Abstract
Although ‘virtue’ is a complex idea in Wollstonecraft’s work, one of its senses refers to the capacity and willingness to govern one’s own conduct rationally, and to employ this ability in deliberating about matters of public concern. Wollstonecraft understands virtue to be integral to the meaning of freedom rather than as merely instrumentally useful for its preservation. It follows, therefore, that a free republic must be a virtuous one. The first virtue of social institutions, we might say, is ‘virtue’ itself. In a virtuous republic all citizens, from no matter which social group, are able to represent themselves in law and in public debate. This is a demanding condition, requiring not just suitably robust republican institutions but an open and accommodating public culture in which sufficient numbers of citizens are positively engaged in ensuring that the available stock of background ideas and values is representative, diverse and inclusive.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Social and Political Philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft |
| Editors | Sandrine Berges, Alan Coffee |
| Place of Publication | Oxford |
| Publisher | Oxford Univerity Press; Oxford |
| Pages | 183-200 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780198766841 |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Nov 2016 |
Keywords
- Wollstonecraft
- Feminism
- Freedom
- Freedom as Non-domination
- Virtue
- Republicanism
- Public Reason
