De Gruyter Publication forthcoming Luka Boršić & Ivana Skuhala Karasman

The Women Philosophers Heritage Collection at De Gruyter expands its program with a volume dedicated to the history of radical feminist philosophy. A Manual for the Freest Spirits: On Free Will, Religion, Metaphysics, and Feminism(2026), edited by Dr. Dr. Luka Boršić and Dr. Ivana Skuhala Karasman, presents central texts by the philosopher Helene Druskowitz (1856–1918) in a new English translation accompanied by comprehensive scholarly commentary.

Helene Druskowitz (1856–1918) was the first German-speaking women to acquire a PhD in philosophy. She explored free will, religion, metaphysics, and feminism. In the four small books presented in this volume, she discusses previous attempts to replace religion (esp. Comte, Mill, Feuerbach, Lange, Nietzsche, Duboc, Düring, and Salter), advocates replacing religion with knowledge-based worldviews, proposes a dualism between matter and transcendent reality, and argues for moral responsibility without free will.

The book includes the English translations, a comprehensive introduction, and the German text.

As a radical feminist, Druskowitz advocated for gender segregation and women-led societal reform, even proposing human extinction as a moral imperative. Her ideas on male dominance and environmental degradation anticipated later eco-feminist thought. Though not widely recognized in her time, Druskowitz’s work offers valuable insights into feminist philosophy, eco-feminism, and discussions on free will and criticisms of religion, providing historical context for these ideas’ evolution in the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Druskowitz, H., Boršić, L. & Skuhala Karasman, I. (2026). A Manual for the Freest Spirits: On Free Will, Religion, Metaphysics, and Feminism. De Gruyter.

Both editors have been Fellows of the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists since 2017 and have been closely connected to the Center for many years. This collaboration includes, among other activities, several joint contributions to Center workshops and conferences, guest-editorships for the Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, recurring research stays in Paderborn, as well as the organization of the Croatia Libori Summer Schools (Zadar 2022, Zagreb 2023), continuing the tradition of the Libori Summer Schools previously hosted by the Center in Paderborn.

Further information about the summer schools: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/study/summer-school/