Metaphysical Animals

A ground-breaking book that examines the place of women in twentieth-century philosophy and is a call to arms for the present day

'Philosophy in a world of women. I reflected, talking with Mary, Pip and Elizabeth, how much I love them.'

Two brilliant young scholars uncover the major (and unacknowledged) philosophical contributions of four women whose ideas could have changed the course of twentieth-century thought.

Written with energy, expertise and panache, The Quartet is a page-turning blend of research and recovery, storytelling, and a call to arms. Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley and Elizabeth Anscombe were great friends and comrades in the intellectual trenches, rethinking the possibilities of moral philosophy when the men 'left the room' and taking on the establishment, ultimately embodied by President Truman. Mac Cumhaill and Wiseman bring these women out of the shadows and into vivid colour.