December 2024

In December I was happy to see  the publication of my latest paper, 'Fragments of Thought: Considering Sophie Germain’s Process Epistemology,' in my favourite feminist philosophy journal Hypatia. This paper delves into the often-overlooked philosophical contributions of Sophie Germain. While Germain's mathematical achievements have gained renewed attention, her philosophical work remains largely in the shadows. My research aims to fill this gap by examining Germain's contributions to process epistemologies.

The paper is structured in four parts. In the introduction, I provide an overview of Sophie Germain and her significant yet underappreciated contributions to philosophy, particularly focusing on her process epistemology. I highlight the need to revisit her work to understand her transdisciplinary approach. The second part explores Germain's unfinished philosophical thesis, Considérations générales sur l’état des sciences et des lettres aux différentes époques de leur culture (General considerations on the state of the sciences and the letters at different times of their culture). I analyze her Pensées diverses (Diverse thoughts) and discuss how her mathematical background influenced her philosophical ideas, particularly her concepts of order, proportion, and simplicity. In the third section, I draw parallels between Germain’s work and Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy of the organism. I discuss Germain’s notions of feelings, prehensions, happy ideas, and events, and how these concepts align with Whitehead’s process philosophy. I argue that Germain’s transdisciplinary approach was innovative and ahead of her time. The final section emphasizes Germain’s role as a transdisciplinary thinker. I discuss how she applied mathematical concepts to philosophical reasoning and how her work exemplifies the interconnectedness of science, philosophy, and the arts. I conclude by highlighting the relevance of Germain’s process epistemology in contemporary philosophical discourse.