History of Women Philosophers and Scientists

Muller, J. (Ed.). (2026). Food, plants, remedies and healing practices: Women’s ideas in the history of medicine. Springer Nature Switzerland: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-17766-7

About this book:
This book examines the contributions of women to the history of philosophy and medicine, as well as the traditional medical knowledge that has been employed in households. Women have played integral roles in the history of medicine, often serving as healers, caretakers, midwives and guardians of traditional knowledge surrounding food, plants, remedies, and healing practices. However, women’s writings are often overlooked or marginalized in mainstream narratives because they did not […]

About the editor:
Jil Muller is Deputy Head of the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, Postdoctoral Researcher, and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Paderborn University.
Her research combines the history of medicine with the history of philosophy. She specializes in the medical traditions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with particular attention to women thinkers and their understandings of the body, mechanism, and humourism. Her work also focuses on the moral philosophy of early modern […]

Further information: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/journals/journal/food-plants-remedies-and-healing-practices-womens-ideas-in-the-history-of-medicine/

Du Chatelet is read as a criticism of Newtonian absolute time, or an acceptance of Leibnizian relational time. Du Châtelet however explains the genesis of temporal objectivity. “The notion of time is born from the succession of our ideas and not from the movement of exterior bodies” (2009:6.101) Du Châtelet argues that any measuring of time does not exist independently of the subject that experiences time. Neither Motion, nor clocks generate time, rather it is our mind that generates the notion of time (2009:6.108)
Therefore also the possibility of measuring time does not exist independently of the perceiving mind. Our knowledge and measurement of time originate in the mind’s awareness of the duration of its own existence and of the beings that coexist with it: “All measures of Time are founded only on the duration of our Being, & on that of the Beings who coexist with us, & whose existence we relate to the idea we have of our own” (2009:6.115).
The mind abstracts from all their particular determinations and only retains succession. It thereby creates “an ideal being” consisting in “a uniform flow” (2009:6.96). Du Châtelet calls this the ideal time: “a being composed of successive, continuous parts without internal differences” (2009:6.101). The imagination thus constructs ideal time as an abstract continuum of homogeneous succession, providing a common measure by which successive beings may be compared. (2025,71). […]

Full ECC entry: https://ecc.historyofwomenphilosophers.org/ =Ruth%20Edith%20Hagengruber

We are pleased to announce the publication of The History of Women Philosophers: Festschrift in Honour of Mary Ellen Waithe, edited by Ruth Edith Hagengruber. Published by Springer in the series Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences (Vol. 26), the volume honours the pioneering work of Mary Ellen Waithe and her outstanding contribution to the history of women philosophers.

About the Book
This book is a tribute to one of the most influential philosophers in the history of philosophy in recent times. With her four-volume work title “A History of Women Philosophers” and the volume of the non-Western history of philosophers, published in 2024, Mary Ellen Waithe’s writings have an international significance. Colleagues and friends, who have been companions for many years, have gathered in this book to honor her work. Contributions from the Middle Ages to the present, from the philosophy of religion to logic, cover a broad field that will attract equally broad interest. An otherwise unencountered collection of ideas is presented here, united by the bond of research into the history of women philosophers.

About Mary Ellen Waithe
Mary Ellen Waithe is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Cleveland State University, where she taught until her retirement in 2015. From 2016 to 2019, she served as a project advisor to the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists and supported the Center’s ECC project.

Together with Prof. Dr. Ruth Edith Hagengruber, Waithe also founded the Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists (JHWS), the world’s first journal dedicated to restoring and discussing the history of texts written by and about women philosophers. As founding editor-in-chief, Waithe played a central role in establishing the journal as an international platform for research on women in the history of philosophy and science.

Further information: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/journals/journal/new-publication-the-history-of-women-philosophers-festschrift-in-honour-of-mary-ellen-waithe/

A Memorandum of Understanding between Islamic University of Science & Technology, Kashmir, India and Universität Paderborn was signed during the celebration of the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists. This agreement formalizes a cooperation that began in 2022, when Professor Ali Malla participated in the initiative 1,000 Places in 1 World: Women Philosophers Around the Globe as co-founder of the Collective for Women Philosophers in India.
Thank you to Prof. Matthias Bauer, President of Universität Paderborn. It was a pleasure also to welcome Jürgen Janke from Wirtschaftsförderung Paderborn to attend our celebration as well as Deputy Mayor of Paderborn, Sabine Kramm and Head of Constituency Office & Spokesman East Westphalia-Lippe for Verena Mertens MEP Hartwig Höschen. (cc Fotos: F. Thielemann, Paderborn University). Ruth Hagengruber

