Philosophy in the Media

The interdisciplinary and award winning project “Philosophie in den Medien“ was launched by Prof. Dr. Ruth Hagengruber (philosophy), Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard E. Ortner (dramatic staging), Ulrich Lettermann (music), and Bernhard Koch (filming) to present women philosophers’ thoughts via student performances to the broad public.

These performances feature women philosophers and scientists as Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1749), Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) and Elizabeth of Bohemia (1618-1680).

The next event focuses on Hildegard of Bingen’s (1098-1179) Ordo virtutum.

The Center for the "History of Women Philosophers and Scientists" is a sponsored project since 2016.

The history of women philosophers dates as far back as the history of philosophy itself. Starting with the ancient world, many women contributed actively to the thought developed by different philosophical schools. During the Renaissance and the Enlightenment women continued to be involved in the emperical and creative philosophical discussions of their time, as well as dealing formatively with the given societal challenges.

Names such as Hypatia, Aspasia, Marie de Gournay, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Anne Conway, Emilie du Châtelet, Harriett Taylor Mill and Edith Stein represent only a part of the large but often disregarded group of women whose considerable contributions have influenced the development of philosophical thought in various ways up to the present.

The Teaching and Research Area ‘History of Women Philosophers’ (2005) headed by Prof. Dr. Ruth Hagengruber aims at renewing the long-lasting tradition of women philosophers. In detail, the University of Paderborn offers unique opportunities to gain insight into the contributions of Women Philosophers to the history of ideas.<link typo3>

  • 2010  First Curriculum in Philosophy Department with Women Philosophers "Philosophinnen im Focus" [download pdf]
  • 2012  First Lecture on the History of Women Philosophers

