Mary Astell

Mary Astell (1666 to 1731) was an English philosopher, born in Newcastle, who lived her adult life in London under the patronage of women such as Lady Ann Coventry and Lady Elizabeth Hastings. She wrote A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, an exchange of letters with John Norris on the love of God, Some Reflections upon Marriage and a defence of the Christian religion as taught by the Church of England. Working in a rationalist spirit, she held that a correct understanding of metaphysics turns on a correct understanding of God, and she argued that the apparent inferiority of women's minds comes from social practice and education, not from their souls. She is best known today for her theories of women's education and her critiques of Norris and John Locke.