Reason and sensibility: the ideal of women's self-governance in the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft

It is standard in feminist commentaries to argue that Wollstonecraft's feminism is vitiated by her commitment to a liberal philosophical framework, relying on a valuation of reason over passion and on the notion of a sex‐neutral self. I challenge this interpretation of Wollstonecraft's feminism and argue that her attempt to articulate an ideal of self‐governance for women was an attempt to diagnose and resolve some of the tensions and inadequacies within traditional liberal thought.¹ 1993 by Hypatia, Inc.