Fruits of Sorrow: Framing Our Attention to Suffering

by Elizabeth V. Spelman

Book Overview

Through a remarkable blend of intellectual history, philosophical reading, and contemporary cultural analysis, Fruits of Sorrow explores the hidden dynamics at work when we try to make sense of suffering. Spelman examines the complex ways in which we try to redeem the pain we cause and witness. She also shows the way our responses are often more than they seem: how compassion can mask condescension; how identifying with others' pain often slips...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807014214
• ISBN13: 9780807014219
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

clear treatment of suffering

Spelman writes a clear (but brief) treatment of the philosophy of suffering. By connecting Plato to slave narratives to AIDS discourse, Spelman convinces the disinterested reader of the value of a feminist philosophy of suffering.