
Contents
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1. Introduction 1. Introduction
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2. Blavatsky’s Life and Writings, and the Question of Women in Philosophy 2. Blavatsky’s Life and Writings, and the Question of Women in Philosophy
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3. Thinking about Philosophy and the History of Philosophy 3. Thinking about Philosophy and the History of Philosophy
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4. An Intertextual Perspective 4. An Intertextual Perspective
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4.1. Isis Unveiled 4.1. Isis Unveiled
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4.2 The Secret Doctrine 4.2 The Secret Doctrine
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4.2.1. Consciousness 4.2.1. Consciousness
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4.2.2. Space 4.2.2. Space
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4.3. Isis Unveiled: Blavatsky’s Discourse on Philosophy 4.3. Isis Unveiled: Blavatsky’s Discourse on Philosophy
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5. Conclusion 5. Conclusion
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References References
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Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: Blavatsky’s Place in the History of Philosophy
Get accessDr. Tim Rudbøg is Associate Professor and director of the Copenhagen Centre for the Study of Theosophy and Esotericism at the University of Copenhagen. Rudbøg has published widely in the field of esotericism and the history of religions, particularly on Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and The Theosophical Movement. His more recent co-edited volumes include “Innovation in the Study of Esotericism from the Renaissance to the Present” (2021, Palgrave) and “Imagining the East: The Early Theosophical Society” (2020, Oxford).
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Published:16 August 2023
Cite
Abstract
This chapter considers Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s place in the history of philosophy. She is known as a theosophist, but is she, in fact, an overlooked women philosopher? To answer this question, the chapter discusses what the history of philosophy means and the criteria one might propose for accepted inclusion. It takes an intertextual approach to Blavatsky’s role to demonstrate that Blavatsky engaged with philosophy and formulated her views on being, consciousness, space, and time in dialogue with philosophers, including Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Spencer. Blavatsky considered her project to be philosophy, but her understanding of what true philosophy entails was different from that of many of her contemporaries. The chapter argues that Blavatsky should be considered a philosopher in her own right, though she was also more than a philosopher.
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