Download or read book The Ends of Human Life written by Ezekiel J. Emanuel and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emanual (oncology and medical ethics, Harvard) rejects the argument that recent issues of medical ethics are the result of new technologies, and contends that they are an inevitable consequence of liberal political values. He proposes a communitarian solution. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book Ethical Liberalism in Contemporary Societies written by Krzysztof Wojciechowski and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2009 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In July 2007 a conference entitled «Ethical Liberalism in Contemporary Societies» was hosted by the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice, Poland. The conference was organised through collaboration between the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ethics at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and the Collegium Polonicum, a joint institution of the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and the Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań. This volume collects the contributions to this conference. The problematics of liberalism affects ethicists and philosophers not only in Europe but also in Latin America and the Middle East. Scholars from these three regions met to discuss the role that the ethical aspect of liberal thought can play in the contemporary world. They also approached ethical liberalism from a historical perspective. Focusing on ethical liberalism's interconnectedness with politics, globalisation and culture, the conference participants not only elaborated on theoretical approaches, but also turned their attention to empirical case studies. This volume presents their thoughts and contributions which, although naturally fragmentary, are symptomatic of the present day and age.

Download or read book Actual Ethics written by James R. Otteson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-06-19 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Actual Ethics offers a moral defense of the 'classical liberal' political tradition and applies it to several of today's vexing moral and political issues. James Otteson argues that a Kantian conception of personhood and an Aristotelian conception of judgment are compatible and even complementary. He shows why they are morally attractive, and perhaps most controversially, when combined, they imply a limited, classical liberal political state. Otteson then addresses several contemporary problems - wealth and poverty, public education, animal welfare, and affirmative action - and shows how each can be plausibly addressed within the Kantian, Aristotelian and classical liberal framework. Written in clear, engaging, and jargon-free prose, Actual Ethics will give students and general audiences an overview of a powerful and rich moral and political tradition that they might not otherwise consider.

Download or read book Liberal Neutrality written by Alexa Zellentin and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2012-08-31 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberal neutrality has two underlying intuitions and therefore two distinct elements. On the one hand it refers to the intuition that there are matters the state has no business getting involved in. On the other hand it is motivated by the idea that the state ought to treat citizens as equals and show equal respect for their different cenceptions of the good life. This book defends this two-fold understanding of neutrality with reference to Rawls’ conception of citizens as free and equal persons. Treating citizens as equals requires the state to grant its citizens equal political rights and also to ensure that these rights have “fair value”. Given the danger that cultural bias undermines the equal standing of citizens, the state has to ensure procedures of political decision making that are able to take citizens’ different conceptions into account.

Download or read book The Market of Virtue written by Michael Baurmann and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002-08-31 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Market of Virtue - Morality and Commitment in a Liberal Society is a contribution to the present controversy between liberalism and communitarianism. This controversy is not only confined to academic circles but is becoming of increasing interest to a wider public. It has become popular again today to criticize a liberal market society as being a society in which morality and virtues are increasingly being displaced by egoism and utility maximization. According to this view the competition between individuals and the dissolution of community ties erode the respect for the interests of others and undermine the commitment to the common good. The present book, however, develops quite a different picture of a liberal society. An analysis of its fundamental principles shows that anonymous market-relations and competition are by no means the only traits of a liberal society. Such a society also provides the framework for freedom of cooperation and association. It gives its citizens the right to cooperate with other people in pursuit of their own interests. Just as the rivalry between competitors is a basic element of a liberal society so is the cooperation between partners. Thus not only self-centred individualism is rewarded. The main part of the book explains how the freedom to cooperate and to establish social ties lays the empirical foundation for the emergence of civil virtues and moral integrity. It is the basic insight of this analysis that it can no longer be maintained that a liberal society is incapable of producing moral attitudes and social commitment. If a civil society can develop under a liberal order, then one can reckon with citizens who voluntarily contribute to public goods and who commit themselves of their own accord to the society, its constitution and institutions. However this book not only develops further arguments for the current debate between liberalism and communitarianism by explaining the emergence of morality and virtue in a market society. It also provides new aspects for the present theoretical and methodological controversies over the fundaments of the social sciences and contributes to the advancement of the modern individualistic approach in social theory. In this context it aims especially at an improvement of a sociological model of behaviour.

