Companion to Feminist Philosophy - (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy) by Alison M Jaggar & Iris Marion Young (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Including over 50 newly-commissioned survey articles, this outstanding volume represents the first truly comprehensive guide to feminist philosophy.

From the Back Cover

Including over 50 newly-commissioned survey articles, this outstanding volume represents the first truly comprehensive guide to feminist philosophy.

The advent and development of feminist philosophy is traced and contextualized by the editors' introduction, followed by essays that reflect both conventional philosophical divisions as well as a number of topics absent from mainstream philosophy, and including sections on Feminist Perspectives on the Western Canon, Theories of Subjectivity and Embodiment, Moral Theory, Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Knowledge, Philosophy of Language, Aesthetics and Practical Concerns. A unique feature is the inclusion of a series of essays tracing the emergence of feminist philosophy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The single comprehensive bibliography provides a valuable guide to the burgeoning literature in the field.

Review Quotes

"Finally, an anthology that places the power and range of feminist theory in the context not just of the Western tradition but also the concerns of the Two thirds World. The essays in this collection, many of which stress the performative and normalizing function of language, invite us to mark what has gone before in the hope of moving forward into a new era of Feminist theorizing. Broad in scope and rich in information, it is the best guide available to the range and depth of Feminist theory." Donn Welton, State University of New York at Stony Brook

"Jaggar and Young's Companion to Feminist Philosophy successfully introduces the uninitiated to the full scope of this rapidly burgeoning subject and, at the same time, provides a truly authoritative consolidation which will serve as an invaluable platform for further developments. Ranging across several continents and even more traditions, its three score chapters touch upon all the main branches of philosophy - language, knowledge and nature, religion, aesthetics and ethics, politics and society - showing in each case what difference is made by distinctively feminist concerns, such as subjectivity and embodiment. It is a tour de force that will impress sceptics and confirm the committed." Robert E. Goodin, Australian National University

"This monumental work will serve as a moral and intellectual touchstone for thinkers concerned to grasp ever more fully the abiding contributions of women to philosophical thought. A fount of information and inspiration, this work is an invaluable guide through the history of ideas." Laurence Thomas, Syracuse University

"It contains more than 50 very substantial survey articles on a very wide range of topics that include all the major standard subfields of general philosophy. These are supported by a substantial bibliography covering over 80 pages and a well constructed subject index. The level and vocabulary is advanced." Sarah Gash, University of Central England

"Companions of this ultra-compendious kind will always be monumental in a certain way, but this one seems especially so. Its publication marks the fact that now is an exciting moment in feminist philosophy. This Companion captures the moment, and one would hope that anyone who consults it, whether out of special interest or simple intellectual curiosity, will be stimulated by it." Miranda Fricker, Times Literary Supplement

"The editors of this volume, Jaggar and Young, have produced a valuable resource for teachers and students alike...The articles in the volume do not, in general, reflect any strict Anglo-American/Continental divide but display a rich mix, eloquent of the range of feminist engagements and interventions in philosophy...The Companion should be a valuable addition to any philosopher's library...It should also be of significant interest to those engaged in women's studies and cultural studies." Jo Sullivan, Women's Philosophy Review, Special Issue no. 25, 2000

"The Companion is an excellent resource for all levels of courses on feminist philosophy...this is truly an excellent collection, a great resource, and, in short, a book I plan to use extensively in the coming years". Barbara S. Andrew, University of Oregon, Ethics, October 2001

About the Author

Alison M. Jagger is Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her books include Feminist Frameworks co-edited with Paula Rothenberg (3e, 1993); Feminist Politics and Human Nature (1983); Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and Knowing, co-edited with Susan R. Bordo (1989); and Living with Contradictions: Controversies in Feminist Social Ethics (1994). Jaggar was a founding member of the Society for Women in Philosophy and is past Chair of the American Philosophical Committee on the Status of Women.

Iris Marion Young is Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, where she teaches ethics, political philosophy, and women's studies. She is the author of Justice and the Politics of Difference (1990) and Intersecting Voices: Dilemmas of Gender, Political Philosophy and Policy (1997).