Download or read book Liberalism Perfectionism and Restraint written by Steven Wall and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-09-13 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are liberalism and perfectionism compatible? In this study Steven Wall presents and defends a perfectionist account of political morality that takes issue with many currently fashionable liberal ideas but retains the strong liberal commitment to the ideal of personal autonomy. He begins by critically discussing the most influential version of anti-perfectionist liberalism, examining the main arguments that have been offered in its defence. He then clarifies the ideal of personal autonomy, presents an account of its value and shows that a strong commitment to personal autonomy is fully compatible with an endorsement of perfectionist political action designed to promote valuable pursuits and discourage base ones.
Download or read book Liberalism Without Perfection written by Jonathan Quong and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberalism without Perfection offers an introduction to the debate between liberal perfectionism and political liberalism. This book is a new account and defence of Rawlsian political liberalism, one of the most discussed, but widely misunderstood and criticized theories in contemporary political theory.
Download or read book Perfectionism and Neutrality written by Klosko and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2004-09-01 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past twenty years, the debate between neutrality and perfectionism has been at the center of political philosophy. Now Perfectionism and Neutrality: Essays in Liberal Theory brings together classic papers and new ideas on both sides of the discussion. Editors George Klosko and Steven Wall provide a substantive introduction to the history and theories of perfectionism and neutrality, expertly contextualizing the essays and making the collection accessible to everyone interested in the interaction between morals and the state.
Download or read book Against Perfectionism written by Steven Lecce and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against Perfectionism defends neutralist liberalism as the most appropriate political morality for democratic societies.
Download or read book Confucian Perfectionism written by Joseph Cho-wai Chan and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the very beginning, Confucianism has been troubled by a serious gap between its political ideals and the reality of societal circumstances. Contemporary Confucians must develop a viable method of governance that can retain the spirit of the Confucian ideal while tackling problems arising from nonideal modern situations. The best way to meet this challenge, Joseph Chan argues, is to adopt liberal democratic institutions that are shaped by the Confucian conception of the good rather than the liberal conception of the right. Confucian Perfectionism examines and reconstructs both Confucian political thought and liberal democratic institutions, blending them to form a new Confucian political philosophy. Chan decouples liberal democratic institutions from their popular liberal philosophical foundations in fundamental moral rights, such as popular sovereignty, political equality, and individual sovereignty. Instead, he grounds them on Confucian principles and redefines their roles and functions, thus mixing Confucianism with liberal democratic institutions in a way that strengthens both. Then he explores the implications of this new yet traditional political philosophy for fundamental issues in modern politics, including authority, democracy, human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. Confucian Perfectionism critically reconfigures the Confucian political philosophy of the classical period for the contemporary era.
Download or read book Liberal Perfectionism written by Alexandra Couto and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2014-01-31 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much of the recent literature on political perfectionism has focused on dealing with objections to this view. This book adopts a different approach: It attempts to highlight the intuitive appeal of liberal perfectionism by presenting a positive prima facie argument in its favour. The book starts by clarifying the relation between political perfectionism — a conception of politics — and prudential perfectionism and ethical perfectionism — a conception of the good life, and a type of ethical theory. It is crucial to start by selecting a plausible form of ethical perfectionism, as it makes an important difference to the plausibility of the political conception based upon it. Once appropriate distinctions are drawn and a plausible form of liberal perfectionism is endorsed, many of the standard objections to perfectionism are shown to fail to reach their target. Different arguments in favour of liberal perfectionism are then proposed and critically examined, but the resilience of some pragmatic arguments against liberal perfectionism is conceded. The book ends by showing that perfectionism can be surprisingly relevant for discussions of social justice and proceeds to draw a sketch of the perfectionist implications for questions of distributive justice.
Download or read book Liberal Perfectionism written by Alexandra Couto and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2014-08-19 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much of the recent literature on political perfectionism has focused on dealing with objections to this view. This book adopts a different approach: It attempts to highlight the intuitive appeal of liberal perfectionism by presenting a positive prima facie argument in its favour. The book starts by clarifying the relation between political perfectionism — a conception of politics — and prudential perfectionism and ethical perfectionism — a conception of the good life, and a type of ethical theory. It is crucial to start by selecting a plausible form of ethical perfectionism, as it makes an important difference to the plausibility of the political conception based upon it. Once appropriate distinctions are drawn and a plausible form of liberal perfectionism is endorsed, many of the standard objections to perfectionism are shown to fail to reach their target. Different arguments in favour of liberal perfectionism are then proposed and critically examined, but the resilience of some pragmatic arguments against liberal perfectionism is conceded. The book ends by showing that perfectionism can be surprisingly relevant for discussions of social justice and proceeds to draw a sketch of the perfectionist implications for questions of distributive justice.
