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Over the past few decades, feminist philosophy has become recognised as a philosophical sub-discipline in its own right. Among the 'core' areas of philosophy, metaphysics has nonetheless until relatively recently remained largely dismissive of it. Metaphysics typically investigates the basic structure of reality and its nature. It examines reality's putative building blocks and inherent structure supposedly 'out there' with the view to uncovering and elucidating that structure. For this task, feminist insights appear simply irrelevant. Moreover, the value-neutrality of metaphysics seems prima facie incompatible with feminism's explicitly normative stance in that feminist philosophy involves advocacy: speaking on behalf of some group on political grounds. The prospects of feminist metaphysics thus look grim. Nonetheless, feminist philosophers have in recent years increasingly taken up explicitly metaphysical investigations. The basic ideas behind such investigations can be summed up as follows: feminist metaphysics is about negotiating the natural and going beyond the fundamental. In so doing, feminist investigations have expanded the scope of metaphysics. Further, feminist philosophers typically bring new methodological insights to bear on traditional ways of doing philosophy.With this in mind, the article considers the following questions: when thinking about philosophical methodology, how does feminist metaphysics fare relative to 'mainstream' metaphysics? More specifically, is feminism's political advocacy inconsistent with apparent objectivity that some prominent contemporary versions of metaphysics are committed to?

Will Kymlicka's Multicultural Citizenship, from 1995, represents the opening salvo in an extensive debate regarding the legitimacy of collective rights for minority cultures. Against liberals who maintain that such rights run counter to liberalism, Kymlicka argues that groupdifferentiated rights are a valid extension of basic liberal values. The bulk of his book, then, is taken up with the task of demonstrating that liberalism is already heavily invested in the group; that despite its exaggerated fidelity to the autonomous individual, liberalism recognizes the centrality of group identification in social and political life. Insofar as he can make this recognition explicit, Kymlicka can clear away whatever obstacles prevent us from affirming the legitimacy, and indeed the necessity, of group-differentiated rights for minority cultures.

A review essay on books by (1) Brooke A. Ackerly, Maria Stern and Jacqui True, Feminist Methodologies for International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) & (2) Cynthia Enloe, Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). References.

This is the most comprehensive book ever published on philosophical methodology. A team of leading philosophers present original essays on various aspects of how philosophy should be and is done. They explore broad traditions and approaches, topics in philosophical methodology, and the interconnections between philosophy and neighbouring fields.

To illustrate the penetration & change of a given philosophical culture into another country with a different intellectual setting & philosophical history, the author presents the affinities between French philosophy & the philosophical culture of Bulgaria. Acceptance of philosophical thought often comes as the diffuse sets of its beliefs are tested by the intellectuals, & often by a wider circle of cultural & historical actors. Such stages are observed during Bulgaria's Cultural Revival, after the 1878 Liberation of Bulgaria, between the two World Wars, & in recent Bulgarian history. The impact of theories from French Enlightenment, materialism, positivism, Bergsonism, structuralism, existentialism, & postmodernism on Bulgarian thought is explored. The Bulgarian philosophical studies cited illustrate the interpretation of the philosophical ideas of foreign culture in light of the Bulgarian uniqueness & its quest to understand its own identity. Today French philosophy integrates the "linguistic turn" & ethics & links philosophy with literature. L. A. Hoffman

Preliminary Material -- MAURICE HAURIOU (1856–1929) -- METHODOLOGY -- HAURIOU'S GENERAL METHODOLOGY -- LEGAL METHODOLOGY -- SOCIOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY -- METHODOLOGICAL INTERPLAY OF LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE -- APPLICATION OF METHODOLOGY TO LARGE GROUPS -- PHILOSOPHICAL METHODOLOGY -- THE PHILOSOPHICAL STATUS OF HAURIOU'S METHODOLOGY -- WORKS CITED -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- INDEX -- VIBS.