Theano’s Day, the international day to blog about a female philosopher, past or present, of your choice, is this Wednesday, June 24th. If you would like to participate, simply write a post of any length using whatever blogging or social networking software you already use to talk about the contributions of any woman philosopher. You may comment here with a link to your post and we’ll compile all the posts together on the 24th into one place for easy reading.

The woman you pick does not have to be primarily known for her philosophical work – and Theano was actually picked as a mascot because she represents a work/life balance. As Pythagoras’ wife she helped him raise five children and put together writings on a wide variety of topics, including advanced mathematics, child-raising, and the role of proportion and balance in art/aesthetic theory. The point is that people who tackle the Big Questions – who we are as living beings, our place in the universe, theories of knowledge and how we know what we know, freedom and destiny, etc can still be people with lives and families and other responsibilities. They’re just people who chose to follow that intellectual path and extended the logical framework with some new ideas.

Theano’s Day is intended to honor the contributions of people throughout history who may have had some worthwhile or logical ideas but were not properly recognized for whatever reason. And to stimulate interest in the field of philosophy in general…with the world economic crisis people are turning away from financial/moneymaking enterprises and finding themselves out of work more often than before, and perhaps philosophy is a field which can continue to move ahead as it is dependent more on thought, study, and communication than expensive technology. There is more to life than financial success … coming back to valuing thought and philosophy might bring some balance back into our societies. With the world in the state it’s in, perhaps rediscovering old and unexplored, or looking into new ideas might lead us down different and better paths.

Anyway, everyone here is welcome to participate in Theano’s Day – you may visit the Pledge Bank site for more information or just simply blog on the 24th and comment with the link so we can compile the posts!

Pledge Bank site: http://www.pledgebank.com/theanosday

Here’s a list of a few women philosophers to get you started: http://www.women-philosophers.com/

Site about current women philosophers: http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=10740&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Some women to start with if you need help thinking of someone: Hypatia of Alexandria (mathematician and scholar), St. Catherine (mystic and humanitarian), Sor Juana (Mexican nun and intellectual) and Florence Nightingale and Jane Austen, each of whom developed a worldview and philosophy through their writings on various subjects.