Philosophical Interventions Reviews 1986-2011

This volume collects the notable published book reviews of Martha C. Nussbaum, a philosopher and high profile public intellectual who comments often on issues in philosophy, politics, gender equality, economics, and the law. Many of her engagements have been through the medium of the book review, which she has published prolifically in academic journals and in high profile venues like The New Republic and The New York Times for over 20 years. This volume collects 25 of what she considers to be her key reviews. The reviews date from 1986 and range to the present, and engage with authors like Roger Scruton, Allan Bloom, Charles Taylor, Judith Butler, Richard Posner, Catherine MacKinnon, and other prominent intellectuals of our time. Throughout, her views defy ideological predictability, heralding interesting work from unlikely sources, deftly critiquing where it is deserved, and generally providing a compelling picture of how intellectuals might engage with broad social concerns. Nussbaum will provide a new introduction that explains her selection, and provides her view of the role of public intellectuals.

Introduction; 1. "Women's Lot, " review of Jane Roland Martin, Reclaiming a Conversation: The Ideal of the Educated Woman, The New York Review of Books, January 30, 1986.; 2. "Sex in the Head," review of Roger Scruton, Sexual Desire: A Moral Philosophy of the Erotic, The New York Review of Books, December 18, 1986.; 3. "Undemocratic Vistas," review of Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, The New York Review of Books, November 5, 1987.; 4. "Recoiling from Reason," review of Alasdair MacIntyre, Whose Justice? Which Rationality, The New York Review of Books, December 7, 1989.; 5. "The Bondage and Freedom of Eros," Review of David Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays on Greek Love and John J. Winkler, T he Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Greece, The Times Literary Supplement, June 1990.; 6. "Our Pasts, Ourselves," review of Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, T he New Republic, April 9, 1990.; 7. "The Chill of Virtue," review of Gregory Vlastos, Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher, The New Republic, September 15,1991.; 8. "Venus in Robes," review of Richard Posner, Sex and Reason, The New Republic, April 20, 1992.; 9. "Justice for Women!", review of Susan Moller Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family, The New York Review of Books, October 8, 1992.; 10. "Divided We Stand," review of William Bennett, The Book of Virtues, The New Republic, December 1993.; 11. "Looking Good, Being Good," review of Anne Hollander, Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress (and two other books), The New Republic, January 2, 1995.; 12. "Feminists and Philosophy," review of Louise B. Antony and Charlotte Witt, eds., A Mind of One's Own: Feminist Essays on Reason and Objectivity, The New York Review of Books, October 20, 1994. Letters and Reply, April 6, 1995.; 13. "Unlocal Hero," review of Kristen Renwick Monroe, The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity and Tzvetan Todorov, Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps, The New Republic, October 28, 1996.; 14. "Foul Play," review of William Ian Miller, The Anatomy of Disgust, The New Republic, November 17, 1997.; 15. "If Oxfam Ran the World," review of Peter Unger, Living High and Letting Die: Our Illusion of Innocence, The London Review of Books, September 4, 1997. Letters and Reply, October 2, 1997.; 16. "The Professor of Parody," review of four books by Judith Butler, The New Republic February 22, 1999. Letters and Reply, April 19, 1999.; 17. "Experiments in Living," review of Michael Warner, The Trouble With Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life, The New Republic, January 3, 2000.; 18. Review of Allen Buchanan, Dan W. Brock, Norman Daniels, and Daniel Wikler, From Chance to Choice; Genetics and Justice, The New Republic, December 4, 2000.; 19. "Disabled Lives: Who Cares?", review of Eva Feder Kittay, Love's Labor: Essays on Women, Equality, and Dependency; Michael B?rub?, Life As We Know It: A Father, a Family, and an Exceptional Child; and Joan Williams, Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do About It. The New York Review of Books January 11, 2001.; 20. "When She Was Good," review of Peter J. Conradi, Iris Murdoch: A Life, The New Republic January 7, 2002.; 21. "Dr. True Self," review of F. Robert Rodman, Winnicott: Life and Work, The New Republic October 27, 2003.; 22. "For Once Clear to See," review of Mary Kinzie, Drift, Poetry 183 (January 2004), 235-38.; 23. "The Founder," review of Judith M. Brown, Nehru: A Political Life and Shashi Tharoor, Nehru: The Invention of India, The New Republic, February 14, 2005.; 24. "Epistemology of the Closet," review of Bart Schultz, Henry Sidgwick: The Eye of the Universe, The Nation, June 6, 2005.; 25. "The Prohibition Era," review of Kenji Yoshino, Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, The New Republic, March 20, 2006.; 26. "Man Overboard," review of Harvey C. Mansfield, Manliness, The New Republic, June 26, 2006.; 27. "Legal Weapon," review of Catharine A. MacKinnon, Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues. The Nation, July 31/August 7, 2006.; 28. Review of Martha Alter Chen, Perpetual Mourning: Widowhood in Rural India; Martha Alter Chen, wed., Widows in India: Social Neglect and Public Action; Deepa Mehta, Water (film); Bapsi Sidhwa, Water: A Novel; Devyani Saltzman, Shooting Water: A memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking. Unpublished, written late 2006.; 29. "Texts for Torturers," review of Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect, The Times Literary Supplement, October 19, 2007.; 30. "Stages of Thought," review of A. D. Nuttall, Shakespeare the Thinker, Colin McGinn, Shakespeare's Philosophy: Discovering the Meaning Behind the Plays, and Tzachi Zamir, Double Vision: Moral Philosophy and Shakespearean Drama, The New Republic, May 7, 2008.; 31. "The Passion Fashion," review of Cristina Nehring, A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-First Century, The New Republic, September 23, 2009.; 32. "Becky, Tess, and Moll," review of Nicola Lacey, Women, Crime, and Character: From Moll Flanders to Tess of the D'Urbervilles, The Times Literary Supplement, September 18, 2009.; 33. "Examined Life (Inheriting Socrates)," review of Astra Taylor, The Examined Life (film), The Point 2 (winter 2010).; 34. "Representative Woman," review of Christine Stansell, The Feminist Promise: 1792 to the Present, The Nation, October 25, 2010.; 35. review of Stefan Collni, That's Offensive!, The New Statesman March 2011.

Martha C. Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Love's Knowledge, Sex and Social Justice, Animal Rights (edited with Cass Sunstein), and From Disgust to Humanitiy, among many.