation? And, what does a more “inclusive” history tell us about what philosophy is or ought to be. To answer these questions, I offer case studies from nineteenth-century philosophy, homing in on three women who, in different ways, challenged some of the most symptomatic features of modern philosophy —  increasing professionalisation, obscurity, a priorism and a strong separation between theory and practice — and instead developed a more engaged and lived form of philosophy. What can we learn from these thinkers about what philosophy was and what it can (once again) be? How might their insights and practices inspire us today - in our teaching, research, and lives more generally? And what, ultimately,  does a more inclusive history imply for philosophy’s self-understanding?

All welcome!