{"product_id":"unbecoming-persons-ladelle-mcwhorter-9780226843599","title":"Unbecoming Persons: The Rise and Demise of the Modern Moral Self","description":"\u003cb\u003eA damning genealogy of modern personhood and a bold vision for a new kind of ethics rooted in belonging rather than individuality.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the face of ecological crisis, economic injustice, and political violence, the moral demands of being a good person are almost too much to bear. In\u003ci\u003e Unbecoming Persons\u003c\/i\u003e, Ladelle McWhorter argues that this strain is by design: our ideas about personhood, she shows, emerged to sustain centuries of colonialism, slavery, and environmental destruction. We must look elsewhere to find our way out. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This history raises a hard question: should we be persons at all, or might we live a good life without the constraints of individualism or the illusion of autonomy? In seeking an answer, McWhorter pushes back on the notion of our own personhood--our obsession with identity, self-improvement, and salvation--in search of a better way to live together in this world. Although she finds no easy answers, McWhorter ultimately proposes a new ethics that rejects both self-interest and self-sacrifice and embraces perpetual dependence, community, and the Earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ladelle McWhorter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226843599\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226843599\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/19\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Ladelle McWhorter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46927736537343,"sku":"9780226843599","price":32.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_c9d842d9-9308-45b1-9031-01da3a6257c8.jpg?v=1749372804","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/unbecoming-persons-ladelle-mcwhorter-9780226843599","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}