Women and the Female in Neoplatonism

• Applicant: Professor Dr. James Wilberding
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 285767218

Hypatia of Alexandria (4th century C.E.) has a legitimate claim to being the most highly esteemed female philosopher of the pre-modern world. Indeed, to many ears the name Hypatia, having been appropriated as the title of the leading international journal of feminist philosophy, has become nearly synonymous with the issues of feminism and women and gender in philosophy. Surprisingly, however, there has been to date no comprehensive examination of women and femaleness in Hypatias own school of thought: Neoplatonism. This project aims to rectify this woeful neglect by producing the first-ever comprehensive study of the perceptions and conceptions of the female in Neoplatonism. The project will proceed by investigating three main areas. It will begin with a full examination of the female in Neoplatonic metaphysics. There is undeniable evidence that Neoplatonic metaphysics is in some important sense gendered: reality consists of and results from the interplay of male and female metaphysical principles. This certainly raises pressing questions about the connections between Neoplatonic metaphysics and the broader Neoplatonic conception of women, but none of these issues have yet received the attention they deserve. The goal here will be to work out the nature, scope, origins and implications of female metaphysical principles as conceived by the diverse members of the Neoplatonic school of thought. The results of this metaphysical study will then be utilized to shed new light on two other areas: the status of women in Neoplatonic ethical and political theory, and the status of the historical women who were active in and/or associated with Neoplatonic schools. The objective in each area will involve working out detailed responses to both queries as well as attempting to flush out the possible ways in which metaphysical preconceptions might exerting an influence in these other domains. By studying each of these domains individually and looking for points of contact between them, this project aims to call attention to this fascinating chapter in the history of philosophy and the history of gender and to make the theory behind it accessible to a larger scholarly audience.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Ireland, Netherlands, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. John Dillon; Professorin Dr. Marije Martijn; Professorin Dr. Svetla Slaveva-Griffin