Rethinking ethics in the midst of violence: a feminist approach to freedom

642 Pages·1993·1.51 MB·English

by  Linda A. Bell

Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence :
title: A Feminist Approach to Freedom New
Feminist Perspectives Series
author: Bell, Linda A.
publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
isbn10 | asin: 084767844X
print isbn13: 9780847678440
ebook isbn13: 9780585189994
language: English
Feminist ethics, Violence--Moral and ethical
subject
aspects.
publication date: 1993
lcc: BJ1395.B45 1993eb
ddc: 170/.82
Feminist ethics, Violence--Moral and ethical
subject:
aspects.
Page i
Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence
Page ii
New Feminist Perspectives Series
General Editor: Rosemarie Tong, Davidson College
Claiming Reality: Phenomenology and Women's Experience
by Louise Levesque-Lopman, Regis College
Evidence on Her Own Behalf: Women's Narrative as Theological
Voice
by Elizabeth Say, California State University, Northridge
Feminist Jurisprudence: The Difference Debate
edited by Leslie Friedman Goldstein, University of Delaware
Is Women's Philosophy Possible?
by Nancy J. Holland, Hamline University
Manhood and Politics: A Feminist Reading in Political Theory
by Wendy L. Brown, University of California, Santa Cruz
Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence: A Feminist Approach
to Freedom
by Linda A. Bell, Georgia State University
Rethinking Masculinity: Philosophical Explorations in the Light of
Feminism
Edited by Larry May, Washington University, and Robert A.
Strikwerda, Indiana University, Kokomo
Speaking from the Heart: A Feminist Perspective on Ethics
by Rita C. Manning, San Jose State University
Toward a Feminist Epistemology
by Jane Duran, University of California, Santa Barbara
Women, Militarism, and War: Essays in History, Politics, and
Social Theory
Edited by Jean Bethke Elshtain, Vanderbilt University, and
Sheila Tobias, University of Arizona
Women, Sex and the Law
by Rosemary Tong, Davidson College
Page iii
Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence
A Feminist Approach to Freedom
Linda A. Bell
with a Foreword by
Claudia Card
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Page iv
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706
Copyright © 1993 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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 the publisher.
British Cataloging in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bell, Linda A.
Rethinking ethics in the midst of violence : a feminist approach
to freedom / Linda A. Bell.
p. cm (New feminist perspectives series).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Feminist ethics. 2. ViolenceMoral and ethical aspects.
I. Title. II. Series.
BJ1395.B45 1993 170'.82dc20 93-2697 CIP

ISBN 0-8476-7844-X (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8476-7845-8 (paper: alk. paper)
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Page v
For Liberty and Jennifer
and a better world in which to grow up,
a world in which all oppression and all hate crimes,
including those against women and girls,
will be viewed as crimes against real people.
Page vii
Contents
Foreword xi
By Claudia Card
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
1 17
Feminist Ethics
Feminism and Ethical Theory 18
Recognition of the Reality of Violence 21
The Personal Is Political: Rejecting Individual 26
Solutions
The Problem of Co-optation 29
The Importance of Struggle 33
Violence, the Feminine, and an Ethics of Caring 35
The City of Ends 41
The Spirit of Play 45
Conclusion 47
Notes 48
2 55
Rethinking Some Fundamental Concepts
The Ideal of Objectivity 56
The Role of Separatism 63
The Ideal of Equality 69
Rethinking the Meaning of Power 75
Conclusion 80
Notes 80
3 87
The Place in Ethics of Natures and Needs
Historical Survey 88
Nature's Alleged Support for Hierarchy 92