Download or read book Christianity and Liberal Society written by Robert Song and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-01-13 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberalism forms the dominant political ideology of the modern world, but despite its pervasive influence, this is the first book-length treatment of liberal political thought from a Christian theological perspective. Song discusses the different aspects and interpretations of liberalism with reference to the critiques of three twentieth-century theologians: the American Protestant Reinhold Niebuhr on the liberal progressivist philosophy of history; the lesser-known Canadian George Grant on the threat of technology to fundamental liberal values, as articulated in the recent work of John Rawls; and the French Thomist Jacques Maritain on the defence of political pluralism. Further to this, Song explores the implications of this political theology for the issues in fundamental constitutional theory raised by a bill of rights and judicial review of legislation, and concludes with an account of the critical but supportive stance of liberalism Christian theology should take.

Download or read book Liberalism written by Domenico Losurdo and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2014-02-04 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Europe’s leading intellectual historians deconstructs the dark side of liberalism, sifting through 3 centuries of liberal writings by John Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, and others. In this definitive historical investigation, Italian author and philosopher Domenico Losurdo argues that from the outset liberalism, as a philosophical position and ideology, has been bound up with the most illiberal of policies: slavery, colonialism, genocide, racism and snobbery. Narrating an intellectual history running from the eighteenth through to the twentieth centuries, Losurdo examines the thought of preeminent liberal writers such as Locke, Burke, Tocqueville, Constant, Bentham, and Sieyès, revealing the inner contradictions of an intellectual position that has exercised a formative influence on today’s politics. Among the dominant strains of liberalism, he discerns the counter-currents of more radical positions, lost in the constitution of the modern world order.

Download or read book In Defense of Liberal Pluralism written by Upendra Chidella and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2015-09-10 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes a critical view of Kantian and Neo-Kantian moral philosophers’ preference of universalism, the unity of morality, moral impartiality, consensus, and common morality. The central claim of the book is if the human condition is treated as complex and infested with irreducible choices and alternatives, then moral rightness and wrongness ought to operate beyond these binaries; giving epistemic status to Pluralism’s multiple rationalities. Redefining liberal-pluralism, the book also argues that moral reasoning is necessarily bound by paradoxes and contradictions, seen in our choices of life-projects, in the conflict between individual morality and common morality, and in justifying what is morally reasonable in the interpersonal framework. Equivocation in moral argumentation cannot be valued without understanding the nature of the ‘interpersonal’ that ought to sufficiently argue for moral disagreement, irreducible pluralism and limits of morality. Liberal-pluralism, thus, signifies the quasi-relational (partially admitting Gilbert Harman) nature of moral reasoning in the multi-agent framework. It also takes account of reciprocity, fairness, reasonableness, tolerance, open-ended morality, and agreeing to disagree. However, this idea of liberal-pluralism no way undermines rationality and reason, nor turns to anti-theory; rather, it only treats morality as guided by ‘reason without unification’ and ‘pluralism without relativism’.

Download or read book Liberalism written by Jan Narveson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No theory is more passionately and widely defined, or decried, than is liberalism in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. But what is this theory, on which so much ink is spilled? This collection of original essays by leading specialists in political philosophy, legal theory, and economics offers answers to that question, by exploring the theoretical commitments of liberals and some of the practical implications of their view. Among the topics explored is the distinction between liberalism and conservatism, and the degree to which liberals must be committed to neutrality, individualism, equality, freedom, and a contractarian theory of justification. The practical implications of liberalism are further examined by considerations of the proper role of the liberal state in undertaking egalitarian redistribution, the provision of public goods, and retributive punishment. The papers assembled by Narveson and Dimock will be of benefit to anyone working in the areas of political philosophy, political theory, or political economics.

Download or read book The Political Morality of Liberal Democracy written by Michael J. Perry and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-23 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this important new work in political and constitutional theory, Michael J. Perry elaborates and defends an account of the political morality of liberal democracy: the moral convictions and commitments that in a liberal democracy should govern decisions about what laws to enact and what policies to pursue. The fundamental questions addressed in this book concern (1) the grounding, (2) the content, (3) the implications for one or another moral controversy and (4) the judicial enforcement of the political morality of liberal democracy. The particular issues discussed include whether government may ban pre-viability abortion, whether government may refuse to extend the benefit of law to same-sex couples and what role religion should play in the politics and law of a liberal democracy.

