Philosophy, Feminism, and Faith

Description

How women balance their lives as philosophers, feminists, and members of a religious tradition.

"The stories are powerful, sometimes heart-rending, sometimes lyrical, but always deeply personal. And there is some very good philosophizing as part of the bargain." —Merold Westphal

How can the seemingly separate lives of philosopher, feminist, and follower of a religious tradition come together in one person's life? How does religious commitment affect philosophy or feminism? How does feminism play out in religious or philosophical commitment? Wrestling with answers to these questions, women who balance philosophy, feminism, and faith write about their lives. The voices gathered here from several different traditions—Catholic, Protestant, Quaker, Jewish, and Muslim—represent diverse ethnicities, races, and ages. The challenging and poignant reflections in Philosophy, Feminism, and Faith show how critical thought can successfully mesh with religious faith and social responsibility.

Preliminary Table of Contents:

Introduction
Part 1. Setting the Context
1. Judaism and the Love of Reason Martha Nussbaum
2. Feminism, Socialism, and Christianity Revisited Mary B. Mahowald
3. Philosophizing on Saturday: Faith and the Philosophical Life Winifred Wing Han Lamb
4. A Struggle in Progress Jaime Leeser
5. Three Aspects of Identity Sr. Mary Christine Morkovsky
6. Reflections on Identity Jean Bethke Elshtain
Part 2. Tensions and Integrations
7. Yes Marianne Sawicki
8. Into the Crucible: My Art of Living Jacqueline Scott
9. Learning to Question Pat Johnson
10. Shared Marginalization: Negotiating the Identities of Christian, Feminist, and Philosopher Janet Wesselius
11. Care, Agape, and a Feminist Conception of the Self Ruth Groenhout
12. Seduction: Does How You Get to Yes Still Matter? Caroline Simon
13. The Presence of the Past laura Duhan Kaplan
14. Hagar on My Mind Azizah al-Hibri
Part 3. Challenging Traditions
15. A Skeptical Spirituality Nel Noddings
16. Faith, Philosophy, Passions, and Feminism: Dangerous Attractions Irmgard Scherer
17. On Being a Christian Philosopher and Not a Feminist M. Elaine Botha
18. Towards a Visionary Politics: Phenomenology, Psychoanalytic Feminism, and Transcendence Marilyn Nissim-Sabat
19. My Life Speaks Sara Ebenreck
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Women's Studies
• Feminist
• Religious
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Women
• Religión
• Gender
• Woman
• Philosophy of religion
• Feminism
• The Women
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 19 février 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253109668
• Langue: English

Extrait

PHILOSOPHY, FEMINISM, AND FAITH
Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, general editor
Philosophy, Feminism, and Faith

EDITED BY
RUTH E. GROENHOUT
AND
MARYA BOWER
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail [e-mail]
2003 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition .
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Philosophy, feminism, and faith / edited by Ruth E. Groenhout and Marya Bower.
p. cm. - (Indiana series in the philosophy of religion)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-253-34177-9 (cloth : alk. paper) - ISBN 0-253-21561-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Women and religion. 2. Feminism-Religious aspects. 3. Feminist theory. I. Groenhout, Ruth E., date II. Bower, Marya, date III. Series.
BL458 .P48 2003
200 .82-dc21
2002011674
1 2 3 4 5 08 07 06 05 04 03
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Part I. Setting the Context
1. Judaism and the Love of Reason
MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM
2. Feminism, Socialism, and Christianity Revisited
MARY B. MAHOWALD
3. Philosophizing on Saturday : Faith and the Philosophical Life
WINIFRED WING HAN LAMB
4. Three Aspects of Identity
SR. MARY CHRISTINE MORKOVSKY
5. Reflections on Identity
JEAN BETHKE ELSHTAIN
Part II. Tensions and Integrations
6. Yes
MARIANNE SAWICKI
7. Into the Crucible: My Art of Living
JACQUELINE SCOTT
8. Learning to Question
PATRICIA ALTENBERND JOHNSON
9. I Can t Say No: Self-Sacrifice and an Ethics of Care
RUTH E. GROENHOUT
10. Seduction: Does How You Get to Yes Still Matter?
CAROLINE J. SIMON
11. Living within Tradition
LAURA DUHAN KAPLAN
12. Hagar on My Mind
AZIZAH Y. AL-HIBRI
Part III. Challenging Traditions
13. A Skeptical Spirituality
NEL NODDINGS
14. Faith, Philosophy, Passions, and Feminism: Dangerous Attractions
IRMGARD SCHERER
15. On Being a Christian Philosopher and Not a Feminist
M. ELAINE BOTHA
16. Toward a Visionary Politics: Phenomenology, Psychoanalytic Feminism, and Transcendence
MARILYN NISSIM-SABAT
17. My Life Speaks
SARA EBENRECK
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editors would like to acknowledge the assistance, support, and encouragement provided during the process of developing this manuscript. All the contributors are due special thanks for their patience and willingness to see the project through to completion. Special thanks to Merold Westphal for encouraging us to pursue the project, to Martha Nussbaum for supporting our efforts from the beginning of the project, and to the editors at Indiana University Press, Dee Mortensen and Jane Lyle, who provided guidance, encouragement, and assistance along the way.
PHILOSOPHY, FEMINISM, AND FAITH
Introduction

