Fragments of Thought: Considering Sophie Germain’s Process Epistemology

In this paper I look at the philosophical work of Sophie Germain, a woman mathematician and philosopher in nineteenth century France. Although forgotten after her death Germain’s contribution to mathematical sciences has been revisited and reappraised in recent years, but with very few notable exceptions, her philosophical work is still in the margins. In addressing this gap in the literature, I revisit Germain’s contribution to the history of ideas, particularly focussing on her contribution to process epistemologies. What I argue is that Germain was a truly transdisciplinary thinker avant la lettre and that her philosophical work should be mapped in the wider field of process philosophies. In doing so I make connections between Sophie Germain and Alfred Whitehead’s philosophy of the organism, particularly focussing on their take on feelings, prehensions, happy ideas and events.

This article will be published in a revised form in Hypatia https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/hypatia