ABSTRACT
Why are there so few women in the philosophical canon? The history of women philosophers is as long and manifold as the history of male philosophers, but in the traditional writing of this history, women and their contributions are neglected. In the paper, I go through the main reasons for this discrimination. Women are, for example, neglected because they have not participated in the public discussion of philosophical questions in the same way that men have, or they have not written major works in academically appreciated genres. To change the tradition of neglect in the history of philosophy we need to change the criteria of quality and inclusion. Only then will it be possible to gain a correct and representative picture of the actual development of philosophical ideas and theories, because women have often taken a great part in their evolution.