Download or read book Against Liberalism written by John Kekes and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberalism is doomed to failure, John Kekes argues in this penetrating criticism of its basic assumptions. Liberals favor individual autonomy, a wide plurality of choices, and equal rights and resources, seeing them as essential for good lives. They oppose such evils as selfishness, intolerance, cruelty, and greed. Yet the more autonomy, equality, and pluralism there is, Kekes contends, the greater is the scope for evil. According to Kekes, liberalism is inconsistent because the conditions liberals regard as essential for good lives actually foster the very evils liberals want to avoid, and avoiding those evils depends on conditions contrary to the ones liberals favor. Kekes argues further that the liberal conceptions of equality, justice, and pluralism require treating good and evil people with equal respect, distributing resources without regard to what recipients deserve, and restricting choices to those that conform to liberal preconceptions. All these policies are detrimental to good lives. Kekes concludes that liberalism cannot cope with the prevalence of evil, that it is vitiated by inconsistent commitments, and that—contrary to its aim—liberalism is an obstacle to good lives.

Download or read book Bioethics in a Liberal Society written by Thomas May and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2003-04-29 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issues concerning patients' rights are at the center of bioethics, but the political basis for these rights has rarely been examined. In Bioethics in a Liberal Society: The Political Framework of Bioethics Decision Making, Thomas May offers a compelling analysis of how the political context of liberal constitutional democracy shapes the rights and obligations of both patients and health care professionals. May focuses on how a key feature of liberal society—namely, an individual's right to make independent decisions—has an impact on the most important relational facets of health care, such as patients' autonomy and professionals' rights of conscience. Although a liberal political framework protects individual judgments, May asserts that this right is based on the assumption of an individual's competency to make sound decisions. May uses case studies to examine society's approach to medical decision making when, for reasons ranging from age to severe mental disorder, a person lacks sufficient competency to make independent and fully informed choices. To protect the autonomy of these vulnerable patients, May emphasizes the need for health care ethics committees and ethics consultants to help guide the decision-making process in clinical settings. Bioethics in a Liberal Society is essential reading for all those interested in understanding how bioethics is practiced within our society.

Download or read book The Radical Critique of Liberalism written by Toula Nicolacopoulos and published by re.press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many books about liberalism, but no defence of radical critique that treats liberal theory with the depth, breadth and intensity of this work. Rigorously examining Rawls, Waldron, Larmore and Kymlicka, the book demonstrates that an adequate appreciation of the deep structural ?aws of liberal theory presupposes the application of a critical philosophical methodology that has the power to reveal the systemic interconnections within and between the varieties of liberal inquiring practices.

Download or read book Getting what You Want written by Robert Brecher and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Getting What You Want? offers a critique of liberal morality and an analysis of its understanding of the individual as a 'wanting thing'.

Download or read book Why Liberalism Works written by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insightful and passionately written book explaining why a return to Enlightenment ideals is good for the world "Beginning with the simple but fertile idea that people should not push other people around, Deirdre McCloskey presents an elegant defense of 'true liberalism' as opposed to its well-meaning rivals on the left and the right. Erudite, but marvelously accessible and written in a style that is at once colloquial and astringent."--Stanley Fish The greatest challenges facing humankind, according to Deirdre McCloskey, are poverty and tyranny, both of which hold people back. Arguing for a return to true liberal values, this engaging and accessible book develops, defends, and demonstrates how embracing the ideas first espoused by eighteenth-century philosophers like Locke, Smith, Voltaire, and Wollstonecraft is good for everyone. With her trademark wit and deep understanding, McCloskey shows how the adoption of Enlightenment ideals of liberalism has propelled the freedom and prosperity that define the quality of a full life. In her view, liberalism leads to equality, but equality does not necessarily lead to liberalism. Liberalism is an optimistic philosophy that depends on the power of rhetoric rather than coercion, and on ethics, free speech, and facts in order to thrive.

Download or read book Value and Justification written by Gerald F. Gaus and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-07-27 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rational moral action can neither be seen as a way of maximising personal values, nor derived from reason independent of them is this study's assertion. It contends that commitment to the moral point of view is presupposed by value systems.Rational moral action can neither be seen as a way of maximising personal values, nor derived from reason independent of them is this study's assertion. It contends that commitment to the moral point of view is presupposed by value systems.

Download or read book Getting What You Want written by Bob Brecher and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Getting What You Want? is the first book which calls for the collapse of liberal morality. Bob Brecher claims that it is wrong to think that morality is simply rooted in what people want. He explains that in our consumerist society, we make the assumption that getting 'what people want' is our natural goal, and that this 'natural goal' is a necessarily good one. We see that whether it is a matter of pornography or getting married - if people want it, then that's that. But is this really a good thing? Getting What You Want? offers a critique of liberal morality and an analysis of its understanding of the individual as a 'wanting thing'. Brecher boldly argues that the Anglo-American liberalism cannot give an adequate account of moral reasoning and action, nor any justification of moral principles or demands. Ultimately, Brecher shows us that the whole idea of liberal morality is not only incoherent but unattainable.