“As the leader of the social settlement, Hull House in Chicago, Addams scheduled numerous evening social gatherings not simply for amusement but because she thought it was imperative for people of different ethnicities, classes, and generations to have exposure and thus develop a better understanding of one another. In turn, this understanding across differences leads to a responsibility to act on behalf of others.” (Hamington, ECC, 2019)

Jane Addams (1860 – 1935)  was a pioneer social worker, feminist, and an internationalist in America. In 1889 she and Miss Starr leased a large home. By 1991, Hull-House hosted up to two thousand people every week.

Learn more about her work in our Directory. Her entry is linked in her name. The Directory gives an overview of women philosophers and scientists from approx. 2300 BCE to the 21st century. Currently, there are more than 280 names of women philosophers listed and the entries will be periodically updated with biographical information and sources for further research. The entry on each philosopher shows detailed biographical information as well as an extensive list of primary and secondary sources, including texts, online sources and video material. Important quotes as well as links to key concepts by the philosophers in the ECC are also available.

Harriet Taylor Mill was an English philosopher and early advocate for women’s rights.

“Meanwhile, inequality is both unjust and inexpedient. According to Harriet Taylor Mill, a just society requires gender equality. If women have no legal power, they learn to use manipulation and sexuality to control men. This is degrading. Further, husbands who care about their wives are distracted from public virtues because their wives’ concerns are the advancement of their individual family’s status, not the common good. Finally, women who are trained by society to be subservient do not fight for equality because their subordination has numbed them to the importance of freedom.” (Jacobs, ECC, 2019)

Find out more about gender matters and bodily integrity in the upcoming New Voices Talk by Willemijn Ruberg.