How to Think Like a Woman

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This exhilarating account explores the lives and works of influential seventeenth- and eighteenth-century feminist philosophers such as Mary Astell, Damaris Masham, Catharine Cockburn, and Mary Wollstonecraft, while also reflecting on the author's experiences with patriarchy and sexism in academia. Growing up in small-town Iowa, Regan Penaluna was captivated by big questions and fell in love with philosophy in college, believing it would lead her to a life of the mind. However, she soon encountered the misogyny and harassment prevalent in the Western philosophical canon taught in American universities, which diminished the value of women and their intellect. In her quest for women philosophers, Penaluna discovered Damaris Cudworth Masham, a contemporary of John Locke, who wrote about knowledge, God, and women's conditions. This discovery led her to other remarkable figures, including Astell, who made a living writing philosophy; Cockburn, a philosopher and playwright; and Wollstonecraft, a strong advocate for women's intellect. These women reignited Penaluna's passion for philosophy and her feminist consciousness. Blending memoir, biography, and criticism, the author weaves their stories into an alternative history of philosophy alongside her own journey for love and truth. This work is a funny, honest, and intelligent meditation on what philosophy could be if women were treated equally.