On Silencing: What It Is and Why It Matters

Mary Kate McGowan is the Virginia Onderdonk '29 Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College. She has published in metaphysics, philosophy of law, feminism, and the philosophy of language. Her previous books with Oxford University Press include Speech and Harm: Controversies Over Free Speech (2012), co-edited with Ishani Maitra, Just Words: On Speech and Hidden Harm (2019), and Words in Action: An Introduction to the Social Philosophy of Language (2025), co-authored with Ishani Maitra.