It is my great pleasure and honor that Universität Paderborn is signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the Philippines Diliman University of the Philippines.
I am delighted that the excellent collaboration with Professor Tess Payongayong—who first visited the Center in 2017 and who has worked closely with the Center for the of Women Philosophers ever since—is now leading to a formal partnership between our two universities.
I would also like to note that Professor Payongayong and I jointly edit the book series Women in Ecology, Economics, Technology, and Gender, published by De Gruyter. I believe this is a strong indication of our long-standing and continuing cooperation.
Professor Payongayong expressed her pleasure and honor to sign this Memorandum of Understanding between the University of the Philippines Diliman with its long-standing partner, Paderborn University. The Memorandum of Understanding signed during the 10Years Celebration of the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists reaffirmed the shared commitment to advancing academic collaboration in the field of Philosophy.
President Bauer from Universität Paderborn, Prof. Payongayong and the Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Prof. Atty. Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II, signed the MoU during the 10Years Ceremony of the . Thanks to President Bauer for supporting this MoU, together with our IO Stefan Schwan (Fotos: F. Thielemann UPB cc) Ruth Hagengruber

Awarded during the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists at Paderborn University. The Elisabeth of Bohemia Prize, donated by Professor Dr. Ulrike Detmers, will once again be awarded by Prof. Dr. Ruth Edith Hagengruber to honor outstanding academic contributions that advance the recognition of women in the history of philosophy. This year’s laureates of the endowed prize (3,000 EUR) are Luka Boršić and Ivana Skuhala Karasman from the Institute of Philosophy in Zagreb, Croatia, in recognition of their exceptional contributions to the history of women philosophers, particularly in Southeastern Europe, and their longstanding collaboration with the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists.
Luka Boršić is a researcher based at the Institute of Philosophy in Zagreb, Croatia. His research highlights the history of women philosophers, especially from Southeastern Europe. He has been a key figure in collaborations with the Centre for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists at Paderborn University, particularly together with Ivana Skuhala Karasman as a guest editor of the Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists.
Ivana Skuhala Karasman is a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy in Zagreb, Croatia. She is working on the history of Women Philosophers in southeast Europe. Since 2017 she is fellow at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists who has several visiting stays at Paderborn University. Together with Dr. Dr. Luka Boršić she has organized several conference contributions to various center events like the famous Libori Summer Schools.

Further information: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/elisabeth-of-bohemia-prize/

CELEBRATION | 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM | University Paderborn

On Monday, July 27, 2026, the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists will celebrate its 10th Anniversary at Paderborn University. Over the past decade, the Center has developed into an internationally recognised hub for research on women philosophers and scientists, bringing together scholars from around the world and fostering interdisciplinary exchange and international cooperation.

Further information about the Event: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/event/celebrating-10-years-of-the-center-for-the-history-of-women-philosophers-and-scientists/

Who give Women back their Place in Philosophy?

This is precisely what the past laureates of the Elisabeth of Bohemia Prize have done: They uncovered forgotten voices, reconstructed intellectual lineages, and challenged the male-dominated canon of philosophy. The Elisabeth of Bohemia Prize, donated by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Detmers and awarded annually in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Ruth Edith Hagengruber honors internationally recognized scholars whose work revives and preserves the memory of women philosophers throughout history.

In previous years, the Elisabeth of Bohemia Prize has honored several outstanding scholars:

2025: Keiko Kawashima (Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan), for her pioneering research on the intersection of gender and science, particularly her studies of women scientists of the Enlightenment, including Émilie du Châtelet and Marie-Anne Lavoisier.
2024: Co**ha Roldán Panadero (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain), for her lifetime contribution to feminist philosophy, gender studies, and the recovery of women philosophers in the history of philosophy.
2024: Marie Pauline Eboh (Rivers State University, Nigeria), for her lifelong dedication to African gender philosophy and the development of gynism, an African gender theory aimed at the emancipation of both women and men.
2023: Laura Aurora Benítez Grobet (UNAM), for her pioneering work on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz as a philosopher.
2022: Sarah Hutton (University of York), renowned for her research on early modern women philosophers such as Anne Conway and Margaret Cavendish.
2021: Mitieli Seixas da Silva (Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil), for her work on Émilie du Châtelet and the history of women philosophers in Brazil.
2019: Mary Ellen Waithe (Cleveland State University), for her groundbreaking book series A History of Women Philosophers.
2018: Lisa Shapiro (Simon Fraser University), for her scholarship on Elisabeth of Bohemia and other early modern women thinkers.

Further information about the winners and/or the prize can be found here: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/elisabeth-of-bohemia-prize/