In Dialogue with Michèle Le Doeuff

The work of Michèle Le Dœuff creatively disrupts established notions of what philosophy might be. Far from being a discipline about the leader and the disciple, a hierarchy of knowledge and paternalism, Le Dœuff proposes a philosophy of dialogue and friendship. The conversations in this book explore how this philosophy can be enacted and explored, and show how openness and generosity can be the starting point of truly rigorous thinking. Introduced and curated by the late philosopher, Pamela Sue Anderson, In Dialogue with Michèle Le Dœuff explores themes like contemporary feminism, joy in philosophy, memory, the significance of friendship to thinking and a key Le Dœuffian concept, the imaginary. Le Dœuff's interlocutors, including Penelope Deutscher, Elizabeth Fallaize and Meenda Dhanda, are some of the most significant thinkers in the fields of feminism and continental thought and provide insights and ways into considering philosophy as a profoundly dialogical exercise.

In Dialogue with Michèle Le Doeuff sparkles on the future possibilities of feminist philosophy. Le Doeuff’s style is delightful: witty, erudite and deflating of all pomposity. This is philosophical conversation at its most historically imaginative, political, and inclusive. A triumph of feminist thought as intellectual friendship’s equality., This fascinating collection gives a rare insight into how the philosophical work of various marginalized groups has been both autonomous yet responsive to the work of others. There is a vast amount to learn here, not just about how to philosophize at the margins, but about how to philosophize.

Michèle Le Dœuff is a French feminist philosopher who is best known for the seminal work, The Philosophical Imaginary (1990), as well as Hipparchia’s Choice (2006), and The Sex of Knowing (2003).Pamela Sue Anderson was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, UK. She specialised in philosophy of religion, feminist philosophy and continental thought.