The Soul of Justice: Social Bonds and Racial Hubris - Softcover

Willett, Cynthia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801487153 ISBN 13: 9780801487156

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Cynthia Willett brings together diverse insights from social psychology, classical and contemporary literature, and legal and justice theory to redefine the basis of the moral and legal person.Feminists, communitarians, and postmodern thinkers have made clear that classical liberalism, with its emphasis on individual autonomy and excessive rationalism, is severely limited. Although she is sympathetic with the liberal view, Willett finds it necessary to go further. For her, attention to the social dimensions of the family and civil society is critical if issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality are to be taken seriously. Interdependency, not autonomy, is of increasing significance in an era of globalization.Willett proposes an alternate normative theory that recognizes the impact of social forces on individual well-being. Citizenship in a democracy should not be defined solely on the basis of rights to autonomy, such as bare rights to property or free speech, she explains. Rather, citizenship should be defined first of all in terms of the rights, responsibilities, and capacities of the social person.It is within the African American tradition of political thought that Willett finds a more useful definition of human identity and political freedom. The African American experience offers a compelling vision of social change and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a social person. By focusing on everyday battles against racism, Willett contends, we can gain valuable insight into the meaning of justice.

About this title

Review:

"'Freedom's most sublime meaning is eros.' This is the central claim of Cynthia Willett's powerful new book, The Soul of Justice.... Therein Willett brings together critical theory, care ethics, and other forms of feminist theory, and the 'visionary pragmatism' of African American thought to challenge liberal conceptions of individuality and freedom. Perhaps because love often has been sentimentalized, philosophers have tended to turn to other phenomena, such as alienation, separation, and fear, in which to ground freedom. Understanding eros as something other than sentimentality, however, we can tap into its potential power and increase the chances for racial justice."

--Shannon Sullivan, Pennsylvania State University "The Journal of Speculative Philosophy "

"In her brilliant new book, Cynthia Willett forcefully argues that a theory of radical democrary needs both a notion of hubris and a notion of social eros. Her criticisms of liberal notions of the individual cut to the quick and open onto more fluid conceptions of sociality. Willett takes us to the heart of tensions between need and independence, autonomy and ultruism, self and others, rights and duties, equality and difference. This book will change the way that we think about justice and democracy in an era of globalization."

--Kelly Oliver, State University of New York, Stony Brook

"This largely convincing account raises important questions for democracy.... Willett's book sends us in new directions to answer questions with ancient origins."

--Ange-Marie Hancock, Pennsylvania State University "American Political Science Review "

About the Author:

Cynthia Willett is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Winship Distinguished Research Scholar at Emory University. She is the author of Maternal Ethics and Other Slave Moralities and the editor of Theorizing Multiculturalism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0801487153
• ISBN 13: 9780801487156
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254