Feminist Philosophy and the Problem of Evil

by Robin May Schott

Overview

Any glance at the contemporary history of the world shows that the problem of evil is a central concern for people everywhere. In the last few years, terrorist attacks, suicide bombings, and ethnic and religious wars have only emphasized humanity's seemingly insatiable capacity for violence. In Feminist Philosophy and the Problem of Evil, Robin May Schott brings an international group of contemporary feminist philosophers into debates on evil and terrorism. The invaluable essays collected here consider gender-specific evils such as the Salem witch trials, women's suffering during the Holocaust, mass rape in Bosnia, and repression under the Taliban, as well as more generalized acts of violence such as the 9/11 bombings, the Madrid train station bombings, and violence against political prisoners. Readers of this sobering volume will find resources for understanding the vulnerability of human existence and what is at stake in the problem of evil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253219015
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	05/11/2007
Series:	A Hypatia Book Series
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robin May Schott is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Danish University of Education. She is author of Discovering Feminist Philosophy and Cognition and Eros: A Critique of the Kantian Paradigm and editor of Feminist Interpretations of Immanuel Kant.

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Evil, Terrorism, and GenderRobin May Schott
Part 1. Feminist Perspectives on Evil: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
2. The Devil's Insatiable Sex: A Genealogy of Evil IncarnateMargaret Denike
3. Irigaray's To Be Two: The Problem of Evil and the Plasticity of IncarnationAda S. Jaarsma
4. Genocide and Social DeathClaudia Card
5. Holes of Oblivion: The Banality of Radical EvilPeg Birmingham
6. Banal Evil and Useless Knowledge: Hannah Arendt and Charlotte Delbo on Evil after the HolocaustJennifer L. Geddes
7. February 22, 2001: Toward a Politics of the Vulnerable BodyDebra Bergoffen
8. Obscene Undersides: Woman and Evil between the Taliban and the United StatesMary Anne Franks
9. Cruelty, Horror, and the Will to RedemptionLynne S. Arnault
Part 2. Forum on September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives on Terrorism
10. Terrorism, Evil, and Everyday DepravityBat-Ami Bar On
11. Responding to 9/11: Military Mode or Civil Law? Claudia Card
12. Naming Terrorism as EvilAlison M. Jaggar
13. The Vertigo of Secularization: Narratives of EvilMaría Pía Lara
14. Willing the Freedom of Others after 9/11: A Sartrean Approach to Globalization and Children's Rights Constance L. Mui and Julien S. Murphy
15. Terrorism and Democracy: Between Violence and JusticeMaría Isabel Peña Aguado
16. Those Who "Witness the Evil": Peacekeeping as TraumaSherene H. Razack
17. The Evils of the September AttacksSara Ruddick
18. Feminist Reactions to the Contemporary Security RegimeIris Marion Young
List of Contributors
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This recent collection is part of the current genre of works that present uniformly well-argued essays by women philosophers on topics that specifically reference women, in this case with respect to the problem of evil. . . . Those who are interested in evil and the moral complexity of the present will find numerous insights in this collection. . . . Good bibliographies included with each essay. . . . Recommended."—Choice

". . . This volume advances philosophical discussions of evil and terrorism in ways that only those working from a feminist perspective would be able to do and is a great resource for any philosopher, feminist or not, who is working on evil or terrorism.Winter 2009"—Tracy Isaacs, The University of Western Ontario

From the Publisher

This recent collection is part of the current genre of works that present uniformly well-argued essays by women philosophers on topics that specifically reference women, in this case with respect to the problem of evil. . . . Those who are interested in evil and the moral complexity of the present will find numerous insights in this collection. . . . Good bibliographies included with each essay. . . . Recommended.

Choice

. . . This volume advances philosophical discussions of evil and terrorism in ways that only those working from a feminist perspective would be able to do and is a great resource for any philosopher, feminist or not, who is working on evil or terrorism.Winter 2009

The Universityof Western Ontario - Tracy Isaacs

"... This volume advances philosophical discussions of evil and terrorism in ways that only those working from a feminist perspective would be able to do and is a great resource for any philosopher, feminist or not, who is working on evil or terrorism." —Tracy Isaacs, The University of Western Ontario, SIGNS , Winter 2009

— Tracy Isaacs, The University of Western Ontario

Signs