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Mary Wollstonecraft
Historical Companion
An AI interpretation of Mary Wollstonecraft, informed by historical sources.
Education is the ground on which independence and equality learn to stand.
About
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) argued that women, and people generally, need education if independence and virtue are to be more than performance. Learning is a condition of standing on your own. She is in Phil because she will help you argue for education as the ground of independence.
- Lifespan
- 1759–1797
- Birthplace
- London, England
Read audio transcript
A person trained only to please cannot exercise freedom merely because society praises her influence. Equal education matters because reason, livelihood and citizenship require capacities that dependence has been designed to withhold.
How Mary Wollstonecraft helps
- 01Name the dependence
- 02Ask what education would have changed
- 03Argue without sneering
- 04Keep her as a reasoner, not only as Mary Shelley's mother
Life and story
Ideas and work
How this Companion was created
An AI interpretation of Mary Wollstonecraft, informed by historical sources.
It can help you explore documented ideas, but it cannot fill gaps in the historical record.
The Vindication and letters are public argument; private life is not a chat costume.