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Echoes of Christine de Pizan in Contemporary Feminist Philosophy

Recognized as a prevailing influence on one of the leading feminist thinkers Simone de Beauvoir, a poet of the late medieval period Christine de Pizan stands out as one of the most insightful feminist precursor. In her most prominent work, The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pizan created a symbolic city in which women are appreciated and defended, and through which she argued that a women's success depends on her ability to manage and mediate by speaking and writing effectively. Her two principal arguments in defence of the female sex, both of which are reinforced by theological proofs, are, first, that woman has brought great benefits to humanity, and second, that woman is man's ‘per’, his natural and worthy companion who shares his human essence. During the medieval period women writers were scarce, and those who, like Pizan, dared to use their work to reflect on the misogyny of the medieval society, were even scarcer. Her outstanding intellectual bravery is most evident in comparing misogyny with heresy, the most feared medieval transgression. In this paper, we look at her literary opus with the aim of highlighting those aspects of her writings that reverberate strongly in some of the most influential feminist thinkers of modern era. These include her views on the importance of the female speech, which we analyse against the background of Carol Gilligan’s groundbreaking book, In a Different Voice, her valorisation of the uniqueness of female perspective that dominates much of contemporary feminist epistemology, and above all, her insistence on a woman’s right to pursue a meaningful life that is at the core of Martha Nussbaum’s writings.

Christine de Pizan, Carol Gilligan, feminis philosophy and epistemology

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