WOMEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD - PART 2

In last week’s Midweek Musings, we talked about the women inventors who changed the world, but whose significant contributions ended up largely overshadowed by their male counterparts’ achievements. This week, we?remember the women philosophers who changed the way we think about life and its attendant dilemmas.?

Here are just seven out of hundreds who left their mark on the world. The quotes that follow their thumbnail biographies offer a glimpse into their brilliant, insightful minds…

Martha Nussbaum?(1947 – present) is a powerful advocate for religious tolerance. She famously argued for the place of emotions within politics, saying democracy simply doesn’t work without love and compassion.

“To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control.”

Hannah Arendt?(1906 – 1975): Deeply influenced by the two world wars she lived through, her reflections on the dangers of totalitarianism are more relevant than ever.

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule… are people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist.”

Mahasweta Devi (1926–2016): was?one of India's foremost literary figures and social activists.? Author of numerous novels, essays and short stories, she received the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour, in 1996.

“The first fundamental right of all is the right to dream.”

Angela Davis?(1944 – present) is most well-known as a grassroots organizer for civil rights, but her deep body of research and writing on the topics of race, feminism, and politics position her as an American philosopher as well.

“Whenever you conceptualize social justice struggles, you will always defeat your own purposes if you cannot imagine the people around whom you are struggling as equal partners.”

Bell Hooks (1952 – 2021) wrote extensively and powerfully on the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender.

“When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us.”

Maya Angelou (1928?– 2014) published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry spanning over 50 years. A civil rights activist, she received more than 50 honorary degrees.

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

May Ziadeh (1886 – 1941) is considered one of the most prominent Palestinian pioneers and figures of the literary renaissance in the history of Arab feminist literature.?

''Powerful is the one whose motto in life: I might suffer but will never surrender.''