Regular Courses on the Work of Women Philosophers throughout History

  • Lecture: 2600 Years History of Women Philosophers (Ruth Hagengruber)
  • Hildegard of Bingen (Julia Lerius)
  • Elisabeth of Bohemia (Herford) (Julia Lerius)
  • Enlightenment, featuring Emilie du Châtelet, Germany 18th Century (Ruth Hagengruber, Andrea Reichenberger, Ana Rodrigues)
  • 19th century: Women and Economics, featuring Harriet Taylor Mill, Charlotte Perkins Gillman (Ruth Hagengruber, Kevin Dear, Jessica Harmening)
  • 19th century: Women in Logic (Andrea Reichenberger)
  • 20th century, Edith Stein, Gerda Walther, Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt (Maria Robasckiewicz, Ana Rodrigues, Julia Mühl,  Ruth Hagengruber)
  • Modern feminist theorists (Maria Robasckiewicz, Ana Rodrigues)
WS 2015/2016  
Ruth Hagengruber und Ana Rodrigues: Philosophiegeschichte der Philosophinnen
Ruth Hagengruber und Julia Lerius: Philosophie in den Medien: Ada Lovelace
Andreas Blank: Philosophinnen in der aktuellen politischen Philosophie
Julia Lerius: Anthropologie im Philosophieunterricht - ausgewählte Schriften deutscher PhilosophInnen
Sebastian Luft: Die Frauen der Phänomenologie
Julia Mühl: Gerda Walther: Ein Beitrag zur Ontologie der sozialen Gemeinschaften
Ana Rodrigues: Denkerinnen der Aufklärung
SS 2015  
Andreas Blank: Lucrezia Marinella und Gender in der Renaissance
Ruth Hagengruber und Merle Tönnies: Women Philosophers of the 19th Century
Ruth Hagengruber, Bernhard Koch,
Ulrich Lettermann, Gerhard Ortner, Ana Rodrigues:
Philosophie in den Medien: Philosophie und Glück – Émilie du Châtelet
Julia Lerius: Philosophinnen im Philosophieunterricht: Hildegard von Bingen – die weibliche Stimme des Mittelalters
Maria Anna Robaszkiewicz: Whose Body? On Gendered Body Experience
Ana Rodrigues : Philosophie der Sexualität
Ana Rodrigues : Philosophie und die Geschichte der Philosophinnen
WS 2014/15  
Andreas Blank: Anne Conways Naturphilosophie
Ana Rodrigues: Interkulturelle Philosophie – Rassismus, Sexismus, Speziesismus
Ana Rodrigues: Glück: Emilie du Châtelet und Offray de La Mettrie
Julia Lerius: Philosophinnen im Philosophieunterricht – moralphilosophische Themen und Schriften
Maria Anna Robaszkiewicz: Political Freedom, Political Knowledge: Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt
Daniela Ringkamp: Alter und Ethik
Henning Peucker: Texte zur Philosophie der Gefühle
SS 2014  
Ruth Hagengruber: Philosophy Has to Groove – an Interactive Seminar on Elizabeth of Bohemia, Abbess of Herford/Philosophie muss “grooven” – ein interaktives Seminar zu Elisabeth von Böhmen, Äbtissin von Herford
Ruth Hagengruber: Philosophy in Films: Elizabeth of Bohemia and Her Network/Philosophie im Film: Elisabeth von Böhmen und ihr Netzwerk
Andreas Blank: Mary Astell’s Ethics/Mary Astells Ethik
Ana Rodrigues: Classical Texts of Feminist Theory in the 20th Century/Klassische Texte der feministischen Theorie des 20. Jahrhunderts
Henning Peucker: Phenomenology of Intersubjectivity; Husserl and Stein/Phänomenologie der Intersubjektivität; Husserl und Stein
Julia Lerius: Teaching Women Philosophers in School – Women Philosophers in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times/Philosophinnen im Philosophieunterricht – vom Mittelalter bis zur Frühen Neuzeit
WS 2013/14  
Ruth Hagengruber: A History of Philosophy of Women Philosophers?/Eine Philosophiegeschichte der Philosophinnen?
Ruth Hagengruber: Teaching Women Philosophers in School/Philosophinnen im Philosophieunterricht
Ana Rodrigues: Philosophy and Feminist Ethics/Philosophie und feministische Ethik
Ana Rodrigues: Secular Feminism and Gender Jihad: A Seminar About a Controversy/Säkularer Feminismus und Gender-Jihad: Projektseminar zu einer Kontroverse
Antje Niemeyer: Teaching Philosophy: The Locke-Lady-Masham-Debate as an Example for an Introduction to Modern Teaching/Philosophie unterrichten: Einführung in die moderne Didaktik am Beispiel der Locke-Lady-Masham-Debatte
Susanne Lettow: Knowledge, Insight, and Gender. An Introduction to Feminist Epistemology/Wissen, Erkenntnis und Geschlecht. Einführung in die feministische Epistemologie
SS 2013  
Andreas Blank: Elizabeth of Bohemia and Her Circle/Elisabeth von Böhmen und ihr Kreis
Maria Robaszkiewicz: Between Philosophy and Politics: Hannah Arendt's Excercises in Political Thinking
Ana Rodrigues: Philosophical Gender Theories – From the Frauenfrage ‘Women Issue‘ to the Gender Issue/Philosophische Geschlechtertheorien – Von der Frauenfrage zur Genderfrage
