Interventions - Martha C. Nussbaum

PHILOSOPHICAL INTERVENTIONS

R EVIEWS
19862011

Martha C. Nussbaum

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nussbaum, Martha Craven, 1947
Philosophical interventions: reviews, 19862011/
Martha Nussbaum.

p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780-19977785-3 (alk. paper)
1. BooksReviews. 2. Nussbaum, Martha Craven, 1947Books and
reading. I. Title.
Z1003.N93 2012
028.1dc22 2011012606

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

To Leon, who made so much of this possible

CHAPTER ONE
Womens Lot: Review of Jane Roland Martin, Reclaiming a
Conversation: The Ideal of the Educated Woman

CHAPTER TWO
Sex in the Head: Review of Roger Scruton,
Sexual Desire: A Moral Philosophy of the Erotic

CHAPTER THREE
Undemocratic Vistas: Review of Allan Bloom, The Closing of the
American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and
Impoverished the Souls of Todays Students

CHAPTER FOUR
Recoiling from Reason: Review of Alasdair MacIntyre,
Whose Justice? Which Rationality?

CHAPTER FIVE
The Bondage and Freedom of Eros: Review of John J. Winkler,
The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece;
and David M. Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality
and Other Essays on Greek Love

CHAPTER SIX
Our Pasts, Ourselves: Review of Charles Taylor,
Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity

CHAPTER SEVEN
The Chill of Virtue: Review of Gregory Vlastos,
Socrates, Ironist, and Moral Philosopher

CHAPTER EIGHT
Venus in Robes: Review of Richard Posner, Sex and Reason 103

CHAPTER NINE
Justice for Women! Review of Susan Moller Okin,
Justice, Gender, and the Family

CHAPTER TEN
Divided We Stand: Review of William J. Bennett,
The Book of Virtues

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Looking Good, Being Good: Review of Anne Hollander,
Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress;
Philippe Perrot, Fashioning the Bourgeoisie; and Gilles Lipovetsky,
The Empire of Fashion

CHAPTER TWELVE
Feminists and Philosophy: Review of Louise B. Antony and
Charlotte Witt, A Mind of Ones Own: Feminist Essays on
Reason and Objectivity 149

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
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 167

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Foul Play: Review of William Ian Miller, The Anatomy of Disgust 177

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
If Oxfam Ran the World: Review of Peter Unger,
Living High and Letting Die: Our Illusion of Innocence

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Professor of Parody: Review of Four Books by
Judith Butler, Excitable Speech; The Psychic Life of Power;
Bodies that Matter; Gender Trouble

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Experiments in Living: Review of Michael Warner,
The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Review of Allen Buchanan, Dan W. Brock, Norman Daniels, and Daniel Wikler,
From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice

CHAPTER NINETEEN
Disabled Lives: Who Cares?
Review of Eva Feder Kittay,
Loves Labor: Essays on Women, Equality, and Dependency;
Michael Brub, 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

CHAPTER TWENTY
When She Was Good: Review of Peter J. Conradi,
Iris Murdoch: A Life

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dr. True Self: Review of F. Robert Rodman,
Winnicott: Life and Work

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
For Once Clear to See: Review of Mary Kinzie, Drift

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Founder: Review of Judith M. Brown, Nehru: A Political Life;
and Shashi Tharoor, Nehru: The Invention of India

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Epistemology of the Closet: Review of Bart Schultz,
Henry Sidgwick: Eye of the Universe

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Prohibition Era: Review of Kenji Yoshino,
Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Man Overboard: Review of Harvey C. Mansfield, Manliness

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Legal Weapon: Review of Catharine A. MacKinnon, Are Women Human?
And Other International Dialogues

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Review: Martha Alter Chen, Perpetual Mourning:
Widowhood in Rural India;
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

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Texts for Torturers: Review of Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect

CHAPTER THIRTY
Stages of Thought: Review of A. D. Nuttall, Shakespeare the Thinker;
Colin McGinn, Shakespeares Philosophy; and Tzachi Zamir,
Double Vision: Moral Philosophy
and Shakespearean Drama

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Passion Fashion: Review of Cristina Nehring,
A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-First Century 378

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Becky, Tess, and Moll: Review of Nicola Lacey, Women, Crime, and
Character: From Moll Flanders to Tess of the DUrbervilles

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Examined Life (Inheriting Socrates): Review of Astra Taylor,
The Examined Life (Film)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Representative Woman: Review of Christine Stansell,
The Feminist Promise: 1792 to the Present

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
American Civil War: Review of Stefan Collini, Thats Offensive!

I am very grateful to Peter Ohlin of Oxford University Press for suggesting the idea of this collection and for being so helpful throughout the process. I owe thanks to The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement, The Nation, and The London Review of Books for permission to reprint my essaysand of course, as the Introduction records, for their participation in generating the reviews in the first place and editing them. For research assistance I am most grateful to Ryan Long, and for comments on the Introduction to Brian Leiter, Richard Posner, and Saul Levmore.