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Freedom as Independence: Mary Wollstonecraft and the Grand Blessing of Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Alan M. S. J. Coffee
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Abstract

Independence is a central and recurring theme in Mary Wollstonecraft's work. Independence should not be understood as an individualistic ideal that is in tension with the value of community but as an essential ingredient in successful and flourishing social relationships. I examine three aspects of this rich and complex concept that Wollstonecraft draws on as she develops her own notion of independence as a powerful feminist tool. First, independence is an egalitarian ideal that requires that all individuals, regardless of sex, be protected to a comparable extent in all areas of social, political, and economic life, no matter whether this is in the public or private sphere. Second, so long as this egalitarian condition is not compromised, independence allows for individuals to perform differentiated social roles, including along gendered lines. Finally, the ongoing and collective input of both women and men is required to ensure that the conditions necessary for social independence are maintained. In Wollstonecraft's hands, then, independence is a powerful ideal that allows her to argue that women must be able to act on their own terms as social and political equals, doing so as women whose perspectives and interests may differ from men's.

Type
Cluster on Mary Wollstonecraft
Information
Hypatia , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , Fall 2014 , pp. 908 - 924
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by Hypatia, Inc.

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Footnotes

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Symposium on Mary Wollstonecraft and the Enlightenment in Lund (February 2012) and at a meeting of the Society of Women in Philosophy in Dublin (November 2012), as well as at seminars at Birkbeck College London, University College Dublin, and the University of Cape Town. I benefited greatly from the comments and insights offered by the participants at each of those gatherings. I am also very grateful to Sandrine Bergès, Lena Halldenius, and Martina Reuter for their input, and to Iseult Honohan for her close reading of a previous draft. Finally, I would like to thank the editors at Hypatia and the anonymous referees for their critical but invaluable observations.

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