A Philosopher Looks at Clothes

Kate Moran (Brandeis University, Massachusetts)

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Cambridge University Press
30 July 2025

Fashion & textiles: design; Philosophy; Social & political philosophy; Society & culture: general; Textile industries; Lifetyle & personal style guides

Series: A Philosopher Looks At

Clothes are much more than just what we put on in the morning. They express our identity; they can be an independent statement or the result of coercion; and they have deeply entrenched historical, political, and social aspects. Kate Moran explores the connections between clothes and philosophy, showing how clothes can illustrate and pose philosophical problems, and how philosophical ideas influence clothing. She discusses what it might mean for an article of clothing to be beautiful; how we communicate with clothes; how we use clothes to navigate our social existence; and how our social existence leaves its mark on our clothes. She also considers the curious relationship between philosophers and children's clothes, legal restrictions on clothing, textile waste, and labor conditions of textile workers. Her absorbing and engaging portrait of our clothes helps us to understand an important and underexplored aspect of our lives.

By: Kate Moran (Brandeis University Massachusetts)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781009277716
ISBN 10: 1009277715
Series: A Philosopher Looks At
Pages: 150
Publication Date: 30 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

List of figures; Preface; 1. Fashion, function, and fine art; 2. Clothing, identity, and communication; 3. The social life of clothing; 4. Legislation and appropriation; 5. Gender and clothing; 6. Children's clothing; 7. The ethics of clothing production; Notes; Index.

Kate Moran is Professor of Philosophy at Brandeis University. She is the author of Community and Progress in Kant's Moral Philosophy (2012) and Kant's Ethics (Cambridge, 2022).