Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Feminism, Internationalism, Liberalism -- Pt. I. Justice. 1. Women and Cultural Universals. 2. The Feminist Critique of Liberalism. 3. Religion and Women's Human Rights. 4. Judging Other Cultures: The Case of Genital Mutilation. 5. American Women: Preferences, Feminism, Democracy. 6. Equity and Mercy. 7. A Defense of Lesbian and Gay Rights -- Pt. II. Sex. 8. Objectification. 9. Rage and Reason. 10. Constructing Love, Desire, and Care. 11. "Whether from Reason or Prejudice": Taking Money for Bodily Services. 12. Platonic Love and Colorado Law: The Relevance of Ancient Greek Norms to Modern Sexual Controversies. 13. Sex, Truth, and Solitude. 14. Sex, Liberty, and Economics. 15. The Window: Knowledge of Other Minds in Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.

Growing out of Nussbaum's years of work with an international development agency connected with the United Nations, this collection charts a feminism that is deeply concerned with the urgent needs of women who live in hunger and illiteracy, or under unequal legal systems. Offering an internationalism informed by development economics and empirical detail, many essays take their start from the experiences of women in developing countries.

Nussbaum argues for a universal account of human capacity and need, while emphasizing the essential role of knowledge of local circumstance. Further chapters take on the pursuit of social justice in the sexual sphere, exploring the issue of equal rights for lesbians and gay men.