  Indeed, problematizing the distinction between continental rationalism and British empiricism offers benefits beyond the possibility for greater interpretative nuance and accuracy. In earlier sections of this entry, we troubled the association of rationalism with the Continent by considering British philosophers Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway alongside Malebranche and Leibniz, and Ghanaian philosopher Anton Amo alongside Descartes. A focus on seventeenth and eighteenth century rationalists, broadly conceived, as opposed to continental rationalists in particular, makes possible the inclusion in the conversation of other figures—notably, women and non-Europeans—who did not live on the Continent but who mark nodes of influence and importance in rationalist thought. Thus, an additional strong motivation to call the distinction into question is in an effort to include other voices in this period.