Four hundred years ago, Margaret Cavendish dared to contemplate the biggest philosophical questions of her day. Brilliant and bold, she wrote 21 books despite being dismissed or mocked by the almost entirely male intellectual community. A famously eccentric dresser, she and her husband hosted high-society parties at their fantastical castle, but she was also paralyzed by bashfulness and dreaded talking to people. She hoped that her intellectual works would lead to eternal fame, but she remained quite ignored until recent scholars dug her books out of the shadows.

Guest Dr. Rachel Robison-Greene earned her PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She works in metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. She teaches philosophy at Weber State University. She has co-edited eleven books on pop-culture and philosophy and is currently working on a solo edited collection on philosophy in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

Music featured in this episode by Solis Camerata, Mandy Clegg, Tommy Strawser, Sam Kreidenweis, Erik Gustafson, Kerry Ginger, Joel Wolcott, Carol Jennings, and Marc Nelson.

Want to help us “make history”? Become a Patron or Donate here!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices