Marietta Kies
Marietta Kies | |
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Born | Killingly, Connecticut, United States | December 31, 1853
Died | July 20, 1899 Pueblo, Colorado, United States | (aged 45)
Education |
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School | St. Louis Hegelians |
Thesis | The Ethical Principle and its Application to State Relations (1891) |
Main interests | Idealism |
Marietta Kies (December 31, 1853 – July 20, 1899) was an American philosopher and educator who belonged to the St. Louis Hegelians. She was the second American woman to receive a PhD in philosophy, after May Gorslin Preston Slosson (1858–1943), and taught full-time at a university.[1]: 17
Life
Marietta Kies was born in
From 1891 to 1892, Kies was recruited by
Kies died of tuberculosis on July 20, 1899, at the age of 45 in Pueblo, Colorado.[2]
Philosophy
With The Ethical Principle and Its Application in State Relations (1892), her doctoral thesis, and Institutional Ethics (1894), Marietta Kies published two independent works of political philosophy in which she contrasts "justice" or egoism with "grace" or altruism and suggests, how these could complement each other in society. The second book was essentially a new version of the first, but with some important additions about school, family, jurisdiction and the role of the church in society. According to Kies, both justice and grace have a place in economic and political decision-making processes, but grace should be more central and also be enforced by the state. As a Christian Socialist, Kies was an early proponent of welfare programs aimed at combating poverty.[2]
Kies was not a strong advocate of women's rights, but she also touched on women's issues in her work. She updated Hegel's view of the family by asserting the individuality of women within the household — a place where for Hegel unity, not individuality, is paramount. Since women were already more involved in public in the late 19th century, Kies saw no need for women to remain privatem, subjective and fully engaged in the role of wives and mothers. However, Kies also saw no need to fully involve women in political life and felt that they should only have the right to vote in areas that they believe directly affect them (e.g. education, public health and labor law).[2]
Publications
Books
- The Ethical Principle and its Application to State Relations. Island Press / Register Pub. Co., Ann Arbor 1892 (also Ph. D. thesis, University of Michigan 1891).
- Institutional Ethics. Allyn & Bacon, Boston 1894.
References
Further reading
- Rogers, Dorothy (2020-11-27). "Marietta Kies on idealism and good governance". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 29 (2): 343–357. S2CID 229391628.