Incorporates memoir in the context of philosophical and political theory and argument.

Incorporates memoir in the context of philosophical and political theory and argument.

Presenting essays rich with her own personal experiences, philosopher Linda A. Bell examines not only her own life but also problems arising from ways that living affects thinking. She reflects on her own experience in order to challenge a variety of provocative claims, including: that affirmative action harms those it is designed to help; that suicide, while perhaps acceptable for some with fatal diseases, is otherwise a manifestation of mental illness; that women are to blame for male violence toward them if they don't leave the relationships; that a low profile is the best path to success for women in academe; that women are treated fairly in academe, perhaps even better than men; and that "political correctness" is a recent and aberrant move away from respect for freedom of speech. Although drawing from experience as she creates and critiques theory, Bell argues against the view that it is the bedrock of theory.

Linda A. Bell is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Women's Studies Institute at Georgia State University. She is the author of Visions of Women; Sartre's Ethics of Authenticity; and Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence: A Feminist Approach to Freedom; and the coeditor (with David Blumenfeld) of Overcoming Racism and Sexism.

Linda A. Bell is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Women's Studies Institute at Georgia State University. She is the author of Visions of Women; Sartre's Ethics of Authenticity; and Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence: A Feminist Approach to Freedom; and the coeditor (with David Blumenfeld) of Overcoming Racism and Sexism.