R E - R E A D I N G T H E C A N O N F E M I N I ST I N T E R P R E TAT I O N S O F w i l l i a m J a m e s EDITED BY erin c. Tarver and shannon sullivan FEMINIST INTERPRETATIONS OF WILLIAM JAMES 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd ii 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM r e - r e a d i n g t h e c a n o n NANCY TUANA, GENERAL EDITOR This series consists of edited collections of essays, some original and some previously published, offering feminist re- interpretations of the writings of major fi gures in the Western philosophical tradition. Devoted to the work of a single philosopher, each volume contains essays covering the full range of the philosopher’s thought and representing the diversity of approaches now being used by feminist critics. Already published: Nancy Tuana, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Plato (1994) Margaret Simons, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir (1995) Bonnie Honig, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt (1995) Patricia Jagentowicz Mills, ed., Feminist Interpretations of G. W. F. Hegel (1996) Maria J. Falco, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Mary Wollstonecraft (1996) Susan Hekman, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Michel Foucault (1996) Nancy Holland, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Jacques Derrida (1997) Robin May Schott, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Immanuel Kant (1997) Céline Léon and Sylvia Walsh, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Soren Kierkegaard (1997) Cynthia Freeland, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Aristotle (1998) Kelly Oliver and Marilyn Pearsall, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Friedrich Nietzsche (1998) Mimi Reisel Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand (1999) Susan Bordo, ed., Feminist Interpretations of René Descartes (1999) Julien S. Murphy, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Jean- Paul Sartre (1999) Anne Jaap Jacobson, ed., Feminist Interpretations of David Hume (2000) Sarah Lucia Hoagland and Marilyn Frye, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Mary Daly (2000) Tina Chanter, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Emmanuel Levinas (2001) Nancy J. Holland and Patricia Huntington, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Martin Heidegger (2001) Charlene Haddock Seigfried, ed., Feminist Interpretations of John Dewey (2001) Naomi Scheman and Peg O’Connor, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Ludwig Wittgenstein (2002) Lynda Lange, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Jean- Jacques Rousseau (2002) Lorraine Code, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Hans- Georg Gadamer (2002) Lynn Hankinson Nelson and Jack Nelson, eds., Feminist Interpretations of W.V. Quine (2003) Maria J. Falco, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Niccolò Machiavelli (2004) Renée J. Heberle, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Theodor Adorno (2006) Dorothea Olkowski and Gail Weiss, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Maurice Merleau- Ponty (2006) Nancy J. Hirschmann and Kirstie M. McClure, eds., Feminist Interpretations of John Locke (2007) Penny A. Weiss and Loretta Kensinger, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Emma Goldman (2007) Judith Chelius Stark, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Augustine (2007) Jill Locke and Eileen Hunt Botting, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Alexis de Tocqueville (2008) Moira Gatens, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Benedict Spinoza (2009) Marianne Janack, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Richard Rorty (2010) Maurice Hamington, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Jane Addams (2010) Nancy J. Hirschmann and Joanne Wright, eds., Feminist Interpretations of Thomas Hobbes (2012) 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd iiii 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM F EMINIS T IN T ERPRE TAT IONS OF W IL L I A M J A MES EDITED BY ERIN C. TARVER AND SHANNON SULLIVAN THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd iiiiii 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM Chapter 1 reprints Charlene Haddock Seigfried’s chapter “The Feminine- Mystical Threat to Masculine- Scientifi c Order” from her 1996 book Pragmatism and Feminism: Reweaving the Social Fabric (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). © 1996 by the University of Chicago. Reprinted with permission from the University of Chicago Press. Chapter 8 is a shorter version of Shannon Sullivan’s chapter “The Hips: On the Physiology of Affect and Emotion” from her 2015 book The Physiology of Sexist and Racist Oppression (New York: Oxford University Press). Reprinted with permission from Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Feminist interpretations of William James / edited by Erin C. Tarver and Shannon Sullivan. pages cm — (Re-reading the canon) Summary: “A collection of essays examining the writings of William James. Provides a reinterpretation of pragmatism to devise philosophical resources for pragmatist feminism that challenge sexism and male privilege”—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-271-07090-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-271-07091-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. James, William, 1842–1910. 2. Feminist theory. 3. Pragmatism. I. Tarver, Erin C., editor. II. Sullivan, Shannon, 1967– , editor. III. Series: Re-reading the canon. B945.J24F46 2015 191—dc23 2015021401 Copyright © 2015 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid- free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48-1992. 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd iivv 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM Contents Preface vii Nancy Tuana Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Erin C. Tarver and Shannon Sullivan Part I: The Promise and Peril of James’s Philosophy for Feminism 1 The Feminine- Mystical Threat to Masculine- Scientifi c Order 15 Charlene Haddock Seigfried 2 “The Woman Question”: James’s Negotiations with Natural Law Theory and Utilitarianism 57 Jacob L. Goodson 3 Women and William James 79 Erin McKenna 4 Lady Pragmatism and the Great Man: The Need for Feminist Pragmatism 98 Erin C. Tarver 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd vv 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM vi Contents Part II: Pragmatist Ethics of Care 5 The Energies of Women: William James and the Ethics of Care 121 Susan Dieleman 6 William James and the Will to Care for Unfamiliar Others: The Masculinity of Care? 141 Maurice Hamington Part III: Embodiment and Emotion 7 Habit, Relaxation, and the Open Mind: James and the Increments of Ethical Freedom 165 Megan Craig 8 James and Feminist Philosophy of Emotion 189 Shannon Sullivan 9 “A Perverse Kind of Pleasure”: James, the Body, and Women’s Mystical Experience 210 Jeremy Carrette Part IV: Epistemic and Narrative Contestations 10 The Will Not to Believe: Pragmatism, Oppression, and Standpoint Theory 255 José Medina 11 Incredulity and Advocacy: Thinking After William James 261 Lorraine Code Afterword 281 Charlene Haddock Seigfried List of Contributors 281 Index 297 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd vvii 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM Preface Nancy Tuana Take into your hands any history of philosophy text. You will fi nd com- piled therein the “classics” of modern philosophy. Since these texts are often designed for use in undergraduate classes, the editor is likely to offer an introduction in which the reader is informed that these selections rep- resent the perennial questions of philosophy. The student is to assume that she or he is about to explore the timeless wisdom of the greatest minds of Western philosophy. No one calls attention to the fact that the philoso- phers are all men. Though women are omitted from the canons of philosophy, these texts inscribe the nature of woman. Sometimes the philosopher speaks directly about woman, delineating her proper role, her abilities and inabilities, her desires. Other times the message is indirect—a passing remark hinting at women’s emotionality, irrationality, unreliability. This process of defi nition occurs in far more subtle ways when the cen- tral concepts of philosophy—reason and justice, those characteristics that are taken to defi ne us as human—are associated with traits historically identifi ed with masculinity. If the “man” of reason must learn to control or overcome traits identifi ed as feminine—the body, the emotions, the pas- sions—then the realm of rationality will be one reserved primarily for men,1 with grudging entrance to those few women who are capable of transcending their femininity. Feminist philosophers have begun to look critically at the canonized texts of philosophy and have concluded that the discourses of philosophy are not gender- neutral. Philosophical narratives do not offer a universal perspective, but rather privilege some experiences and beliefs over others. These experiences and beliefs permeate all philosophical theories whether they be aesthetic or epistemological, moral or metaphysical. Yet this fact has often been neglected by those studying the traditions of philosophy. 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd vviiii 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM viii Preface Given the history of canon formation in Western philosophy, the perspec- tive most likely to be privileged is that of upper- class white males. Thus, to be fully aware of the impact of gender biases, it is imperative that we re- read the canon with attention to the ways in which philosophers’ assump- tions concerning gender are embedded within their theories. This series, Re- Reading the Canon, is designed to foster this process of reevaluation. Each volume will offer feminist analyses of the theories of a selected philosopher. Since feminist philosophy is not monolithic in method or content, the essays are also selected to illustrate the variety of perspectives within feminist criticism and highlight some of the controver- sies within feminist scholarship. In this series, feminist lenses focus on the canonical texts of Western philosophy, both those authors who have been part of the traditional canon, and those philosophers whose writings have more recently gained attention within the philosophical community. A glance at the list of vol- umes in the series reveals an immediate gender bias of the canon: Arendt, Aristotle, Beauvoir, Derrida, Descartes, Foucault, Hegel, Hume, Kant, Locke, Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Plato, Rousseau, Wittgenstein, Wollstone- craft. There are all too few women included, and those few who do appear have been added only recently. In creating this series, it is not my intention to rectify the current canon of philosophical thought. What is and is not included within the canon during a particular historical period is a result of many factors. Although no canonization of texts will include all phi- losophers, no canonization of texts that excludes all but a few women can offer an accurate representation of the history of the discipline, as women have been philosophers since the ancient period.2 I share with many feminist philosophers and other philosophers writing from the margins of philosophy the concern that the current canonization of philosophy be transformed. Although I do not accept the position that the current canon has been formed exclusively by power relations, I do believe that this canon represents only a selective history of the tradition. I share the view of Michael Bérubé that “canons are at once the location, the index, and the record of the struggle for cultural representation; like any other hegemonic formation, they must be continually reproduced anew and are continually contested.”3 The process of canon transformation will require the recovery of “lost” texts and a careful examination of the reasons such voices have been silenced. Along with the process of uncovering women’s philosophical his- tory, we must also begin to analyze the impact of gender ideologies upon the process of canonization. This process of recovery and examination 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd vviiiiii 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM Preface ix must occur in conjunction with careful attention to the concept of a canon of authorized texts. Are we to dispense with the notion of a tradition of excellence embodied in a canon of authorized texts? Or, rather than aban- don the whole idea of a canon, do we instead encourage a reconstruction of a canon of those texts that inform a common culture? This series is designed to contribute to this process of canon transfor- mation by offering a re- reading of the current philosophical canon. Such a re- reading shifts our attention to the ways in which woman and the role of the feminine are constructed within the texts of philosophy. A question we must keep in front of us during this process of re- reading is whether a philosopher’s socially inherited prejudices concerning woman’s nature and role are independent of her or his larger philosophical framework. In ask- ing this question attention must be paid to the ways in which the defi ni- tions of central philosophical concepts implicitly include or exclude gendered traits. This type of reading strategy is not limited to the canon, but can be applied to all texts. It is my desire that this series reveal the importance of this type of critical reading. Paying attention to the workings of gender within the texts of philosophy will make visible the complexities of the inscription of gender ideologies. Notes 1. More properly, it is a realm reserved for a group of privileged males, since the texts also inscribe race and class biases that thereby omit certain males from participation. 2. Mary Ellen Waithe’s multivolume series, A History of Women Philosophers (Boston: M. Nijoff, 1987), attests to this presence of women. 3. Michael Bérubé, Marginal Forces / Cultural Centers: Tolson, Pynchon, and the Politics of the Canon (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992), 4–5. 1188776666--TTaarrvveerr__FFeemmIInntteerrppJJaammeess..iinndddd iixx 1100//2288//1155 1100::2277 AAMM