The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

In one of her letters to Abilard, Heloise looks back upon their earlier dalliance and says that she is both wholly guilty and wholly innocent. She sees her former self as illustrating the paradox that someone can do wrong precisely because of a motivation that is itself good,. Elsewhere in her letters she uses her current self to illustrate the flip side of the same paradox. In her soul she still yearns for Abilard even though her outward comportment is chaste. We should not fall into the trap of thinking that Heloise's interest as a moral thinker is exhausted by the impact she may have had on Abilard. Medieval women could have minds of their own, and