Download or read book Liberalism with Excellence written by Matthew H. Kramer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past several decades, political philosophers have frequently clashed with one another over the question whether governments are morally required to remain neutral among reasonable conceptions of excellence and human flourishing. Whereas the numerous followers of John Rawls (and kindred philosophers such as Ronald Dworkin) have maintained that a requirement of neutrality is indeed incumbent on every system of governance, other philosophers -- often designated as 'perfectionists' -- have argued against the existence of such a requirement. Liberalism with Excellence enters these debates not by plighting itself unequivocally to one side or the other, but instead by reconceiving each of the sides and thus by redirecting the debates that have occurred between them. On the one hand, the book rejects the requirement of neutrality by contending that certain subsidies for the promotion of excellence in sundry areas of human endeavour can be proper and vital uses of resources by governments. Advocating such departures from the constraint of neutrality, the book presents a version of liberalism that can rightly be classified as 'perfectionist'. On the other hand, the species of perfectionism espoused in Liberalism with Excellence diverges markedly from the theories that have usually been so classified. Indeed, much of the book assails various aspects of those theories. What is more, the aspirational perfectionism elaborated in the closing chapters of the volume is reconcilable in most key respects with a suitably amplified version of Rawlsianism. Hence, by reconceiving both the perfectionist side and the neutralist side of the prevailing disputation, Liberalism with Excellence combines and transforms their respective insights.
Download or read book Public Reason Confucianism written by Sungmoon Kim and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent proposals concerning Confucian meritocratic perfectionism have justified Confucian perfectionism in terms of political meritocracy. In contrast, 'Confucian democratic perfectionism' is a form of comprehensive Confucian perfectionism that can accommodate a plurality of values in civil society. It is also fully compatible with core values of democracy such as popular sovereignty, political equality, and the right to political participation. Sungmoon Kim presents 'public reason Confucianism' as the most attractive option for contemporary East Asian societies that are historically and culturally Confucian. Public reason Confucianism is a particular style of Confucian democratic perfectionism in which comprehensive Confucianism is connected with perfectionism via a distinctive form of public reason. It calls for an active role for the democratic state in promoting a Confucian conception of the good life, at the heart of which are such core Confucian values as filial piety and ritual propriety.
Download or read book The Case against Perfection written by Michael J Sandel and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature—to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. What is wrong with re-engineering our nature? The Case against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda. In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable. Addressing them is the task of this book, by one of America’s preeminent moral and political thinkers.
Download or read book Beyond Neutrality written by George Sher and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1997-01-13 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major contribution to contemporary political theory examining the state's intervention in people's lives.
Download or read book Mill s Progressive Principles written by David O. Brink and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-04-18 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David O. Brink offers a reconstruction and assessment of John Stuart Mill's contributions to the utilitarian and liberal traditions. Brink defends interpretations of key elements in Mill's moral and political thought, and shows how a perfectionist reading of his conception of happiness has a significant impact on other aspects of his philosophy.
Download or read book Autonomy and the Challenges to Liberalism written by John Christman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-02-07 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years the concepts of individual autonomy and political liberalism have been the subjects of intense debate, but these discussions have occurred largely within separate academic disciplines. Autonomy and the Challenges to Liberalism contains essays devoted to foundational questions regarding both the notion of the autonomous self and the nature and justification of liberalism. Written by leading figures in moral, legal and political theory, the volume covers inter alia the following topics: the nature of the self and its relation to autonomy, the social dimensions of autonomy and the political dynamics of respect and recognition, and the concept of autonomy underlying the principles of liberalism.
Download or read book The Perfectionist Turn written by Douglas J. Den Uyl and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary political philosophy - e.g. Martha Nussbaum, John Rawls and Amartya Sen - tries to separate itself from other philosophical positions and frameworks. Now, Den Uyl and Rasmussen challenge this trend by moving away liberalism to what they call 'individualistic perfectionism', creating a powerful new way to think about ethics.
Download or read book Fair Governance written by Francis H. Buckley and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paternalism and perfectionism -- Hierarchic paternalism -- Cognitive paternalism -- Akrasia -- Information costs -- Happiness -- Endogenous preferences -- Private perfectionism -- Social perfectionism -- An extension : nationalism.
Download or read book Liberalism Childhood and Justice written by Tim Fowler and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2021-05-05 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fowler provides an innovative critical exploration of ethical issues in children’s upbringing through the lens of political philosophy, calling for a radical new understanding of what constitutes wellbeing, the duties of parents and the collective obligations of state and society in guaranteeing children flourishing lives.
Download or read book Exploitation and Economic Justice in the Liberal Capitalist State written by Mark R. Reiff and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploitation and Economic Justice in the Liberal Capitalist State develops the first new, liberal theory of economic justice to appear since John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin proposed their respective theories back in the 1970s and early 1980s. It does this by presenting a new, liberal egalitarian, non-Marxist theory of exploitation that is designed to be a creature of capitalism, not a critique of it. Indeed, the book shows how we can regulate economic inequality using the presuppositions of capitalism and political liberalism that we already accept. In doing this, the book uses two concepts or tools: a re-conceived notion of the ancient doctrine of the just price, and the author's own concept of intolerable unfairness. The resulting theory can then function as either a supplement to or a replacement for the difference principle and luck egalitarianism, the two most popular liberal egalitarian theories of economic justice of today. It provides a new, highly-topical, specific moral justification not only for raising the minimum wage, but also for imposing a maximum wage, for continuing to impose an estate tax on the wealthiest members of society, and for prohibiting certain kinds of speculative trading, including trading in derivatives such as the now infamous credit default swap and other related exotic financial instruments. Finally, it provides a new specific moral justification for dealing with certain aspects of climate change now regardless of what other nations do. Yet it is still designed to be the object of an overlapping consensus — that is, it is designed to be acceptable to those who embrace a wide range of comprehensive moral and political doctrines, not only liberal egalitarianism, but right and left libertarianism too.
