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Setting the Moral Compass brings together the (largely unpublished) work of nineteen women moral philosophers whose powerful and innovative work has contributed to the "re-setting of the compass" of moral philosophy over the past two decades. The contributors, who include many of the top names in this field, tackle several wide-ranging projects: they develop an ethics for ordinary life and vulnerable persons; they examine the question of what we ought to do for each other; they highlight the moral significance of inhabiting a shared social world; they reveal the complexities of moral negotiations; and finally they show us the place of emotion in moral life.
E-Book Content
Setting the Moral Compass: Essays by Women Philosophers
CHESHIRE CALHOUN, Editor
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Setting the Moral Compass
studies in feminist philosophy Cheshire Calhoun, Series Editor advisory board Susan Bordo, University of Kentucky Harry Brod, Temple University Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin Lorraine Code, York University, Toronto Kimberle Crenshaw, Columbia Law School/UCLA School of Law Jane Flax, Howard University Ann Garry, California State University, Los Angeles Sally Haslanger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hilde Hein, College of the Holy Cross Alison Jaggar, University of Colorado, Boulder Helen Longino, University of Minnesota Maria Lugones, SUNY Binghamton Uma Narayan, Vassar College James Sterba, University of Notre Dame Rosemarie Tong, University of North Carolina, Charlotte Nancy Tuana, Penn State University Karen Warren, Macalester College Iris Marion Young, University of Chicago published in the series: Gender in the Mirror: Confounding Imagery Diana Tietjens Meyers Autonomy, Gender, Politics Marilyn Friedman Abortion and Social Responsibility Laurie Shrage Setting the Moral Compass Edited by Cheshire Calhoun
edited by cheshire calhoun
Setting the Moral Compass essays by women philosophers
1 2004
3
Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sa˜o Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Setting the moral compass : essays by women philosophers / edited by Cheshire Calhoun. p. cm. — (Studies in feminist philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-515474-6; ISBN 0-19-515475-4 (pbk.) 1. Ethics. 2. Feminist ethics. I. Calhoun, Cheshire. II. Series. BJ1395.S48 2003 170′.82—dc21 2003048636
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Preface
When I first thought about creating a collection of work in moral philosophy, this is not the collection I originally imagined. Hilde Lindemann Nelson had suggested to me that I put together an anthology of work in feminist ethics, and my first thought was to do one in feminist virtue ethics. But as I began the work of selecting contributors and writing a proposal, I found myself increasingly disinterested in that task. Instead, I began to think about all the women moral philosophers I have read since the early 1980s whom I have admired, been inspired by, and learned so much from, particularly how to write philosophy that speaks to ordinary moral experience. I wanted all of these women