Ethics Embodied

Description:

""A fascinating study of some important intersections between phenomenology, modern Japanese philosophy, and contemporary feminist ethics. By bringing these streams of thought together to re-assess embodiment and its significance for ethics, McCarthy simultaneously develops a novel form of cross-cultural feminist philosophy."Alison Stone, Lancaster University" ""McCarthy writes with a clarity that shows how deeply she has thought about, and cared about, the encounter of Western feminist thinking with Japanese philosophy. Not only has she made difficult texts accessible to the general reader, she has succeeded in making them relevant to an important range of contemporary ethical questions. This little book represents yet another landmark in the opening of Western philosophy to the remarkable insight of an intellectual tradition whose contributions to discussions of the body are irreplaceable."James W.^ Heisig, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture" ""Ethics Embodied is, as the author notes, an introduction, but it also attempts to carve out a new approach to ethics and offers as well a re-thinking of what is essential in teaching at all levels. As an introduction, it succeeds admirably and should create considerable excitement in the minds and bodies of readers."Robert Carter, Trent University" "While the body has been largely neglected in much of traditional Western philosophy, there is a rich tradition of Japanese philosophy in which this is not the case. Ethics Embodied explains how Japanese philosophy includes the body as an integral part of selfhood and ethics and shows how it provides an alternative and challenge to the traditional Western philosophical views of self and ethics.^ Through a comparative feminist approach, the book articulates the striking similarities that exist between certain strands of Japanese philosophy and feminist philosophy concerning selfhood, ethics, and the body. Despite these similarities, McCarthy argues that there are significant differences between these philosophies and that each reveals important limitations of the other. Thus, the book urges a view of ethical embodied selfhood that goes beyond where each of these views leaves us when considered in isolation." "With keen analysis and constructive comparison, this book will be accessible for students and scholars familiar with the Western philosophical tradition, while still adding a more global perspective."--BOOK JACKET.

subjects: Feminist theory,  Continental philosophy,  Human body,  Japanese Philosophy,  Ethics,  Philosophy, japanese

People: Tetsurō Watsuji (1889-1960)