Commitment to any one of the terms listed in the title of this volume seems to preclude commitment to either of the other two. Philosophical skepticism seems inimical to religious faith. Traditional religious faith is often understood as standing over against feminism. And feminist theories have frequently placed themselves in opposition to male-stream philosophy. So how can one live with the seemingly immiscible combination of being a philosopher, belonging to a traditional religion, and being a feminist? How can we make sense of being, as Diana Tietjens Meyers phrases it, intersectional selves 1 when those selves are at the intersection of opposing systems of belief?
This is the question that began this anthology, a question that the anthology cannot fully answer. There is no one answer about how these three strands of existence may come together in people s lives, any more than there is a single answer to Freud s plaintive question about what women want. Searching for a single answer in this context is as misguided as looking for the necessary and sufficient conditions of something s being a game. But there are many answers, and in the answers gathered here there is both philosophical and practical wisdom, both theoria and praxis.
The essays that comprise this anthology offer a range of approaches to creating the complex texture of a mature human life, a life that recognizes the potential for conflict in multiple allegiances, but also recognizes the creative potential the tension between these allegiances may generate, as well as the potential for creating mutually supportive coherence out of those same allegiances. Thus the aim of this anthology is to begin to open up a space for thinking through the variety of ways one could organize, synthesize, or simply live three complex commitments that may shape one s life. It focuses on three life-formative commitments, philosophy, feminism, and religion. Philosophers were asked to reflect on how these commitments play out in their own understanding of their scholarly lives. In several cases this reflection takes an autobiographical tone, as the thinker reflects on the experiences of living these tensions. In other cases the reflection begins from the perspective of the intersection of these three commitments, turns toward a particular philosophical puzzle that can be seen from that vantage point, and so speaks from the intersection rather than reflecting on it. These latter essays offer a less autobiographical reflection on the three commitments; they offer instead a sense of how working from within tensions can generate fruitful philosophical reflections. Before turning to the essays themselves, however, it is worth thinking about the three commitments that form the framework for this volume.
Becoming a philosopher seems to commit one to several things. Academic philosophy usually requires a commitment to reason, though there are philosophical traditions that challenge this commitment. J rgen Habermas, in fact, begins the Theory of Communicative Action with the claim that
One could even say that philosophical thought originates in reflection on the reason embodied in cognition, speech and action; and reason remains its basic theme. . . . If there is anything common to philosophical theories, it is the intention of thinking being or the unity of the world by way of explicating reason s experience of itself. 2
Philosophy requires a dedication to the life of the mind in some sense, and places a high value on theoretical work. Though the issue could be debated, it also seems that philosophy commits one to following reason where it leads, regardless of the practical consequences, political ramifications, or religious conclusions of the journey. To the extent that these conceptions of philosophy are accurate, both religious commitments and feminist commitments are thrown into question by an identification with philosophy.
Feminism commits one to a political agenda that seeks to end oppression. It requires that one adopt techniques of analysis that incorporate an awareness of the intersection of power and gender. This means that one s theoretical commitments require scrutiny, and it requires a willingness to reject those commitments if they impede or prevent the full development of human abilities and gifts in oneself or others. Feminist philosophical work has frequently developed critiques of reason and the purity of the conclusions particular reasonings have purported to achieve. In addition, feminism acknowledges the importance of our lived experiences as embodied beings and generally requires that one s work be grounded in the practical and the everyday. These feminist commitments seem to prohibit an unqualified commitment to reason. They also seem to require a scrutiny of religious traditions, particularly when those faith traditions have impeded women s development, and this scrutiny appears at odds with a wholehearted faith commitment.
Religious faiths require other commitments from their practitioners. Reason may need to be subordinated to the demands of a metaphysics or a revealed truth that is said to be more fundamental or more transcendent than mere human reason. In addition, religious traditions may ask one to subordinate practical experience or wisdom to authorities or institutional structures far removed from the challenges and joys one experiences in life. This has been an especially problematic aspect of traditional religion for many feminists, including several who write for this volume, and is one of the reasons many give for rejecting religious faith. While traditional religions have sometimes provided opportunities for women to exercise political, religious, or social power, they have sometimes been potent forces for denying such opportunities. The subordination of practical experience to doctrine, and the denial of opportunities to women have often gone hand in hand. When women do not have the authority to speak in public, their experience cannot challenge religious doctrine. And when religious doctrine denigrates women and their experience, that doctrine carries enormous political weight in many cultures. So traditional religions are rarely comfortable environments for cultural critics such as feminists, or for critics committed to the primacy of reason such as philosophers.
That there are tensions between philosophy, feminism, and faith is not hard to see. The existence of the tension is not the interesting question, however; the interesting