l right that everyone deserves to realize. Because women are not cultivated to think independently, they are being denied the ability to live virtuously. Wollstonecraft epitomizes virtue as the ultimate sign of independence because it is only realized when a person is free to reason for himself or herself. She poses the question, "how can a being be virtuous who is not free?" (Wollstonecraft, 284) Without the freedom to think independently, it is impossible for a man or woman to be virtuous. Education an essential part of this equation, and the "most perfect educationis such an exercise in understanding as is best calculatedto enable the individual to attain such habits of virtue as will render it independent" (Wollstonecraft, 129). Realizing a state of virtue is the goal of every person and a proper education is the means of attaining virtue. Education is more than just repeating knowledge learned in school or another formal setting. The goal of education should be the development of the ability to think independently and reason. The need for an education to center around these ideas is because they are necessary for virtue. Someone only educated in a school does not necessarily become a virtuous person because he or she is only capable of repeating learned knowledge. Wollstonecraft uses the military as an example of how an inadequate education hinders the acquirement of virtue. Although soldiers are taught and educated thoroughly on the rules and practices of war, they are not moral and virtuous people. Virtue is a universal right that every man and woman deserves to realize. Although her argument rarely touches on ideas of religion, Wollstonecraft argues "that women were destined by Providence to acquire human virtues" (Wollstonecraft, 127). Education and reason allow a person to realize virtue, and virtue in turn leads to a greater sense of morality. Wollstonecraft refers to morality as an "immortal soul" (Wollstonecraft, 186) that ...
