Andrea Nye (born 1939) is 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 writer. Nye is a

Professor Emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater for the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department and an active member of the Women's Studies Department. In 1992, Nye received the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater Award for Outstanding Research.

Life and career

Andrea Nye was born on October 22, 1939, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to attorney Hamilton Connor and home-maker Florence Deans. Nye received a B. A. in philosophy from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

(

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...

) in 1961 and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 1977. Nye has been affiliated with the University of Wisconsin—Whitewater for decades; first as an assistant professor from 1978 to 1985, then as an associate professor from 1985 to 1990, followed by a position as a professor of philosophy from 1990 to 2002. Nye has been a professor emeritus for the philosophy and religious studies department since 2002. Andrea Nye is also a member of the Liberal Studies Division at the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded o ...

teaching interdisciplinary courses in the Humanities. Nye's early work in

philosophy of language Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...

included a thesis on private language and a monograph on the history of logic from a feminist perspective. In subsequent work, Nye turned more specifically to issues related to gender in language, the place of women in the history of philosophy, and

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or Philosophy, philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's Gender role, social roles, experiences, intere ...

. Reviving the work of neglected or misinterpreted women thinkers was of special interest in later work, including translations and commentary on the letters of

Elisabeth of the Palatinate Elisabeth of the Palatinate (; 26 December 1618 – 11 February 1680), also known as Elisabeth of Bohemia (), Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate, or Princess-Abbess of Herford Abbey, was the eldest daughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (w ...

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

(''The Princess and the Philosopher''), the political thought of

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

, and

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( ; ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. Despite her short life, her ideas concerning religion, spirituality, and politics have remained widely influential in cont ...

(''Philosophia''), and Diotima's teaching on erotic desire in Plato's Symposium (hl)(''Socrates and Diotima''). Most recently, Nye's interests have turned to the environment,

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, and the gap between ecological theorizing and environmental practice. In her most recent book ''Ecology on the ground and in the Clouds'', she compares the life and thought of "inventor of nature" Alexander Humboldt to projects of conservation and sustainable farming in Argentina and Brazil initiated by his botanist travel companion Aimé Bonpland.

Publications

* Andrea Nye (1986).
Preparing the Way for a Feminist Praxis
' Hypatia Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 101-116 * — (1987). '
Woman Clothed with the Sun: Julia Kristeva and the Escape from/to Language
'' Signs Vol. 12, No. 4, Within and Without: Women, Gender, and Theory, pp. 664-686 University of Chicago Press * * — (1989).
The Hidden Host: Irigaray and Diotima at Plato's Symposium
'. Hypatia Vol. 3, No. 3, French Feminist Philosophy, 45-61 * * *— (1996). "Polity and Prudence:The Ethics of Elisabeth, Princess Palatine," in Hypatia's Daughters: Fifteen Hundred Years of Women Philosophers McAlister, Linda Lopez, ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press * — (1996).
Friendship across Generation
' Hypatia Vol. 11, No. 3 * * ** — (1995). ''Feminist Impact on the Arts and Sciences Series: Philosophy and Feminism'', Cengage Gale. * * * — (2015). ''Socrates and Diotima: Sexuality, Religion, and the Nature of Divinity''. Palgrave Macmillan, * — (2022). ; Edited Works * — (1998). ''Philosophy of Language: The Big Question's'' London and New York: Blackwell,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, Andrea 1939 births Living people Scholars of feminist philosophy American feminist writers Radcliffe College alumni Writers from Philadelphia Philosophers from Pennsylvania Philosophers from Wisconsin Philosophers of language Gender in language University of Wisconsin–Whitewater faculty University of Oregon alumni