How to Think Like a Woman audiobook cover - Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Live a Life of the Mind

How to Think Like a Woman

Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Live a Life of the Mind

Regan Penaluna

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How to Think Like a Woman
Philosophy's Gender Problem+
Mary Astell (17th Century)+
Damaris Masham (17th Century)+
Mary Wollstonecraft (18th Century)+
Catharine Cockburn (17th/18th Century)+
Reimagining the Canon+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 6
According to the text, what is a major consequence of the historical scarcity of women in the field of academic philosophy?
  • A. It leads to the creation of separate, women-only philosophy departments in modern universities.
  • B. It creates a self-perpetuating cycle where the lack of women is seen as evidence of their inability to philosophize.
  • C. It forces modern universities to prioritize feminist perspectives in their core undergraduate curricula.
  • D. It encourages male philosophers to actively mentor young women to balance the discipline's demographics.
Question 2 of 6
How did historically revered male philosophers like Aristotle and Hegel view women's intellectual abilities, according to the text?
  • A. They viewed women as intellectual equals but believed society was not ready for female scholars.
  • B. They consistently disparaged women, with Aristotle calling them "deformed males" and Hegel comparing them to plants.
  • C. They believed women possessed a superior capacity for emotional intelligence but lacked logical reasoning.
  • D. They actively championed women's education but argued against their participation in public political debates.
Question 3 of 6
While Mary Astell passionately advocated for women's right to education, what moral blind spot did Penaluna identify in Astell's philosophy?
  • A. She believed that women should only study theology and entirely avoid political philosophy.
  • B. She argued that women must permanently abandon marriage and motherhood to pursue intellectual lives.
  • C. She neglected the struggles and inclusion of lower-class and non-white women.
  • D. She maintained that women were naturally superior to men in rational thought.
Question 4 of 6
How did Damaris Masham's philosophical views contrast with the thinkers of her time who preached austere detachment?
  • A. She argued that love for God's creation, beginning with a mother's love, is the foundation of virtue and inquiry.
  • B. She asserted that strict logic and mathematics were the only true paths to understanding God's will.
  • C. She believed that true intellectual freedom required complete isolation from family and society.
  • D. She agreed with Malebranche that a mother's imagination was dangerous and caused "monstrous" outcomes.
Question 5 of 6
What key realization did Penaluna have when studying Mary Wollstonecraft's life and works, particularly her unfinished novel "Maria"?
  • A. Wollstonecraft's philosophy was entirely detached from her personal struggles and relationships.
  • B. Wollstonecraft believed that women should adopt the exact intellectual frameworks created by male philosophers like Rousseau.
  • C. Wollstonecraft's feminism was forged through a difficult struggle to reconcile her hunger for love with her commitment to intellectual autonomy.
  • D. Wollstonecraft ultimately concluded that women could only achieve freedom by avoiding romantic relationships with men entirely.
Question 6 of 6
How did Catharine Cockburn continue to engage with philosophical questions during her 17-year retreat from public life to raise her children?
  • A. By anonymously publishing critiques of John Locke in major academic journals.
  • B. By writing private letters and fictional correspondences exploring the shared oppression of women.
  • C. By hosting secret philosophical salons for women in her estate's library.
  • D. By abandoning philosophy entirely to write instructional manuals on domestic duties.

How to Think Like a Woman — Full Chapter Overview

How to Think Like a Woman Summary & Overview

How to Think Like a Woman (2023) is an exploration of one woman’s journey to reclaim her love of philosophy in the face of a male-dominated canon. Interweaving memoir with the biographies of four extraordinary seventeenth- and eighteenth-century women philosophers, this inventive meditation challenges the foundations of traditional philosophical thought and envisions a more inclusive future for the discipline.

Who Should Listen to How to Think Like a Woman?

  • Women in academia who have experienced the challenges of navigating a male-dominated field
  • Fans of thought-provoking memoirs and biographies 
  • Anyone seeking an alternative perspective on the traditional Western philosophical canon

About the Author: Regan Penaluna

Regan Penaluna is a writer, editor, and philosopher who holds a master’s degree in journalism and a PhD in philosophy. Her feature writing has been recognized by the Atlantic as one of “100 Exceptional Works of Journalism,” and her debut book, How to Think Like a Woman, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice.

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