Abstract:
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792), is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, porto-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft critiques 18th century educational and political theorists who believed that women should not receive a rational education. She maintains that women are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men, and that treating them as mere ornaments or property for men undercuts the moral foundation of society.