Feminist Morality: Transforming Culture, Society, and Politics / Edition 1

by Virginia Held

Overview

How is feminism changing the way women and men think, feel, and act? Virginia Held explores how feminist theory is changing contemporary views of moral choice. She proposes a comprehensive philosophy of feminist ethics, arguing persuasively for reconceptualizations of the self; of relations between the self and others; and of images of birth and death, nurturing and violence. Held shows how social, political, and cultural institutions have traditionally been founded upon masculine ideals of morality. She then identifies a distinct feminist morality that moves beyond culturally embedded notions about motherhood and female emotionality. Examining the effects of this alternative moral and ethical system on changing social values, Held discusses its far-reaching implications for altering standards of freedom, democracy, equality, and personal development. Ultimately, she concludes, the culture of feminism could provide a fresh perspective on—even solutions to—contemporary social problems.

Feminist Morality makes a vital contribution to the ongoing debate in feminist theory on the importance of motherhood. For philosophers and other readers outside feminist theory, it offers a feminist moral and social critique in clear and accessible terms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226325934
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	11/15/1993
Series:	Women in Culture and Society
Edition description:	1
Pages:	293
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Virginia Held is professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, Graduate School and Hunter College. She is the author of The Public Interest and Individual Interests, coauthor of Women’s Realities, Women’s Choices, and editor of Property, Profits, and Economic Justice, among other works.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword
Acknowledgments
1. The Feminist Transformation of Consciousness and Culture
2. Feminist Moral Inquiry: Method and Prospects
3. Transformations of Moral Concepts
4. Moral Theory from a Feminist Perspective
5. Shaping Feminist Culture
6. Preconceptions of Birth and Death
7. Gender and Violence
8. Feminist Interpretations of Liberty and Equality
9. Democracy and the Critique of Individualism
10. Noncontractual Society: The Postpatriarchal Family as Model
Epilogue: The Feminist Future
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Credits
Index