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23This chapter examines the link between Descartes’ scientific method and his conception of moral virtue. James argues that the qualities a Cartesian philosopher-scientist needs to cultivate are precisely those that Descartes puts at the centre of his account of virtue. As one becomes a skilled investigator, one simultaneously becomes a virtuous person. To elucidate this claim, James focuses on the passionate aspect of scientific enquiry. She explores the roles of indecision and wonder in scientif…Read more
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22In the Tractatus Politicus Spinoza argues that politically unequal societies can be extremely stable. This feature of his work is at odds with a view, common in the literature, that Spinoza is a democratically-minded author who defends inclusive political systems, and in this paper I consider how he thinks inequality can be sustained. I focus on his discussion of the ways in which envy can be offset or redirected; and I apply my conclusions to his notorious claim that women are not fit to rule.
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21Power and Difference: Spinoza's Conception of FreedomJournal of Political Philosophy 4 (3): 207-228. 1996.
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20Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz. The concept of substance in seventeenth‐century metaphysicsPhilosophical Books 36 (1): 45-47. 1995.
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15Spinoza on Learning to Live TogetherOxford University Press. 2020.Philosophising, as Spinoza conceives it, is the project of learning to live joyfully. This in turn is a matter of learning to live together, and the most obvious test of philosophical insight is our capacity to sustain a harmonious way of life. Susan James defends this interpretation and explores Spinoza's influence on contemporary debates.
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14Margaret Cavendish: Political Writings (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2003.Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, published a wide variety of works including poems, plays, letters and treatises of natural philosophy, but her significance as a political writer has only recently been recognised. This major contribution to the series of Cambridge Texts includes the first ever modern edition of her Divers Orations on English social and political life, together with a new student-friendly rendition of her imaginary voyage, A New World called the Blazing World. Susan Jame…Read more
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13Event synopsis: The conference becomes a major academic event for republican studies in Russia and a meeting point with the leading European scholars in this field. In recent decades republicanism has become one of the central concerns in political theory and history, with studies exploring both republicanism as ‘a shared European heritage’ and reviving republican political thought to contribute to current debates on issues such as freedom, citizenship, equality, governance and international rel…Read more
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11Models of contact: ontological, linguistic, medical, and politicalBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 1-9. forthcoming..
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9Rights, Moral and Enforceable: a Reply to Saladin Meckled-GarciaProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 105 (1): 149-153. 2005.
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3Spinoza and materialismIn Stephen H. Daniel (ed.), Current continental theory and modern philosophy, Northwestern University Press. 2005.
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3The passions in metaphysics and the theory of action'In Daniel Garber & Michael Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. pp. 1--913. 1998.
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2Explaining the passions: passions, desires, and the explanation of actionIn Stephen Gaukroger (ed.), The Soft Underbelly of Reason: The Passions in the Seventeenth Century, Routledge. 1998.
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2Sympathy and comparison : Two principles of human natureIn Marina Frasca-Spada & P. J. E. Kail (eds.), Impressions of Hume, Oxford University Press. pp. 61--107. 2005.
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2Freedom and the ImaginaryIn Susan James & Stephanie Palmer (eds.), Visible Women: Essays on Feminist Legal Theory and Political Philosophy, Hart. 2002.
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1The Passions and PhilosophyIn Genevieve Lloyd (ed.), Feminism and History of Philosophy, Oxford University Press. 2002.
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1Complicity and Slavery in The Second SexIn Emily R. Grosholz (ed.), The Legacy of Simone de Beauvoir, Clarendon Press. 2004.
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Johns Hopkins UniversityRegular Faculty
Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Social and Political Philosophy |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |