About the author: Sandra J. Peacock received the PhD in European women’s history and intellectual history from Binghamton University in 1986 and is the author of Jane Ellen Harrison: The Mask and the Self (1988). She is Associate Professor of History at G
2002 0-7734-7180-4 Frances Power Cobbe is best known to scholars of 19th century Britain for her participation in such causes as workhouse reform, education for poor children, women’s rights, and anti-vivisection. Her social activism was founded on strongly-held religious beliefs and she wrote prolifically on religion for fifty years. This book examines Cobbe’s writings on religion, ethics, and morality, and traces the development of her thought over the course of her life. Cobbe’s Theism, critique of Christianity, and her interest in the tension between science and religion moved her from the safe Victorian female realm of devotion and piety to the contentious male realm of philosophical exchange. Her voluminous writings offer a valuable case study for the intersection of women’s history, the history of religion, and intellectual history.