Truth, Autonomy, and Speech : : Feminist Theory and the First Amendment / / Susan Williams.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Williams, Susan,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2004]; ©2004
• Year of Publication: 2004
• Language: English
• Series: Critical America ; 18
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles 2005 WinnerAmidst the vast array of literature on the First Amendment, it is rare to hear a fresh voice speak about the First Amendment, but in Truth, Autonomy, and Speech, Susan H. Williams presents a strikingly original interpretation and defense of the First Amendment, written from a feminist perspective. Drawing on work from several disciplines-including law, political theory, philosophy, and anthropology-the book develops alternative accounts of truth and autonomy as the foundations for freedom of expression. Building on feminist understandings of self and the social world, Williams argues that both truth and autonomy are fundamentally relational. With great clarity and insight, Williams demonstrates that speech is the means by which we create rather than discover truth and the primary mechanism through which we tell the stories that constitute our autonomy. She examines several controversial issues in the law of free speech-including campaign finance reform, the public forum doctrine, and symbolic speech-and concludes that the legal doctrine through which we interpret and apply the First Amendment should be organized to protect speech that serves the purposes of truth and autonomy.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I Foundations -- 1 The Theoretical Foundations of the Law of Free Expression: Truth and Autonomy -- 2 Philosophical Foundations: Cartesianism and Liberalism -- Part II Without Foundations -- 3 The Feminist Critique -- 4 The Feminist Dilemma -- Part III Reconstruction -- 5 Reconstructing Truth -- 6 Reconstructing Autonomy -- Part IV Speech -- 7 Free Speech and Truth -- 8 Free Speech and Narrative Autonomy -- Conclusion: The Enlightenment Vision and the Interpretive Approach -- Notes -- Index -- About the Author