GYNODICY · GYNODICY: gender-egalitarian fictions of origin in European philosophical culture (1673-1751)

This project aims at producing the first comprehensive study of the philosophical problem of “gynodicy”, i.e., the incompatibility of, on one hand, a rational defence of women as naturally equal in capacities and in rights to men and, on the other, their factual subjection to men. GYNODICY concentrates on gender-egalitarian texts from the early modern period that circulated within European philosophical culture and specifically on the gender-egalitarian fictions of origin these texts put forth with the objective of arguing against the naturalisation of women’s submission to men. This study is important because the authors of said sources developed the intellectual foundations of the defence of the “equality of the sexes”, which lead to women’s civic and political enfranchisement. These writings on gynodicy have been generally overlooked in academic research, thus contributing to consolidate an incomplete panorama of early modern political thought. GYNODICY seeks to counter this by proposing a new narrative that recovers a body of literature comprised of both printed works and unedited manuscripts, which has hitherto received scanty attention. The project promotes a transnational approach to the circulation of gender-egalitarian ideas and an interdisciplinary perspective. Natalia Zorrilla’s experience studying fictions of origin in clandestine philosophical literature and early modern women philosophers make her the ideal researcher for this project. She will benefit from the expertise of her supervisors: Marguerite Deslauriers (McGill University, outgoing phase) and Marco Sgarbi (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, return phase). Thanks to the training planned during this GF, Zorrilla will acquire new skills and establish an international scientific network connecting Europe and the Americas, thus becoming a leading scholar in early modern philosophy.