Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics
A compelling portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft that shows the intimate connections between her life and work

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, first published in 1792, is a work of enduring relevance in women's rights advocacy. However, as Sylvana Tomaselli shows, a full understanding of Wollstonecraft’s thought is possible only through a more comprehensive appreciation of Wollstonecraft herself, as a philosopher and moralist who deftly tackled major social and political issues and the arguments of such figures as Edmund Burke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith. Reading Wollstonecraft through the lens of the politics and culture of her own time, this book restores her to her rightful place as a major eighteenth-century thinker, reminding us why her work still resonates today.

The book’s format echoes one that Wollstonecraft favored in Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: short essays paired with concise headings. Under titles such as “Painting,” “Music,” “Memory,” “Property and Appearance,” and “Rank and Luxury,” Tomaselli explores not only what Wollstonecraft enjoyed and valued, but also her views on society, knowledge and the mind, human nature, and the problem of evil—and how a society based on mutual respect could fight it. The resulting picture of Wollstonecraft reveals her as a particularly engaging author and an eloquent participant in enduring social and political concerns.

Drawing us into Wollstonecraft’s approach to the human condition and the debates of her day, Wollstonecraft ultimately invites us to consider timeless issues with her, so that we can become better attuned to the world as she saw it then, and as we might wish to see it now.

"1136848522"
Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics
A compelling portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft that shows the intimate connections between her life and work

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, first published in 1792, is a work of enduring relevance in women's rights advocacy. However, as Sylvana Tomaselli shows, a full understanding of Wollstonecraft’s thought is possible only through a more comprehensive appreciation of Wollstonecraft herself, as a philosopher and moralist who deftly tackled major social and political issues and the arguments of such figures as Edmund Burke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith. Reading Wollstonecraft through the lens of the politics and culture of her own time, this book restores her to her rightful place as a major eighteenth-century thinker, reminding us why her work still resonates today.

The book’s format echoes one that Wollstonecraft favored in Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: short essays paired with concise headings. Under titles such as “Painting,” “Music,” “Memory,” “Property and Appearance,” and “Rank and Luxury,” Tomaselli explores not only what Wollstonecraft enjoyed and valued, but also her views on society, knowledge and the mind, human nature, and the problem of evil—and how a society based on mutual respect could fight it. The resulting picture of Wollstonecraft reveals her as a particularly engaging author and an eloquent participant in enduring social and political concerns.

Drawing us into Wollstonecraft’s approach to the human condition and the debates of her day, Wollstonecraft ultimately invites us to consider timeless issues with her, so that we can become better attuned to the world as she saw it then, and as we might wish to see it now.

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Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics

Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics

by Sylvana Tomaselli
Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics

Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics

by Sylvana Tomaselli

Paperback

$22.95 
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Overview

A compelling portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft that shows the intimate connections between her life and work

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, first published in 1792, is a work of enduring relevance in women's rights advocacy. However, as Sylvana Tomaselli shows, a full understanding of Wollstonecraft’s thought is possible only through a more comprehensive appreciation of Wollstonecraft herself, as a philosopher and moralist who deftly tackled major social and political issues and the arguments of such figures as Edmund Burke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith. Reading Wollstonecraft through the lens of the politics and culture of her own time, this book restores her to her rightful place as a major eighteenth-century thinker, reminding us why her work still resonates today.

The book’s format echoes one that Wollstonecraft favored in Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: short essays paired with concise headings. Under titles such as “Painting,” “Music,” “Memory,” “Property and Appearance,” and “Rank and Luxury,” Tomaselli explores not only what Wollstonecraft enjoyed and valued, but also her views on society, knowledge and the mind, human nature, and the problem of evil—and how a society based on mutual respect could fight it. The resulting picture of Wollstonecraft reveals her as a particularly engaging author and an eloquent participant in enduring social and political concerns.

Drawing us into Wollstonecraft’s approach to the human condition and the debates of her day, Wollstonecraft ultimately invites us to consider timeless issues with her, so that we can become better attuned to the world as she saw it then, and as we might wish to see it now.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691241753
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 09/06/2022
Pages: 248
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sylvana Tomaselli is the Sir Harry Hinsley Lecturer in History at St John’s College, Cambridge. She is the editor of Mary Wollstonecraft: “A Vindication of the Rights of Men” and “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" and "Hints."

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 What She Liked and Loved 12

The Theater 14

Painting 21

Music 27

Poetry 35

Nature 45

Reading 50

Lowe and! Friendship 53

Concluding Reflections 62

Chapter 2 Who Are We? What Are We Made Of? 65

The Unity of Humanity 65

Slavery 69

Human Nature 73

The Imagination 81

Memory 91

Sensory Experience and the Association of Ideas 92

Reason 95

Mind, Body, and Soul 100

The Will 103

The Passions, the Appetites, and Emotions 105

Concluding Reflections 108

Chapter 3 What Went Wrong? The World as It Was 112

Evil and Perfection 114

Writing the History of Civilization 122

The State of Nature and First Societies 126

Rank and Womanhood 134

Burke's Reflections 142

Burke, Wollstonecraft, Appearing and Being 146

Dependence 148

The Many Consequences of Inheritance 153

Property and Appearance 155

Idleness 160

Inequality or Vanity? 162

Concluding Reflections 164

Chapter 4 What She Wished and Wanted 166

Writing for Society as It Is and for Society as It Ought to Be 166

A New Idea of Woman, but Also of Man 167

The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, Patriotism, and the Progress of Civilization 174

The Limits of Education 178

The Enlightened World of the Future 184

Commerce and the Division of Labor 185

Rank and Luxury 188

Effeminacy and Vanity 191

The Virtues 193

Marriage, Sex, and Friendship 197

In Sum 203

The World to Come 205

Chapter 5 A Life Unfinished 209

Bibliography 213

Index 221

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This momentous, impeccably researched, and beautifully written book recovers Mary Wollstonecraft as a unique personality and a political philosopher of note. By considering Wollstonecraft’s writings holistically, Tomaselli delivers a breathtaking new look at who Wollstonecraft really was and what she loved and believed in enough to write about, argue over, and risk her life for."—Eileen Hunt Botting, author of Wollstonecraft, Mill, and Women’s Human Rights

"Here is an original and thought-provoking introduction to the life and work of Mary Wollstonecraft. Drawing upon a wide range of Wollstonecraft’s writings, including her letters and numerous book reviews, Tomaselli shines new and surprising light on A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."—Karen O’Brien, author of Women and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Britain



"Wollstonecraft is a multidimensional portrayal of an all-too-short life in which writing was Mary Wollstonecraft’s triumph over adversity. Tomaselli wants us to appreciate what Wollstonecraft ‘liked and loved’ as much as what she condemned, and how much she gained from the works of her chosen antagonists, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke, even as they enraged her. Reading A Vindication of the Rights of Woman alongside A Vindication of the Rights of Men, Tomaselli treats both as expressions of Wollstonecraft’s commitment to the perfection of humanity."—John Robertson, University of Cambridge

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