Social and Political Philosophy: Classical Western Texts in Feminist and Multicultural Perspectives.
Clark, Paul
Sterba, James P., ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing, 1994.
xiii + 539 pp. n. p.-Sterba informs his students in the introduction
that, "the central task of social and political philosophy is to
provide a justification for coercive institutions" (p. 1). He
points out that virtually every political philosopher has been concerned
with the justification of authority but each school of thought provides
a difference justification, so he uses this justification as the
touchstone for selections in various philosophers, thus providing both a
source of unity and a point of contrast for his anthology. It is an
effective way of selecting texts.
Sterba quite rightly points out that the type of authority
justified by one system of thought will vary with others, and what
system of thought is acceptable to various people depends upon what sort
of authority is acceptable to them. He then adds that, "feminist
social and political ideals demand that coercive institutions no longer
support the subordination of women to men, surely a reasonable
requirement" (p. 3). Perhaps it is reasonable, perhaps not; but it
is a gratuitous assertion which is not proved nor questioned.
Nevertheless, Sterba concludes that "the task of determining when
coercive institutions are legitimate authorities will be satisfied with
nothing less than a consideration of feminist and multicultural
perspectives" (p. 3).
Selections are taken from Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, all the major
enlightenment thinkers, and several of the most important contemporary
philosophers including Rawls, Rand, Foucault, MacIntyre, and Charles
Taylor. A few short pieces are interspersed from less well-known
philsophers, including Eastern thinkers. The list of primary selections
chosen by Sterba is outstanding. The passages from each author address
major themes of importance and truly give a good sense of the
thinker's overall philosophy, yet also deal with common themes
accessable to students. In addition, everyone should be satisfied with
the scope and diversity of the readings.
The selections are followed by a feminist discussion or critique.
These critiques, obviously, are going to be a point of controversy with
many students and teachers. Some of the discussions are first rate
philosophical analysis, such as Susan Mendus's "Kant: `An
Honest but Narrow Minded Bourgeois'?" and Heidi
Hartmann's "The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and
Feminism." Other discussions, unfortunately, seem to be almost
totally lacking in philosophic merit. Susan Moller Okin in her article
"Justice as Fairness--For Whom" spends several pages trying to
prove that Rawls was a sexist because he used terms such as
"he," "man," and "mankind" rather than
using gender neutral words such as "one" or "human."
In the rest of the article she repeatedly attacks Rawls for not
questioning the assumption that "the monogamous family, in either
its traditional, or any other form is just" (p. 417). Yet she
asserts that the family is unjust without once arguing for the position
or questioning her own assumptions.
While the book does provide criticisms of various philosophies
from a feminist perspective, if one is looking for a philosophical
examination of feminist beliefs, or an attempt to justify those beliefs,
it is not found in this work.
The editor has also included in the text several short historical
sketches designed to show how philosophical thought influenced the
behavior of the society at large. While not all of these sketches are of
particular help in understanding the practical significance of
philosophy, special note should be made of Ward Churchill's
discussion of American policy towards the American Indians. Churchill
illustrates quite well how the Lockean theories helped the English and
Americans to justify a brutal suppression of native American--worse than
other countries that did not accept such theories.