Ana Rodrigues: The Gilligan-Kohlberg controversy or moral-sense debate revisited/Gilligan-Kohlberg Kontroverse oder moral-sense Debatte revisited
Ana Rodrigues: Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex/Simone de Beauvoir – Das andere Geschlecht
Katharina Westerhorstmann: What is the Human Being? Edith Stein's Later Philosophy as a Connection Between Phenomenology and Scholasticism/Was ist der Mensch? Edith Steins Spätphilosophie als Verbindung zwischen Phänomenologie und Scholastik
WS 2012/13  
Ruth Hagengruber: Women Philosophers. An Introduction to the History of Philosophy./Philosophinnen. Eine Einführung in die Geschichte der Philosophie
Ruth Hagengruber: Teaching Women Philosophers in School/Philosophinnen im Philosophieunterricht
Maria Robaszkiewicz: Women in Contemporary Political Philosophy
Ana Rodrigues: Philosophy and Gender/Philosophie und Gender
SS 2012  
Ruth Hagengruber: Emilie du Châtelet’s Natural Philosophy/Die Naturlehre der Emilie du Châtelet
Ana Rodrigues: Conway's Principles Between Kabbalah and “New Science”/Conways Principles zwischen Kabbala und “neuer Wissenschaft”
Ana Rodrigues: Philosophy and Feminism/Philosophie und Feminismus
WS 2011/12  
Maria Robaszkiewicz: Hannah Arendt on Education
Ana Rodrigues: Du Châtelet’s “Science of Good and Evil“/Du Châtelets „Wissenschaft von Gut und Übel“
Ana Rodrigues: About the Women Philosophers in the History of Philosophy/Über die Philosophinnen in der Philosophiegeschichte
SS 2011  
Andreas Blank: Anne Conway: The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy
Maria Robaszkiewicz: Hannah Arendt and the Political/Hannah Arendt und das Politische
Maria Robaszkiewicz: Hannah Arendt on Evil/Hannah Arendt „Über das Böse“
Ana Rodrigues: Elizabeth of Bohemia and Descartes‘ Passions of the Soul/Elisabeth von Böhmen und Descartes' Leidenschaften der Seele
Ana Rodrigues: Introduction to Feminist Theory/Einführung in die feministische Theorie
WS 2010/11  
Andreas Blank: Elizabeth of Bohemia and Her Circle/Elisabeth von Böhmen und ihr Kreis
Maria Robaszkiewicz: Hannah Arendt Between Past and Future/Hannah Arendt – Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft
Ana Rodrigues: Women and Enlightment/Frauen und Aufklärung
SS 2010  
Ruth Hagengruber: Introduction to Political Philosophy with Special Focus on Women Philosophers/Einführung in die Politische Philosophie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Philosophinnen
Ruth Hagengruber: Emilie du Châtelet, a Female Thinker of the Enlightenment/Emilie du Châtelet, Denkerin der Aufklärung
Ruth Hagengruber: From Ada Lovelace Until Today (Student Colloquium on the Philosophy of Mind)/Von Ada Lovelace bis heute (Studentisches Kolloquium zur Philosophie des Geistes)
Andreas Blank: Mary Astell’s Ethics and (the) Political Philosophy/Mary Astells Ethik und politische Philosophie
Sabine Jentsch: Martha Nussbaum's Conception of Social Justice/Martha Nussbaums Konzeption sozialer Gerechtigkeit
Ana Rodrigues: Learned Women in Science and Culture of the 17th and 18th Century/Gelehrte Frauen in Wissenschaft und Kultur des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts
Frank Wortmann: Women Philosophers in Antiquity /Philosophinnen in der Antike First Curriculum in Philosophy Department with Women Philosophers.
Ein ganzes Philosophiecurriculum aus den Schriften von Philosophinnen. [.pdf]
WS 2009/10  
Andreas Blank: Margaret Cavendish: Natural and Social Philosophy/Margaret Cavendish: Natur- und Sozialphilosophie
Ana Rodrigues: A History of Philosophy of Women Philosophers. An Introduction/Philosophiegeschichte der Philosophinnen. Eine Einführung
SS 2009  
Andreas Blank: Anne Conway: The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy
WS 2008/09  
Ana Rodrigues: The Moral Philosophical Writings of Emilie du Châtelet/Die moralphilosophischen Schriften der Emilie du Châtelet
WS 2007/08  
Ruth Hagengruber: Elizabeth of Bohemia (Elizabeth of Herford) and René Descartes/Elisabeth von Böhmen (Elisabeth von Herford) und René Descartes
SS 2007  
Ruth Hagengruber: Emilie du Châtelet – Discourse On Happiness/Emilie du Châtelet – Über das Glück
WS 2006/07  
Ruth Hagengruber: Edith Stein – Individual and Community/Edith Stein – Individuum und Gemeinschaft
SS 2006  
Ruth Hagengruber: Calculus of Passions: The Philosophy of Emilie du Châtelet/Kalkül der Leidenschaften: Die Philosophie der Emilie du Châtelet
WS 2005/06  
Ruth Hagengruber: Hannah Arendt: Power and Violence/Hannah Arendt: Macht und Gewalt

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