Sara Ruddick (born Sara Elizabeth Loop; February 17, 1935 – March 20, 2011) was a

feminist philosopher Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in ...

and the author of ''Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace''.

Education and career

Ruddick earned a B.A. at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

in 1957 and a Ph.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1964. She taught philosophy and women's studies at the

New School of Social Research The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

for forty years. She was awarded the Distinguished Woman Philosopher of the Year Award by the

Society for Women in Philosophy The Society for Women in Philosophy was created in 1972 to support and promote women in philosophy. Since that time the Society for Women in Philosophy or "SWIP" has expanded to many branches around the world, including in the US, Canada, Ireland, ...

in 2002. A panel celebrating her work was held at the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...

meeting in San Diego in 2012. She participated in the oral history project,
Feminist Philosophers: In Their Own Words
'' which provides interviews with important feminist philosophers involved in the

Women's Movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such is ...

during the 1960s and 1970s.

Research and Publications

Ruddick is best known for her analysis of the practices of thinking that emerge from the care of children. She argued that

mothering ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

is a conscious activity that calls for choices, daily decisions and a continuing, alert reflectiveness. Lisa Baraitser describes her contribution: "Along with

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

, Ruddick was probably the most important philosophical thinker to address the issue of mothering and motherhood since second-wave feminism, and in a similar spirit to that of

Grace Paley Grace Paley (December 11, 1922 – August 22, 2007) was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Paley wrote three critically acclaimed collections of short stories, which were compiled in the Pulitzer Prize and Na ...

, to extend her analysis of mothering under patriarchy to the development of the values necessary to oppose militarism and war."

References

Bibliography

* Polly F. Radosh, "Sara Ruddick's Theory of Maternal Thinking Applied To Traditional Irish Mothering," ''Journal of Family History'', 33,3 (2008), 304–315. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddick, Sara 1935 births 2011 deaths Feminist philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American women philosophers Postmodern feminists Harvard University alumni Vassar College alumni 21st-century American women