The Soul of Justice: Social Bonds and Racial Hubris

254 Pages·2018·13.934 MB·English

by  Willett, Cynthia

The Soul of Justice
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Th^Seul
ofJ ust ice
Social
Bonds
and
Racial
Hubris
Cynthia Willett
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2001 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage
House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2001 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2001
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Willett, Cynthia, b. 1956
The soul of justice : social bonds and racial hubris / Cynthia Willett.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8014-3891-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8014-8715-3 (pbk. :
alk. paper)
i. Social justice. 2. Liberalism. 3. Individualism. 4. African Americans
Race identity. 5. African Americans—Social conditions. I. Tide.
HM6yi .W54 2001
303.3'y2—dc2i 2001001716
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers
and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such
materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that
are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers.
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tion, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
For my father and mother,
Joseph and Ellen Willett
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: Eros and Hubris:
Social Justice in Old and New World Settings 1
PART I A MARRIAGE OF AUTONOMY AND CARE
I The Ethics of Care and Its Limits 31
2 Hidden Narratives and Discourse Ethics 45
Joining Together Reason and Care 65
3
4 The Outsider Within: A Model of the Citizen as
Worker and Friend 80
PART II A DIALECTIC OF EROS AND FREEDOM
5 The Erotic Soul of Existential Marxism: Marcuse 101
6 This Poem That Is My Body: Irigaray 123
PART III A DISCOURSE OF LOVE, A PRACTICE OF FREEDOM
The Mother Wit of Justice: Eros and Hubris
7
in the African-American Context 157
8 The Genealogy of Freedom in Slave America:
Frederick Douglass 188
Narratives of Hubris, Songs of Love:
9
Toni Morrison's Beloved 203
Down Here in Paradise: A Coda 227
Index 237
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Acknowledgments
Two little free spirits by the names of Liza and Joe presided over the writ-
ing of this book. These little spirits have made me wonder what vision of
justice lies beyond the narrow contours of our ordinary lives. My husband,
Stefan, has shared with me the adventure of raising the children as well as
many of the conversations that hold this book together.
The structure of the book took shape in an excellent workshop on gen-
der as concept and method organized by Janet Sharistanian and Ann
Schofield at the University of Kansas in the fall of 1995. Since those days
at Kansas, I have benefited much from engaging conversations with Amy
Coplan on the Greek concepts of eros and hubris, and on Toni Morrison's
mesmerizing novels. Oleta Prinsloo's Ph.D. dissertation on the cultural
fictions of slavery in a Missouri border community has been educating me
about the moral ambivalence of whites. Dawn Jakubowski has developed
in clear and powerful terms the impact of care ethics on liberalism in her
dissertation on multiculturalism and social justice. And Namita Goswami's
dissertation research on the black body never lets me forget the political
force of racial fantasy.
Among my many outstanding colleagues at Emory, Pam Hall, David
Carr, Thomas Flynn, Rudolf Makkreel, Mark Risjord, and Michael Sullivan
have been especially generous with their advice during various stages of
writing this book. A University Research Committee Grant at Emory in
the fall of 1999 freed me from teaching so that I could complete a draft of
the manuscript. Emory's Women's Studies Program sponsored my research
assistants, Jennifer Shaw and Sara Puotinen, who tracked down missing
sources. I am also grateful to Beth Butterfield for the index, as well as for
her outstanding assistance with several of my classes, and to Eric Schramm
for his expert job at copyediting the text.
Duane Davis, Linda Bell, Tim Craker, David Jones, Roy Martinez, Shawn
Smith, Jim Winchester, and Jason Wirth have sustained me with the warmth
of their friendship and philosophical community in Atlanta (Duane, you are
an honorary member!). Many of my friends have helped me to better un-
derstand the ancient Greek culture, but I am especially grateful to Deborah
Achtenberg, Mitch Miller, Thomas Tuozzo, Steven Strange, Cynthia
Patterson, and Richard Patterson. Howard McGary, Patricia Huntington,