On Wollstonecraft - Continuation from Class

A few thoughts: I had difficulty plugging her in to either of these, based on Berlin's descriptions of the two. In some sense, however, I see Wollstonecraft in keeping with a form of Scottish Common Sense Realism, given her explicit emphasis on using reasoned arguments supported by her own knowledge. Berlin explains that, for Common Sense Realists, "The world of sense data exists independently of us and can be apprehended by the use of our sense and our faculties. Reliance on the observations of others, especially those from the past, leads to distortion" (6). As the last bit of class discussion brought to the fore, Wollstonecraft does not rely heavily on earlier texts to bolster her call for the education of women - we would likely not go so far as to say she recalls "traditional wisdom" (7) even as she writes with clear attention to the social order and an audience of educated men. She relies on her own observations re: the world and the ways in which society operates and seems to suggest that this kind of access to the truth of things can be available to all.