Abstract

This Introduction provides an overview of the work of Eileen O'Neill, focusing on her writings on feminist historiography of philosophy, the equality of the sexes, and causation. Topics include: the idea of a feminist history of early modern though; O'Neill's response to Michèle Le Dœuff's challenge that women philosophers must inevitably occupy the subordinate "Heloise position"; O'Neill's treatment of the "gendered mind" in Descartes, Poullain de le Barre, and Madame de Lambert; and, as a case study in feminist historiography, her writings on Margaret Cavendish on natural change.