I maintain an interest in the obfuscated role of women in the history of Philosophy, with special focus on personal letters and diaries. A main research goal of mine is to bring to light the influence and intellectual contributions of women throughout the development of the canon, revealing the extent to which they have imprints within canonical work. Political and social hierarchical thinking, paired with sex and race essentialism, is a major factor in the historical development of academia and particularly the field of Philosophy. With this in mind, I take very seriously decolonial and feminist critiques of the philosophical canon and focus my attentions on the insights of those traditonally excluded from support from the discipline. Unfortunately, many colleagues in Philosophy are still at the mercy of these prejudices and the field remains toxic to the feminine as well as  non-European consciousness that would wrest control from the Euro-centric view of Being and the world. As more scholarship emerges on the variety of philosophical traditions founded around the world, it becomes clear that “philosophy” (no need to get into semantics here) was always done by a variety of peoples who deserve recognition. Women have always been philosophical, regardless of whether they’ve been appreciated as such. Hannah Arendt, one of the most penetratingly insightful minds in our discipline’s history, did not consider herself a philosopher precisely because the male colleagues of her time did not treat her with the respect and reverence that they treated one another. She says, “one day there may be a female philosopher.” I earnestly push for this day to come soon.

Contact: eskik646@newschool.edu