ABSTRACT
The Enlightenment and its legacies are highly controversial among contemporary feminist philosophers. Since the eighteenth century, the notions of reason, equality, and human rights have played an important role in denouncing and resisting domination and exploitation. Many feminist scholars argue that the monolithic understanding of the Enlightenment that has long prevailed in the history of ideas needs to be replaced with a more open and plural understanding that allows one to conceive of the Enlightenment as a collection of "disparate and often contradictory phenomena". From the second half of the twentieth century onward, feminist philosophers have engaged with the Enlightenment in various ways. Methodologically two strategies can be distinguished: re-readings of Enlightenment authors and debates about the legacy of the Enlightenment for present feminist theory. The various feminist critiques of Enlightenment thought have largely focused on the dichotomies that constitute the notions of reason and autonomy.
