Suppressed for centuries, the ideas of French philosopher Emilie Du Chatelet's are ever relevant today... Just as the Enlightenment was gaining momentum throughout Europe, philosopher Emilie Du Chatelet broke through the many barriers facing women at the time and published a major philosophical treatise in French. Within a few short years, she became famous: she was read and debated from Russia to Prussia, from Switzerland to England, from up north in Sweden to down south in Italy. This was not just remarkable because she was a woman, but because of the substance of her contributions. While the men in her milieu like Voltaire and Kant sought disciples to promote their ideas, Du Chatelet promoted intellectual autonomy. She counselled her readers to read the classics, but never to become a follower of another's ideas. Her proclamation that a true philosopher must remain an independent thinker, rather than a disciple of some supposedly "great man" like Isaac Newton or Rene Descartes, posed a threat to an emerging consensus in the Enlightenment. And that made her dangerous. After all, if young women took Du Chatelet's advice to heart, if they insisted on thinking for themselves, they might demand a proper education--the exclusion of women from the colleges and academies of Europe might finally end. And if young women thought for themselves, rather than listening to the ideas of the men around them, that might rupture the gender-based social order itself. Because of the threat that she posed, the men who created the modern philosophy canon eventually wrote Du Chatelet out of their official histories. After she achieved immense fame in the middle of the eighteenth century, her ideas were later suppressed, or attributed to the men around her. For generations afterwards, she was forgotten. Now we can hear her voice anew when we need her more than ever. Her lessons of intellectual independence and her rejection of hero worship remain ever relevant today.

About the Author
Andrew Janiak is Professor of Philosophy and Bass Fellow at Duke University. For the last decade, he has co-led (with Liz Milewicz) Project Vox, a digital project that seeks to recover the lost voices of women who contributed to modern science and philosophy. Janiak is the author or editor of five previous books and numerous articles concerning the relationship between science and philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Reviews
By setting his detailed analysis of her major work, Institutions de physique, against discussions of early modern scientific and philosophical controversies, Janiak provides a lucid and thoroughly persuasive account of Du Chatelet's originality and her influence on Enlightenment thought. The book asks a powerful question: how did it happen that "the most famous woman of the Enlightenment," whose ideas were echoed by thinkers across Europe was so thoroughly erased from histories of philosophy? Without ever losing sight of Du Chatelet and her philosophical vision, Janiak illuminates the blind spots and biases within the discipline of philosophy from the eighteenth century to the present. * Julie Candler Hayes, University of Massachusetts Amherst, author of Women Moralists in Early Modern France *
Janiak offers readers clear, accessible descriptions of Du ChActelet's significant contributions to the philosophers' and physicists' arguments in the early decades of the Enlightenment. His book makes a useful addition to the literature on this amazing genius and this key era in the evolution of our modern philosophical and scientific approaches to our universe. * Judith P. Zinsser, author Amilie Du Chatelet: Daring Genius of the Enlightenment *
Although she was recognised in her own time as France's premier female philosophe, Emilie Du ChActelet's star was subsequently obscured by the shadows of Newton, Leibniz, Voltaire, and other 'great men' of the Enlightenment. Until recently, she only attracted interest for her liaison with Voltaire. Janiak's study places her where she deserves to be, as a major female thinker of the Enlightenment. It is refreshing to read an account which discusses her as a thinker in her own right. Focusing on her masterwork, Institutions de physique, he navigates the complexities of her scientific and philosophical context to explain the importance of Du ChActelet's achievement for the history of science and philosophy. This is a masterly account, which will be appreciated by non-specialists as well as readers familiar with her work. * Sarah Hutton, Honorary Visiting Professor, University of York, UK *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197757987
Author Andrew Janiak
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 476g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 147mm * 33mm