University of Chicago law and ethics professor Nussbaum combines
feminist theory and an internationalist perspective to fashion a
stunning defense of justice. In a series of works (Poetic Justice,
1996; The Therapy of Desire, 1994; etc.), Nussbaum has tried to
demonstrate the value of philosophy to the practical matters of
everyday life; she continues that work here. She begins with the
assertion that justice consists of respecting the equal worth of
all human beings, given the universal human capacities of choice
and reasoning. An essential element of this respect is protecting
the liberty of individuals to create lives of their own choosing.
As women in general, as well as lesbian and gay men, have too often
been denied such freedom, justice should be and is a central
concern for feminism. Yet Western feminism itself has too often
neglected the needs and conditions of women of the non-Western
world. A feminist theory of justice must concern itself both with
abstract liberties, such as freedom of expression, and the
practical needs of nutrition, health, education, shelter, and
physical safety. Against charges that her vision of justice is a
foreign idea being imposed upon other cultures, she argues that she
is defending the creation of space in which free choice for all,
including women, actually exists. In another vein, against those
who would impose a rigid cultural relativism, she argues that local
tradition is not always an inviolable code that must remain
unchallenged. Such traditions may simply reflect the most powerful
voices - invariably male. We must be suspicious of norms formed
under conditions of injustice. All these themes are developed in a
series of carefully crafted essays. There are weaknesses here.
Questions of sexuality are not particularly well integrated within
her arguments, and as she admits, she does not deal with the
question of global redistribution of wealth as an essential element
of justice. Nevertheless, a brilliant book. (Kirkus Reviews)
Martha Nussbaum articulates a distinctive concept of feminism, rooted in the liberal tradition of political thought, but responsive to radical feminist critiques of that tradition. She maps out a feminism that is concerned with global justice and with the urgent needs of women who live in hunger or illiteracy, or under inherently unequal legal systems. In other chapters she discusses equal rights for lesbians and gay men, addresses the feminist concept of objectification, and argues for the importance of sympathy and mercy within a feminist conception of justice. She draws on previously published work, but this has been revised extensively for this volume.
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