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Series:   Elements on Women in the History of Philosophy

Early Christian Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2022

Dawn LaValle Norman
Dawn LaValle Norman
Affiliation:
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne

Summary

In this Element the author argues that genre deeply affects how early Christian female philosophers are characterized across different works. The included case studies are three women who feature in both narrative and dialogic texts: Thecla, Macrina the Younger and Monica. Based on these examples, the author demonstrates that the narrative sources tend to eschew secular education, while the dialogic sources are open to displays of secular knowledge. Philosophy was not only seen as a way of life, but sometimes also as a mode of educated argumentation. The author further argues that these female philosophers were held up in their femininity as models for imitation by both women and men.
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Keywords

ancient female philosophersearly Christian womenTheclaMacrinaMonica
Type
Element
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Series: Elements on Women in the History of Philosophy
Online ISBN: 9781009047067
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 18 August 2022

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