4 comments

JeSoPazza [OP]November 20, 2022(Edited November 20, 2022)

An NDPR review. Cobbe was a feminist (women are rational creatures capable of virtue) in a fairly narrow Christian and traditional vein (women will embrace their stereotypical roles in society). She seems to be more of an intellectual and a moralist than a philosopher.

https://archive.ph/A3jfe

areteNovember 20, 2022

IIRC, Cobbe was an important member of Lydia Becker's National Society for Women's Suffrage. She didn't seem to have embraced women's stereotypical roles herself - apart from being a prominent writer, suffragist, and animal rights campaigner, she lived with a female partner for more than 30 years.

Oxford New Histories of Philosophy sounds like an interesting series. Thanks for sharing!

JeSoPazza [OP]November 20, 2022

Now that's interesting... 'Do as I preach, not as I say'?

areteNovember 21, 2022

Not having read her works, I can't say what exactly her reasoning was. She was the descent of Charles Cobbe, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, so perhaps a strong Christian faith ran in the family. At the same time, I think some first wave feminists argued that greater freedom and economic independence for women would not mean the end of marriage, but an elevation of heterosexual relationships, not necessarily because they believed that, but because being openly anti-marriage would be too radical and make feminism unpopular. And lesbians would have to be extra-cautious to avoid drawing scrutiny to their own relationships.