Setting the Moral Compass: Essays by Women Philosophers (Studies in Feminist Philosophy)

399 Pages·2003·1.382 MB·English

by  Cheshire Calhoun

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
SusanBordo,UniversityofKentucky
HarryBrod,TempleUniversity
ClaudiaCard,UniversityofWisconsin
LorraineCode,YorkUniversity,Toronto
KimberleCrenshaw,ColumbiaLawSchool/UCLASchoolofLaw
JaneFlax,HowardUniversity
AnnGarry,CaliforniaStateUniversity,LosAngeles
SallyHaslanger,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
HildeHein,CollegeoftheHolyCross
AlisonJaggar,UniversityofColorado,Boulder
HelenLongino,UniversityofMinnesota
MariaLugones,SUNYBinghamton
UmaNarayan,VassarCollege
JamesSterba,UniversityofNotreDame
RosemarieTong,UniversityofNorthCarolina,Charlotte
NancyTuana,PennStateUniversity
KarenWarren,MacalesterCollege
IrisMarionYoung,UniversityofChicago
published in the series:
GenderintheMirror:ConfoundingImagery
DianaTietjensMeyers
Autonomy,Gender,Politics
MarilynFriedman
AbortionandSocialResponsibility
LaurieShrage
SettingtheMoralCompass
EditedbyCheshireCalhoun
edited by cheshire calhoun
Setting the Moral Compass
essays by women philosophers
1
2004
3
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Settingthemoralcompass:essaysbywomenphilosophers/editedbyCheshireCalhoun.
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-19-515474-6;ISBN0-19-515475-4(pbk.)
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Preface
WhenIfirstthoughtaboutcreatingacollectionofworkinmoralphilosophy,this
is not the collection I originally imagined. Hilde Lindemann Nelson had sug-
gested 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
selectingcontributorsandwritingaproposal,Ifoundmyselfincreasinglydisinter-
ested in that task. Instead, I began to think about all the women moral philoso-
phers 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 in one book so that I
could honor (at least some of) the women who have made moral philosophy a
place where women can work. And I wanted to see their work, finally, in one
place becauseit seemedto me thatthere wassome importantway in whichthey
arekindredphilosophicalminds.Buttherewasonesizableobstacletopublishing
such a collection: there didn’t seem to be a rationale for bringing the diverse set
ofphilosophersIhadinmindintoonecollection.Therewasnoobviousprinciple
of unity. Some of the authors were doing explicitly feminist philosophical work
addressed primarily to other feminist thinkers. Others were squarely engaged in
nonfeminist philosophical conversations with other moral philosophers, most of
whom were men. So this couldn’t be a collection of feminist ethics. But there
was no other obvious thematic unity to call upon because the sorts of moral phi-
losophy they did were quite different. The only alternative was to envision the
bookasakindoffestschrift,honoringwomenwhohavecontributedinimportant
waystomoralphilosophy.Butthis,too,wasanunsatisfactoryframe—notbecause
thecontributorsdidn’tdeservetobehonored (surelytheydo)butbecausewhatI
wanted to bring into view was the nonaccidental fact that all of the philosophers
Ifeltwerekindredmindswerewomen.Sothis,intheend,istheconvictionthat
unifies this volume: gender makes a difference. The difference it makes is some-
times subtle, often unpredictable, and is compatible with deep philosophical dis-
vi preface
agreementsamongwomenphilosophers.Butthefieldofmoralphilosophywould
notbethesamewithoutthewomenphilosopherswhohelpedconstructit.Itwill
be differentyet in afuture when itis no longernecessary to insistthat the differ-
encewomenmaketomoralphilosophyissomethingtobeprized.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the moral philosophers whose work appears in
thisvolume—andtomanyotherswhoseworkdoesnot.Thiscollectionislimited
inmanyways—toalmostexclusivelyU.S.philosophers,manyofwhomaremem-
bers of the same generation and all of whom do what might loosely be called
“analytic”philosophy.Readerswillprobablynoticemanyotherlimits.
I am grateful to my home institution, Colby College, which has, as always,
provided generous research support and a sabbatical leave. That support enabled
metoworkwithJasonBeal,astudentresearchassistant,whocuthiseditingteeth
on this volume. I am deeply thankful for his persistence, collaborative spirit, and
hardwork.
Acknowledgments
Mythankstothefollowingpublishersforgrantingpermissiontoreprintessaysfor
thisvolume:
Repair by Elizabeth V. Spelman. Copyright  2002 by Elizabeth V. Spelman.
ReprintedbypermissionofBeaconPress,Boston.
MarthaC.Nussbaum,“TheFutureofFeministLiberalism.”ProceedingsandAd-
dressesoftheAmericanPhilosophicalAssociation,vol.74,no.2 (November2000).
ReprintedwithpermissionoftheAmericanPhilosophicalAssociation.
Barbara Herman, “The Scope of Moral Requirement.” Philosophy and Public
Affairs, vol. 30, no. 3 (Summer 2001). Copyright Princeton University Press 
2001.
Susan Wolf, “The Moral of Moral Luck.” Philosophic Exchange, no. 31 (2000–
2001).ReprintedwithpermissionoftheCenterforPhilosophicExchange.
A substantial portion of the essay “Common Decency,” by Cheshire Calhoun,
originally appeared in “Expecting Common Decency,” Philosophy of Education
2002:APublicationofthePhilosophyofEducationSociety.Copyrightheldbythe
PhilosophyofEducationSociety,reprintedwiththesociety’spermission.
ClaudiaCard,“GenocideandSocialDeath.”Hypatia:AJournalofFeministPhi-
losophy, vol. 18, no. 1 (2003). Reprinted with permission of Indiana University
Press.
AlisonJaggar,“GlobalizingFeministEthics.”Hypatia:AJournalofFeministPhi-
losophy, vol. 13, no. 2 (1998). Reprinted with permission of Indiana University
Press.
viii acknowledgments
Michele Moody-Adams, “The Idea of Moral Progress.” Metaphilosophy, vol. 30
(July1999).ReprintedwithpermissionofBlackwellPublishingLtd.
“The Improvisatory Dramas of Deliberation,” by Amelie Oksenberg Rorty, is a
revised version of “The Improvisatory Drama of Decision-Making,” which origi-
nallyappearedinWell-BeingandMorality:EssaysinHonourofJamesGriffin,ed.
Roger Crisp. Copyright  2000. Reprinted with permission of Oxford University
Press.
ChristineM. Korsgaard,“Self-Constitution inthe Ethicsof Platoand Kant.”The
Journal of Ethics: An International Philosophical Review, vol. 3 (1999), pp. 1–29.
Copyright  1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Reprinted with kind permission
ofChristineM.Korsgaard,HarvardUniversity,andKluwerAcademicPublishers.
Contents
Contributors xi
Introduction 3
I An Ethics for Ordinary Life and Vulnerable Persons
1 Virtue and the Skills of Ordinary Life 23
Marcia Homiak
2 The Household as Repair Shop 43
Elizabeth V. Spelman
3 Taking Care: Care as Practice and Value 59
Virginia Held
4 The Future of Feminist Liberalism 72
Martha C. Nussbaum
II What We Ought to Do for Each Other
5 The Scope of Moral Requirement 91
Barbara Herman
6 The Moral of Moral Luck 113
Susan Wolf
7 Common Decency 128
Cheshire Calhoun
III The Normative Importance of a Shared Social World
8 Resentment and Assurance 145
Margaret Urban Walker