Introduction: the theoretical subversiveness of feminism, Carole Pateman. PART I The challenge to theory: Feminism, philosophy and riddles without answers, Moira Gatens; Vanishing acts in social and political thought - tricks of the trade, Beverly Thiele; Ethics revisited - women and/in philosophy, Rosi Braidotti. PART II The challenge to liberalism: Selfhood, war and masculinity, Genevieve Lloyd; Sex equality is not enough for feminism, Merle Thornton; Women and political rationality, Janna Thompson; Desire, consent and liberal theory, Lenore Coltheart. PART III The challenge to academia: Philosophy, subjectivity and the body - Kristeva and Irigaray, Elizabeth Gross; Simone de Beauvoir - philosophy and/or the female body, Catriona Mackenzie; Women, domestic life and sociology, Anna Yeatman; Evidence and silence - feminism and the limits of history, Judith Allen; Conclusion - what is feminist theory?, Elizabeth Gross.