The Case for Equality After Colonization: Feminism, Abolitionism, and Indigenous Rights in Nisia Floresta

Professor Nastassja Pugliese will present a talk on 19th century Brazilian philosopher Nísia Floresta.

Nísia Floresta is a Brazilian philosopher from the 19th century who wrote about the power dynamics of post-colonial Brazil and the difficulties of constructing a national, collective identity after colonization. Influenced by the practical Cartesianism of Poulain de la Barre through the pamphlets of Sophia, Floresta applies to social structures the feminist principle that reason has no gender, arguing that a nation’s civilizational level depends on whether natural equality is expressed in terms of social rights. 

On this talk, Pugliese will present Floresta’s major theses with the further interest of (1) sharing methodological principles that guided this archival work, (2) addressing the challenges of offering philosophical interpretations of non-canonical texts, and (3) showing Floresta’s impact both locally—in Latin American thought—and more broadly—in the global history of philosophy.

Nastassja Pugliese is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Education of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro where she coordinates the UNESCO Chair for the History of Women in Philosophy, Sciences, and Cultures. Pugliese has been researching the works of women in the history of philosophy and has recently publish a book on Nísia Floresta through the Cambridge University Press Elements series (2023). 

Co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, the Willson Center, and the Department of Romance Languages