Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein (née Necker, 1766-1817) was a philosopher, political theorist, historian, and novelist. Over the course of her life, she produced several philosophical works. These include the treatises A Treatise on the Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and of Nations (1796), The Influence of Literature on Society (1800); the novels Delphine (1802), Corinne, or Italy (1807); her magnum opus Germany (1813); and the political work Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution (1818).
Staël wrote on gender bias and was an outspoken abolitionist. With its emphasis on self-perfection and its celebration of nature, Staël’s philosophy contributed to the development of romantic philosophy across Europe. In aesthetics, Staël establishes an alternative to the Kantian idea of aesthetic autonomy by arguing that literature must be situated within a larger social context. Furthermore, Staël regards literary achievements, at their best, as stimulating tolerance and political advancement within a given culture. Staël’s philosophy challenges us to think about the connection between aesthetic value and freedom within a determinate social-political setting