Shrage, Laurie J., ed. 'You've Changed': Sex Reassignment and Personal Identity. Oxford: OUP, 2009.
'You've Changed' is a thoughtful and engaging collection of eleven philosophical essays on sex reassignment, from a range of scholars with varying points of view. This book is unusual in the degree to which it brings philosophical rigor and depth to questions of ordinary life: In what way is my sex identity part of my overall identity? Is sex primarily an embodied, social, or experienced identity? How can we create a world in which everyone's sexual identity is respected? The book also shows the reader glimpses of important entailments in the other direction -- that is, ways in which our reflections on these local questions challenge our background theories and methods. The writing is interesting and lively, and there is a well-organized and insightful introduction by the editor, Laurie Shrage.
Naturally, this book will be of interest to those working in gender and sexuality studies, queer studies, feminist philosophy, and science studies. But it should also be of interest to those interested in the epistemological, metaphysical, and moral aspects of personal identity. The theorizing here offers a set of reflections on identity from a new and important perspective, and several authors argue that ethics, politics and values are essential to understanding identity. This claim is worth considering from a broader perspective than just sex and gender.
These essays take up a large number of topics. Rather than trying to address all of these I'll focus on a few broad themes. . . .
Read the whole review here: http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=18487.
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