TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Poullain de la Barre’s Cartesian Feminism - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0001
[François Poullain, women, education, equality, feminism, treatises, leisure, Two Sexes, Education of Ladies, Excellence of Men]
François Poullain de la Barre wrote three treatises on women's nature and destiny. Bringing Cartesian objectivity to gender issues, he published On the Equality of the Two Sexes: A Physical and Moral Discourse which Shows the Importance of Getting Rid of One's Prejudices anonymously in 1673, which addressed cultural inequalities between the sexes. The following year, Poullain published On the Education of Ladies: For Training the Mind in the Sciences and in Moral Judgment, in which he advocated an enlightened education, soundly grounded in Cartesian philosophy, for women of leisure. Then in 1675, and in spite of its misleading and incomplete title, On the Excellence of Men: Against the Equality of Sexes, he applied the concept of equality between the sexes to a refutation of misogynist scholastic discourse. By systematically employing Cartesian methodology, Poullain rejected tradition as a means of dealing with the issue of feminism. (pages 3 - 34)
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Note on the Texts - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0002
[François Poullain, Education of Ladies, Excellence of Men, treatises, pamphlets, Woman as Good, Nathaniel Brooks, translation, Madeleine Alcover]
The story of translating François Poullain de la Barre into English is not long, although it is not without its complexities. This is perhaps the first time that On the Education of Ladies and On the Excellence of Men have been translated into English, acknowledging that they are actually the work of their author. Parts of all three of Poullain's treatises were published anonymously as the Sophia pamphlets in 1739. The publication of these was proof that Poullain's works—although not Poullain himself—had remained buried somewhere in the consciousness of English readers. The seeds had been sown there some sixty years earlier when The Woman as Good as the Man, a translation of De l'Egalité des deux sexes, was published in 1677 by Nathaniel Brooks. Madeleine Alcover has made a detailed study of the various editions of the French texts of Poullain de la Barre's works; her assessment of their relative merits is invaluable. (pages 35 - 36)
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On the Equality of the Two Sexes
Introduction - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0003
[François Poullain, Cartesian analysis, prejudice, rational inquiry, inequality, rule of truth, Enlightenment]
This chapter comprises two large sections, preceded by a Preface and followed by a Postface, all clearly identified by François Poullain de la Barre with titles. The Preface introduces the reader to Cartesian analysis. Poullain proposes to subject a common prejudice to rational inquiry. No prejudice is better suited to such a purpose than belief in the inequality of the sexes, the most pervasive of all of human errors of judgment. Applying the “rule of truth,” that is, “to accept nothing as true unless it is supported by clear and distinct ideas,” Poullain proposes to challenge the views of the vast majority of the unlearned and then of the learned. In retrospect, his ideas might appear revolutionary because they foreshadow the spirit of reforms that will rise from the age of Enlightenment, but Poullain neither promotes nor expects any profound disruption of the social fabric to result from his inquiry. (pages 39 - 48)
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On the Equality of the Two Sexes - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0004
[François Poullain, equality, universal belief, prejudice, rule of truth, women]
This chapter discusses François Poullain de la Barre's discourse on the equality of the two sexes. It seemed that the best way to introduce such an important topic was through a clear-cut, obvious example that is of interest to everybody. The chapter offers proofs that a very deep-seated universal belief is the result of prejudice and error in order to convince readers to judge things for themselves and not to let themselves be deceived by the opinions of others. It examines this idea by applying the rule of truth—accept nothing as true unless it is supported by clear and distinct ideas—and uses examples from everyday life to show that women have many advantages that make them the equals of men. This comprises the first part of the chapter. The second part addresses the arguments of the scholars and is a refutation of their proofs. (pages 49 - 122)
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On the Education of Ladies
Introduction - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0005
[François Poullain, free thinking, reason, opinion, prejudice, René Descartes, principle of authority, education, equality, Cartesian principles]
This chapter discusses François Poullain de la Barre's two premises. The first is the rule of free thinking. It makes men judge things on the basis of reason rather than opinion, which he calls prejudice after René Descartes' principles. Second, Poullain's modernist standpoint in the Battle of the Ancients and the Moderns rejects outright the principle of authority, which relies on models of the past for guidance and direction rather than believing in the progress of civilization in a modern society. On the Education of Ladies: For Training the Mind in the Sciences and in Moral Judgment (1674) is a sequel to On the Equality of the Two Sexes: A Physical and Moral Discourse which Shows the Importance of Getting Rid of One's Prejudices (1673). Two fundamental principles have emerged from Poullain's plea for gender equality: that the mind has no sex and that anatomy is not destiny. Thus the consideration of the historical legacy left by custom and tradition in light of Cartesian principles is necessary, and social values embedded in the patriarchal system need to be reexamined. (pages 125 - 138)
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On the Education of Ladies for Training the Mind in the Sciences and Moral Judgment - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0006
[François Poullain, conversations, education, prejudice, Sophia, Eulalia, Timander, Stasimachus]
This chapter discusses François Poullain de la Barre's recorded conversations at the instigation of a very intelligent young lady who was resolved to devote herself to study, and are published for the benefit of all ladies who find themselves with a similar ambition. This is why they have been given the title, On the Education of Ladies, although they are no less useful for men. “Education” normally means the art of raising and instructing children—but one should note that one can attribute to the word a broader meaning. Now the most important principle of all is that one has to establish in men, insofar as is possible, a sovereign reason, that will enable them to judge all things sensibly and without prejudice. The chapter explores conversations of Sophia, Eulalia, Timander, and Stasimachus. (pages 139 - 252)
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On the Excellence of Men: Preface and Remarks
Introduction - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0007
[equality, conversation, François Poullain, tradition, Scripture, church fathers, Two Sexes]
On the Equality of the Two Sexes (1673) did not generate a critical conversation as François Poullain de la Barre had hoped and anticipated. He therefore decided to fill that lacuna himself. The result was On the Excellence of Men Against the Equality of the Sexes (1675). Poullain's aim was the same as that in his earlier two treatises: to defend the equality in mental capacity of men and women, which he did in a long Preface at the beginning and briefer Remarks at the end, sandwiched between a tract On the Excellence of Men, in which he put forth a compilation of misogynistic arguments advanced to support the cause of tradition. However, in Excellence, he recognizes the power of tradition and attempts to defuse it by offering an alternative interpretation of Scripture and the church fathers. (pages 255 - 264)
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Preface
On the Excellence of Men - Marcelle Maistre Welch, Vivien Bosley
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226676555.003.0008
[François Poullain, Holy Scripture, equality, prejudices, truth, church fathers, Clement of Alexandria]
This chapter discusses François Poullain de la Barre's summary of a more complete response to the authority of the Holy Scripture. The view of the equality of the sexes is easier to establish through the rules of Holy Scripture than through those of philosophy, provided that in both cases one does not rely on childhood prejudices but, rather, uses one's own eyes to discover the truth one seeks—being certain that those who read Scripture precisely and without prejudice will find there nothing to give them reason to believe that God has made men more perfect and more capable than women nor, as a consequence, that the former are, in His eyes, more noble and estimable than the latter. This is no doubt how the church fathers proceeded, and St. Clement of Alexandria is one of those who has given the clearest explication. (pages 265 - 314)
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Remarks
Select Bibliography
Index
