Charlotte Witt 
Feminist Metaphysics 
Explorations in the Ontology of Sex, Gender and the Self

The present volume is an exciting new collection of original essays by outstanding feminist theorists including Sally Haslanger, Marilyn Frye and Linda Alcoff. Feminist Metaphysics is the first collection of articles addressing metaphysical issues from a feminist perspective. The essays cover central feminist topics including: the ontology of sex and gender, persons, identity and subjectivity, and the relations among experience, ideology and reality. Many of the papers combine cutting-edge feminist theory with contemporary metaphysics and the philosophy of language. The volume is also distinctive in including articles representing both analytic and continental perspectives on metaphysics. The essays are philosophically sophisticated and are primarily intended for a professional audience of philosophers and feminist theorists.

Table of Content

Notes on Contributors.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction; Charlotte Witt.- Part I: The Ontology of Sex and Gender.- 1. What is Gender Essentialism?; Charlotte Witt.- 2. Different Women: Gender and the Realism/Nominalism Debate; Natalie Stoljar.- 3. The Metaphysics of Sex and Gender; Ásta Kristjana Sveinsdóttir.- 4. Ontological Commitments, Sex and Gender; Mari Mikkola.- 5. The Metaphors of Being a Φ; Marilyn Frye.- Part II: Persons and Subjectivity.- 6. The Metaphysics of Relational Autonomy; Jules Holroyd.- 7. Beauvoir and the Allure of Self-Objectification; Nancy Bauer.- 8. A Phenomenology of Sexual Difference: Types, Styles and Persons; Sara Heinämaa.- Part III: Power, Ideology and Reality.- 9. The Politics and Metaphysics of Experience; Marianne Janack.- 10. Ideology, Generics, and Common Ground; Sally Haslanger.- 11. Experience and Knowledge: The Case of Sexual Abuse Memories; Linda Alcoff.- Index.

About the author

Charlotte Witt is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at the University of New Hampshire. Her research interests include ancient philosophy and feminist theory. Witt is author of ‘Aristotle on Substance and Essence’ (Cornell University Press) and ‘Ways of Being in Aristotle’ (Cornell University Press) and co-editor of five collected volumes including ‘A Mind of One’s Own: Feminist Essays on Reason and Objectivity.’ She is a recipient of grants and fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities.