Podcast Summary:

New Books Network – Alison Stone, "Women Philosophers in Nineteenth-Century Britain" (Oxford UP, 2023)

Host: Morteza Hajizadeh
Guest: Dr. Alison Stone, Professor of Philosophy, Lancaster University
Release Date: December 31, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode highlights the recently published Women Philosophers in Nineteenth-Century Britain by Dr. Alison Stone. The discussion explores the critical, yet overlooked, contributions of women philosophers in nineteenth-century Britain. Dr. Stone explains how women managed to carve intellectual space for themselves in a male-dominated landscape, the strategies they used to participate in philosophical discourse, and why their work was later marginalized. The episode delves into the thematic structure of the book, period print culture, debated philosophical issues, and the continued relevance of these women philosophers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Alison Stone’s Intellectual Journey (01:28–05:09)

• Dr. Stone shares her early philosophical influences (Plato, Greek tragedy, Camus), initial exposure to women philosophers through feminism, and pivotal works that changed her understanding of women’s historical exclusion.
• Notable Quote:
  “It’s not that philosophy is somehow inherently masculine. There have always been women philosophers, but they were written out of the narratives.”
  — Dr. Stone (04:23)

2. Genesis and Focus of the Book (05:09–08:49)

• The project began due to a lack of research into British women philosophers of the 19th century, where there was a misconception that women “disappeared” from philosophy after the early modern period.
• Dr. Stone explains how feminist studies and discoveries in Victorian periodicals led to the unearthing of influential figures like Frances Power Cobbe, Julia Wedgwood, and Constance Naden.
• Notable Quote:
  “It was partly a friend of mine… asking me about this… That was one of the things that pushed me to begin to think about who the women philosophers of this time were.”
  — Dr. Stone (05:44)

3. Book Structure & Thematic Diversity (08:49–09:49)

• The book is organized thematically (naturalism, philosophy of mind, evolution, religion and morality, progress in history) rather than as individual biographies, demonstrating women’s engagement with the full gamut of philosophical issues of their era.

4. Nineteenth-Century Print Culture & Access Strategies (10:40–14:44)

• Industrial Revolution enabled a vast print culture: over 110,000 journals, newspapers, and magazines, many scholarly though not “specialist.”
• Women contributed extensively (estimated 13% or more of authors; often more anonymous or pseudonymous).
• Publishing anonymously or under male pseudonyms was a key strategy for inclusion.
• Notable Quote:
  “There was no reason to exclude someone because they were a woman, since nobody was going to know that the article was by a woman anyway.”
  — Dr. Stone (13:37)

5. Circumventing Patriarchal Constraints (14:13–17:24)

• Use of anonymity, pseudonyms (e.g., George Eliot for Marian Evans, “V” for Harriet Martineau).
• Claiming merely to “popularize” male ideas as a way to avoid accusations of overreaching.
• Leveraging the stereotype of “moral superiority” as justification for engaging in moral philosophy.
• Notable Quotes:
  “If you portrayed yourself as merely popularizing something that a man had thought, then you couldn't really be criticized in the same way for sort of getting ideas above your station.”
  — Dr. Stone (15:26)

6. Forgetting & Erasure: Why Women Philosophers Were Excluded (17:24–23:34)

• Rise of professionalization and disciplinary specialization post-1870s privileged academic insiders; women mostly excluded from universities.
• Pre-professional print culture was later dismissed as “amateur”; thus, women’s contributions were doubly marginalized.
• Case studies:
  • Frances Power Cobbe: Later dismissed as “hysterical” for anti-vivisection activism.
  • Helena Blavatsky: Discredited through sensationalized accusations (Coulomb Affair, Hodgson Report).
• Notable Quote:
  “In both cases… they were accused of being frauds and imposters who didn't really know about the things that they claimed to talk about. So it's sort of the beginnings of why women in philosophy might suffer from impostor syndrome, I guess.”
  — Dr. Stone (22:55)

7. Restoring Women Philosophers to the Canon (23:40–26:47)

• Recommends broadening accepted philosophical forms (letters, fiction, translations, editing).
• Understanding periodical conventions (anonymity, pseudonymity) is critical to uncovering contributions.
• Notable Quote:
  “We need to familiarize ourselves with this particular print culture in the journals of the time and understand these particular conventions… Otherwise, we won't know how to find the writings by women.”
  — Dr. Stone (25:27)

