Moral Contexts (Feminist Constructions) - Softcover

Walker, Margaret Urban

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742513793 ISBN 13: 9780742513792

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002

Synopsis

Many contexts shape and limit moral thinking in philosophy and life. Human conditions of vulnerability and interdependency, of limited awareness and control, of imperfect insight into ourselves and others are inevitable contexts that neither moral thought nor theory should forget. To be truly reflective, moral thinking and moral philosophy must become aware of the contexts that bind our thinking about how to live. This collection of essays by Margaret Urban Walker seek to show how to do this, and why it makes a difference. Contingent and changeable contexts that shape moral thinking include our individual histories, our social positions, and institutional roles, relationships, cultural settings, and social arrangements, and the specific moral idioms we pick up along the way. The paradigms and specialized language of ethical theory are contexts, too; they shape how moral theory looks and what or whom it looks at. Ethical theory and practice are meaningless without these Moral Contexts.

About this title

About the Author

Margaret Urban Walker is Lincoln Professor of Ethics, Justice, and the Public Sphere in the School of Justice Studies at Arizona State University. She is the editor of Mother Time: Women, Aging, and Ethics (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999).

Review

Margaret Walker is one of the most profound and original moral philosophers writing today. These essays, written over a period of fifteen years, reveal many ways in which unacknowledged ethical contexts shape not only the perceptions and daily choices of ordinary human beings but also the dominant styles of philosophical ethics. (Jaggar, Alison)

Margaret Walker says 'when context is ignored or effaced in theorizing, what we get is irrelevant or bad theory (xiii).' In her welcome new collection of essays, she shows just how right this is. The essays are often surprising, and always powerful and important. This book is a must read for all who want relevant and good ethics. (Stocker, Michael)

Feminist philosopher Margaret Urban Walker makes a compelling case for moral thinking that takes context, particulars, and partiality into account. Suitable for readers in many disciplines, it will be far more difficult arguing against a feminist ethics after reading this thoughtful and compassionate book. (Journal Of Moral Education)

Margaret Urban Walker's essays offer a sustained philosophical analysis and defense of what is often called "an ethics of care." Describing the work here as simply a defense of an ethics of care, as a substantive ethical theory, would be a disservice insofar as Walker tackles numerous metaethical issues with acumen and clarity. This book makes a valuable contribution to philosophical discourse in metaethics and normative ethics, interjecting a uniquely feminist perspective. (Lori Watson)

Margaret Walker writes, 'feminist ethics is not about women but about ethics. Its project is to rethink ethics...' In this collection of previously published essays, Walker’s wisdom about how to rethink the nature of ethics shines brilliantly, and affords her readers a chance to see how her ideas have developed over time. (Tronto, Joan)

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0742513793
• ISBN 13: 9780742513792
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 248