Stephen David Ross is Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the State University of New York, Binghamton. He is the author or editor of nine other books also published by SUNY Press.
“The book engages a central question in feminist philosophy and centers on Irigaray’s question of sexual difference, moving through this to an ethics of inclusion based on ethical difference. I like the way in which Ross boldly lays out his own view while utilizing, drawing on, and situating himself with respect to leading feminist philosophers/scholars. His way of thinking about justice, utility, and rights-based theory from the standpoint of a general economy changes how we think of oppression and how gender extends into nature’s plenitude.” ― Margaret Nash
“Ross never ceases to amaze me. He seems to have internalized all of the philosophically deep feminist literature and has come up with the most sophisticated metaphysical critique of sexual discrimination and separatism that I have yet seen in print. At the very least, I am certain that it is the best such work to come from a man’s pen.” ― Steve Fuller
“It brings together philosophical traditions that rarely speak to each other by formulating a unique history of the Western philosophical tradition. The point of the historical analysis is to bring us to another way of thinking through the meanings/possibilities/dangers of our times. There is nothing utopian in this advocacy of an ethics of cherishment, care and kinds, if by utopian we think of unrealistic fantasies. This ethic of caring confronts the necessities of injustice without bitterness or resignation. I like what it says and how it says it.” ― Debra B. Bergoffen
“It led me to think a lot more deeply about personal identity, male/female relations, the human relationship with the environment, and spirituality, than other books have done. I’m already very well read in these areas, yet this book raised new issues for reflection and reopened many old issues; even when I disagreed with the author, I was led to fruitful reexamination of many important matters. The book led to personal and professional growth.” ― Marilyn G. Holly