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The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy (Blackwell Philosophy Guides)

George Sher, Rice UniversityNorman E. Bowie, University of MinnesotaBook DescriptionSynopsisAbout the Author
Robert Simon has assembled a strong, well-organized collection.This superbly edited volume addresses central questions surrounding the liberal democratic theory of the state.The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy brings together a collection of newly commissioned essays which examine fundamental issues in social and political theory. Written by leading social and political philosophers, each essay provides a map to the history of the issue at hand and a judicious assessment of the main arguments that have been brought to bear upon that issue.

The collection deals with traditional topics in social and political philosophy, such as liberty, authority, justice, and equality as well as with issues raised by diversity and pluralism within the democratic state. Because of its comprehensive coverage, the collection offers a sustained dialogue on the merits of liberal political theory and on the views of some of its critics. These essays begin with an accessible introduction but develop into a philosophically acute evaluation of the issue in question.

Commissioned exclusively for this text, the essays included here cannot be found elsewhere. As a whole, the compilation is ideal as a self-standing text for an introductory or intermediate course in social and political philosophy.The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy brings together a collection of newly commissioned essays which examine fundamental issues in social and political theory. Written by leading social and political philosophers, each essay provides a history of the issue at hand and a judicious assessment of the main arguments that have been brought to bear upon that issue. The collection deals with traditional topics in social and political philosophy, such as liberty, authority, justice, and equality as well as with issues raised by diversity and pluralism within the democratic state. The contributors offer a sustained dialogue on the merits of liberal political theory and on the views of some of its critics. Each essay begins with an accessible introduction but develops into a philosophically acute evaluation of the issue in question. The compilation is ideal as a self-standing text for an introductory or intermediate course in social and political philosophy.Robert L. Simon is Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton College. He is the author of numerous articles in social and political philosophy as well as Fair Play (1991), Neutrality and the Academic Ethic (1994), The Individual and the Political Order, 3rd ed. (with Norman E. Bowie, 1998). He currently is working on issues in ethics and athletics, and is a past president of the International Association of the Philosophy of Sport.

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A Theory of Justice

Amazon.co.uk ReviewBook DescriptionSynopsisAbout the Author
Since it appeared in 1971, John Rawls's A Theory of Justice has become a classic. The author has now revised the original edition to clear up a number of difficulties he and others have found in the original book. Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition--justice as fairness--and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the 19th century. Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. "Each person", writes Rawls, "possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override." Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson and Lincoln, Rawls's theory is as powerful today as it was when first published. --Christine ButteryA Theory of Justice by John Rawls is one of the books by which our age will be remembered: perhaps the most important work of moral and political philosophy of the twentieth century, a classic to stand alongside Kant and Mill. In this revised edition the work is presented as Rawls himself wishes it to be transmitted to posterity, with numerous minor revisions and amendments and a new Preface in which Rawls reflects on his presentation of his thesis and explains how and why
he has revised it.A Theory of Justice by John Rawls is one of the books by which our age will be remembered: perhaps the most important work of moral and political philosophy of the twentieth century, a classic to stand alongside Kant and Mill. Rawls argues that the correct principles of justice are those that would be agreed to by free and rational persons, placed in the 'original position' behind a veil of ignorance: not knowing their own place in society; their class, race, or sex; their abilities, intelligence, or strengths; or even their conception of the good. Accordingly, he derives two principles of justice to regulate the distribution of liberties, and of social and economic goods. In this revised edition the work is presented as Rawls himself wishes it to be transmitted to posterity, with numerous minor revisions and amendments and a new Preface in which Rawls reflects on his presentation of his thesis and explains how and why he has revised it.John Rawls is James Bryant Conant University Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University.

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