About the Author

Alan Soble is University Research Professor and Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans. His articles have appeared in such journals as The Monist, Journal of the History of Sexuality, and Essays in Philosophy. His many books include Pornography, Sex, and Feminism (2002), The Philosophy of Sex and Love (1998), and The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings (4th ed., 2002).

Reviews

Editor Soble (philosophy, Univ. of New Orleans; Pornography, Sex, and Feminism) is one of the founding scholars of the relatively new field of the philosophy of sex and remains one its prominent thinkers. In this two-volume reference work of remarkable depth and range, he has assembled a notable cast of more than 150 academic contributors to produce 153 A-to-Z entries examining the conceptual, metaphysical, ethical, and historical dimensions of human sexual thought and activity. Entries average 3500 words and contain extensive references and a generous reading list. Their subject matter is divided relatively evenly among individual thinkers (e.g., Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Pope John Paul II), topics/concepts (e.g., abstinence, flirting, pornography), and history/schools of thought (e.g., Hinduism, poststructuralism, phenomenology). A "Guide to Related Concepts" groups entries by shared themes (e.g., ethics, legal philosophy, theories of sexuality). The extremely detailed subject index serves the work well; important concepts that appear to be missing as individual entries (e.g., celibacy, exploitation) are invariably represented there. Bottom Line While other encyclopedias of sex, such as Garland's Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia (1994) or Continuum's Encyclopedia of Sex (2000), are written for general readers, this one is aimed at students of philosophy and others interested in the philosophical implications of human sexuality. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.-Nadine Cohen-Baker, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.