8. Philosophical Themes: Naturalism vs. Anti-Naturalism (26:47–30:37)

• Naturalism: Argument (via Martineau and Atkinson, 1851) that empirical science explains everything — denies free will, soul, traditional morality.
• Anti-Naturalism: Frances Power Cobbe (morality needs divinity), Victoria Welby (meaning precedes empirical facts), etc.
• Notable Quote:
  “There are other sources of knowledge besides empirical natural science.”
  — Dr. Stone (27:32)

9. Debates on Evolution, Religion, and Morality (31:37–41:00)

• Julia Wedgwood: Initially argued Darwinism and religion compatible (God set evolution in motion). Later, shifted to view Darwinism as undermining fixed morals.
  • “She started off… arguing that Darwinism and religion were compatible along the lines that God has set the evolutionary process going.” (32:25)
• Arabella Buckley: Leaned on Darwin’s own group cooperation view, but argued Christianity was necessary to achieve genuine morality.
• Cobbe: Asserted evolution could not provide a moral basis—morality came from spiritual/religious law.
  • “You had to get morality from a different place… it had to come from religion.” (39:03)

10. George Eliot’s Multifaceted Contributions (41:00–44:24)

• Significant as a journalist, translator (Feuerbach, Strauss), and novelist with a “philosophical basis.”
• Believed fiction could substitute for religion by expanding readers’ empathy, thus motivating moral action.
• Notable Quote:
  “She saw literature as having this big moral role that it could motivate us to treat other people better.”
  — Dr. Stone (43:11)

11. Women & the Philosophy of Religion, Secularism, and Morality (45:23–49:04)

• Martineau, Eliot, Annie Besant, Vernon Lee: Examples of secularist/agnostic women philosophers.
• Frances Power Cobbe: Defender of Christianity as necessary for morality.
• Intellectual rivalries/debates among women themselves on these questions.

12. Ideas of Progress, History, and Colonialism (49:04–53:41)

• Martineau, Cobbe, Wedgwood: Structured grand narratives of religious/spiritual progress culminating in Europe; often justified colonialism.
• Helena Blavatsky: More ambivalent, valuing ancient Indian spiritual traditions as superior in some respects — ideas used later by Indian independence activists.
• Notable Quote:
  “[Blavatsky’s views]… didn't necessarily justify or rationalize colonialism, whereas this is something of a feature for the other three.”
  — Dr. Stone (51:19)

13. Current & Future Research (53:41–55:06)

• Dr. Stone’s next project examines women’s philosophical work on aesthetics in nineteenth-century Britain, aiming to further expand the recognized scope of women’s influence beyond the assumed “social and political” focus.

Notable Moments & Quotes

• On Rediscovering Women Philosophers:
  “Actually, there always have been women philosophers. It's just that they've been forgotten and we need to rediscover them.” — Dr. Stone (04:27)

• On Empathy & the Role of Literature:
  “She saw literature as having this big moral role that it could motivate us to treat other people better.” — Dr. Stone (43:11)

• On Professionalization:
  “The specialists began to form… and basically the ball started rolling towards a situation where in order to be able to speak credibly on a topic you needed to be an academic. But… women hadn’t been able to go to university.” — Dr. Stone (18:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:28 — Dr. Stone’s background & interest in women philosophers
• 05:09 — Origins of the book & thematic focus
• 10:40 — Nineteenth-century print culture enabling women’s philosophy
• 14:44 — Strategies used by women to navigate patriarchal structures
• 17:59 — Reasons for historical erasure: professionalization & case studies
• 23:53 — Recommendations for restoring women philosophers to the canon
• 27:19 — Women and debates on naturalism/anti-naturalism
• 32:09 — Julia Wedgwood & philosophical engagement with Darwinism
• 35:53 — Arabella Buckley’s synthesis of Darwin & Christianity
• 38:35 — Frances Power Cobbe on evolution and ethics
• 41:44 — George Eliot: from fiction to philosophy
• 45:23 — Religion, atheism, secularism among women philosophers
• 49:30 — Women’s views on history, progress, and colonialism
• 53:53 — Dr. Stone's new project on aesthetics

Conclusion

This episode of the New Books Network provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the forgotten women philosophers of nineteenth-century Britain. Dr. Alison Stone’s work not only recovers individual women’s voices but also reconstructs the intellectual networks, publication strategies, and socio-historical context that enabled and then later obscured their contributions. The conversation charts new areas for research and calls for a more inclusive and nuanced history of philosophy.