Feminism and Emotion: Readings in Moral and Political Philosophy

by S. Mendus

Overview

Susan Mendus investigates the significance of love in moral and political philosophy. She argues for a re-interpretation of both enlightenment and feminist thinking, and shows how the former often takes love as central, while the latter draws our attention to human vulnerability and neediness. By combining the insights of enlightenment philosophy and feminist theory, the book aims to provide a new understanding of the role of love in moral and political philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333802694
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	10/31/2000
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	197
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.99(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

SUSAN MENDUS is Professor of Politics and Director of the Morrell Studies in Toleration Programme at the University of York. Her book, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice was published by Macmillan in 1989.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: THE MORALITY OF LOVE When the Kissing Had to Stop: Passion in the Thought of Mary Wollstonecraft John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor on Women and Marriage The Practical and the Pathological Time and Chance: Kantian Ethics and Feminist Philosophy Marital Faithfulness PART II: THE POLITICS OF LOVE To Have and to Hold: Liberalism and the Marriage Contract Different Voices, Still Lives: Problems in the Ethics of Care Tragedy, Moral Conflict and Liberalism Out of the Doll's House: Reflections on Autonomy and Political Philosophy Strangers in Paradise: The Unhappy Marriage of Feminism and Conservatism The Importance of Love in Rawl's Theory of Justice Index

Editorial Reviews

Combining insights of enlightenment thinking and feminist theory, Mendus argues for the importance of emotion in general, and love in particular, to moral and political philosophy. She shows that some of the central philosophers of the enlightenment had a more nuanced understanding of emotion and a more sophisticated account of its relation to reason than is often supposed. Further, she shows that their "moralized" understanding of emotion has significant consequences for our modern conception of the human condition. Mendus (politics, U. of York) wrote the essays collected here over a period of 15 years; many were revised for this volume. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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