Mary Wollstonecraft: o vicejar, a ruptura e sua filosofia

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate and understand the philosophical influences that shaped Mary Wollstonecraft’s thought, with particular attention to the conceptions of the Rational Dissenters and the formulations of Jean-Jacques Rousseau regarding education and the condition of women. The research seeks not only to identify the intellectual foundations that contributed to the development of her philosophy but also to demonstrate how her work offers a powerful critique of 18th-century gender norms, anticipating debates that remain relevant in contemporary times. Among the key questions guiding this investigation are: What were the main influences of the Rational Dissenters on Wollstonecraft’s intellectual formation? In what ways did Rousseau’s conceptions of women and education impact her thought? What central elements of her philosophy express her commitment to female emancipation and her critique of inequality? The thesis starts from the hypothesis that Wollstonecraft, although influenced by both the Rational Dissenters and Rousseau, developed an innovative and unique perspective that transcends the limitations imposed by the philosophical traditions that preceded her. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative approach is adopted, based on three main methodological axes: (1) Bibliographic review, which includes a detailed examination of the major works of Wollstonecraft, the Rational Dissenters, and Rousseau, as well as secondary sources that contextualize these readings; (2) Conceptual analysis, which investigates the core philosophical principles in her work, such as morality, virtue, freedom, and reason; and (3) Comparative analysis, which contrasts her conceptions with those of Rousseau, identifying points of convergence and divergence. The research findings demonstrate that Wollstonecraft constructed a philosophy that, although anchored in the Enlightenment and dissident traditions, breaks with the limitations imposed on women within this intellectual context. Her refutation of Rousseau’s ideal of femininity is exemplary in this regard: by challenging the representations of Sophie and Julie, Wollstonecraft proposes an educational model that emphasizes reason and female autonomy, in contrast to the submission and sentimentalism attributed to women by Rousseau. Furthermore, the thesis reaffirms the need to recognize Mary Wollstonecraft as a full-fledged philosopher. Her work is not limited to social critique or a feminist manifesto but presents a rigorous philosophical structure that engages with central issues in morality, politics, and education. However, the erasure of her figure from the philosophical canon reflects not only a gender bias in the historiography of philosophy but also resistance to her innovative and radical ideas for the time. In the final considerations, it is argued that Wollstonecraft not only denounced the inequalities of her time but also formulated a philosophical and educational project that remains relevant today. Her advocacy of education as a tool for female emancipation is one of the most enduring legacies of her work, resonating in contemporary debates on gender equality, human rights, and social justice. By recovering her intellectual trajectory and integrating her philosophy into academic discourse, this thesis contributes to reaffirming her place in the Western philosophical canon, highlighting her not only as a precursor of feminism but as a thinker essential to understanding the moral and political foundations of modernity.