“We have the ability to put aside our desires and to investigate what seems to us to be best in order to be able to choose it. This is one part of our liberty. The power to go on to act in accordance with our choice is what makes this liberty full and complete, and it is in making bad use of this power we have to put aside our desires by deciding too hastily that we make so many errors.”
— Émilie Du Châtelet, On Liberty, §86
We are pleased to announce that the English translation of Émilie Du Châtelet’s essay On Liberty is now available online and will serve as the central text for the first student session of the Libori Summer School 2025, taking place on Monday , September 8, 2025. The keynote sessions following in the afternoon—featuring Prof. Dr. Ruth Edith Hagengruber, Prof. Julia Jorati, and Dr. Eszter Kovac—will further deepen our inquiry into Du Châtelet’s philosophical legacy.
In On Liberty, Du Châtelet offers not only a robust defense of human freedom but also a nuanced examination of inner experience, moral responsibility, and the philosophical relationship between divine foreknowledge and free will. Her argument—that liberty is both fragile and formative—offers a compelling entry point for our summer school’s exploration of Enlightenment ideas and their relevance today.
Interested?
Join an international community of students and scholars at the Libori Summer School 2025 and take part in a week of lively discussion and discovery.
Apply now – the deadline is August 15, 2025.
Send your application to: contact@historyofwomenphilosophers.org
All information about the summer school and registration can be found here.
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