Introduction

This introduction provides an overview of the main philosophical themes and issues in the selected letters of three eighteenth-century English women: Mary Astell, Elizabeth Thomas, and Catharine Trotter Cockburn. It is argued that by bringing their letters to light, it is possible to gain a fuller appreciation of women’s involvement in philosophical debates of the 1690s and early 1700s. Their letters demonstrate not only that men engaged with women’s ideas in this time but that women engaged with other women about topical issues in philosophy, especially issues related to practical-ethical and religious affairs. The introduction concludes with a brief survey of the main philosophical themes in the texts, ranging from ethics and moral theology to metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, and the concerns of women as a sociopolitical group.

Elizabeth Thomas (1675–1731)

This chapter contains selected letters from the correspondence of Elizabeth Thomas, an English poet and letter writer of the early eighteenth century. It includes Thomas’s letters to and from John Norris, Mary Chudleigh, and Richard Hemington, spanning the period from 1699 to 1705. The chapter begins with an introductory essay by the editor, highlighting the main philosophical themes of the correspondence, including animal souls, thinking matter, divine foreknowledge, love and friendship, and the moral and intellectual capacities of women. It is demonstrated that Thomas raises a number of her most critical points in her appraisal of Norris’s metaphysics and in her letters to Hemington concerning Norris’s theory of love. The text includes editorial annotations to assist the reader’s understanding of early modern terms and ideas.

Catharine Trotter Cockburn (1679?–1749)

This chapter contains selected letters from the correspondence of Catharine Trotter Cockburn, an English moral philosopher of Scottish descent. It includes a large selection of Cockburn’s letters to and from her niece Ann Hepburn Arbuthnot, spanning the period from 1731 to 1748, as well as letters from Cockburn’s exchanges with the philosophers John Locke and Edmund Law. The topics of the letters concern ethical and moral-theological issues such as the metaphysical foundations of moral obligation and the role of reason in discerning the will of God. The chapter begins with an introductory essay by the editor, arguing that the letters provide insight into how Cockburn developed her mature ethical position in relation to her philosophical contemporaries, especially the freethinkers, deists, mystics, and advocates of self-interest in her time. The text includes editorial annotations to assist the reader’s understanding of early modern words and ideas.

Mary Astell (1666–1731)

This chapter includes selected letters from the correspondence of early English feminist Mary Astell. It includes Astell’s letters to and from John Norris, George Hickes, and an unknown religious woman, spanning the period from 1693 to 1705. It begins with an introductory essay by the editor, showing that Astell’s letters contain a number of the same philosophical commitments found in her later published works, including the same rigorous method of thinking and a high value for intellectual integrity and impartiality. The topics of the letters range from issues to do with the love of God and the causation of sensation to the value of female friendship and the importance of exercising independent judgement in religious matters. The text includes editorial annotations to assist the reader’s understanding of early modern words and ideas.