Frances Power Cobbe: Essential Writings of a Nineteenth-Century Feminist Philosopher

Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904) was a neglected nineteenth-century philosopher who wrote on ethics, feminism, animal welfare, and Darwinism and atheism. This collection of her work introduces contemporary readers to Cobbe and shows how her thought developed over time, beginning with her Essay on Intuitive Morals in 1855. She addressed many theoretical and practical issues in her prolific publishing career, campaigning for women's rights and for the regulation and abolition of vivisection. In the 1870s, she emphasized the moral role of the emotions, especially sympathy, and theorized a gradual historical progression in sympathy. In the 1880s, she combatted secularism, agnosticism, and atheism, arguing that religion is necessary for morality and meaningful life and culture. This volume demonstrates the range, systematicity, and philosophical character of her work and makes her core ethical theory and its central applications and developments available for teaching and scholarship.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 04 July 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904) was a prominent nineteenth-century philosopher who made significant contributions to ethics, feminism, animal welfare, and the critique of Darwinism and atheism. This volume brings together her essential writings, which introduce contemporary readers to her thought and development over time. Cobbe's Essay on Intuitive Morals (1855) established her duty-based moral theory, linking morality and religion. She addressed various theoretical and practical issues in her prolific publishing career, including human duties to animals, feminism, dualism in the philosophy of mind, and evolutionary ethics. Cobbe's philosophical views were put into practice through her campaigns for women's rights and the regulation and abolition of vivisection. Her political experiences led her to revise her ethical theory, emphasizing the moral role of the emotions, especially sympathy, and theorizing a gradual historical progression in sympathy. In the 1880s, Cobbe combatted secularism, agnosticism, and atheism, arguing that religion is necessary for morality and meaningful life and culture. This volume demonstrates the range, systematicity, and philosophical character of Cobbe's work, making her core ethical theory and its central applications and developments available for teaching and scholarship.

Weight: 532g
Dimension: 242 x 159 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197628225