Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewDiana Tietjens Meyers is one of the most subtle and complex philosophers of feminist autonomy and agency writing today. In this book, she has presented a powerful analysis of the forms of autonomy in contemporary social life, and the impasses, ruses, and limitations that can impede autonomous agency. An original contribution to one of the most vexing and contested concepts in feminist philosophy. -- Elizabeth Grosz, Jean Fox O'Barr Women's Studies Professor, Duke University
Meyers's style is elegant, insightful, and altogether gripping in places. Peppered with personal experiences and analogies, this book is likely to be pleasing to any interested reader. * Metapsychology Online *
Diana Meyers's Being Yourself is an important and original theory of autonomy that manages, by virtue of both its philosophical rigor and its keen eye for the realm of practice, to show how moral agents can exercise their authentic selves in a world where socialization and political barriers prevail. Meyers's discussion of autonomy and female genital cutting contains the strongest argument I know for viewing autonomy within culture rather than against it. -- Marion Smiley, J. P. Morgan Chase Chair in Ethics, Brandeis University
Table of ContentsPart 3 Preface Part 4 The Autonomous Agent Chapter 5 Personal Autonomy and the Paradox of Feminine Socialization Chapter 6 Intersectional Identity and the Authentic Self? Opposites Attract! Chapter 7 Decentralizing Autonomy: Five Faces of Selfhood Chapter 8 The Personal, the Political, and Psycho-corporeal Identity Part 9 Moral Reflection Chapter 10 The Socialized Individual and Individual Autonomy: An Intersection between Philosophy and Psychology Chapter 11 Moral Reflection: Beyond Impartial Reason Chapter 12 Emotion and Heterodox Moral Perception: An Essay in Moral Social Psychology Chapter 13 Narrative and Moral Life Part 14 Agency in Hostile Social Contexts Chapter 15 Cultural Diversity: Rights, Goals, and Competing Values Chapter 16 Feminism and Women's Autonomy: The Challenge of Female Genital Cutting Chapter 17 Rights in Collision: A Non-Punitive, Compensatory Remedy for Abusive Speech Chapter 18 Gendered Work and Individual Autonomy Chapter 19 Feminine Mortality Imagery: Feminist Ripostes Part 20 Bibliography Part 21 Index
