Rethinking Femininity and Moral Authority in Eighteenth-Century Thought

Eighteenth-century moral debates framed so-called feminine virtues—modesty, chastity, agreeableness, and sensitivity—in ambiguous terms.

Encouraged in women as the natural extension of their domestic roles, these virtues were nonetheless equated with weakness and vulnerability in the manly public sphere. At the same time, they were valued in the emerging commercial society for fostering sociability, reducing conflict, and facilitating exchange in an increasingly cosmopolitan world. Their assessment also divided advocates of gender equality.

Some saw them as mere instruments of subjugation, designed to weaken women. Others argued that women’s moral and political authority derived precisely from their distinctive virtues and social roles as mothers, wives, and caregivers. Figures like Mary Wollstonecraft took an intermediate stance, defending women’s moral and social specificity while condemning their present condition and character.

This workshop explores these tensions, combining a historical-philosophical approach with engagement in contemporary feminist debates. Whether women’s moral perspective holds a specific moral value, or is merely the product of their long-standing oppression, remains an open question. This workshop addresses it directly, re-examining the gendered foundations of virtue through the lens of eighteenth-century thought.

2:00 -2.45 pm: Carlotta Cossutta (Università di Milano), Friendship and Affection as a Source of Virtue

2.45-3.30 pm: Bianca Monteleone (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”), Virtue, Sex and Reputation: Sexual Virtues in David Hume and Mary Wollstonecraft

3.30-4.00 pm: Coffee Break

4.30-5.30 pm: Roundtable: Gendered Virtues: Then and Now

Sandrine Berges (University of Bilkent/University of York), Alan Coffee (King’s College London), Hannah Dawson (King’s College London), Sarah Hutton (University of York)

5.30-5.45pm Coffee Break

5.45-7pm Sylvana Tomaselli (University of Cambridge): Just Call it Love not Virtue