Public Reason and Applied Ethics

Public Reason and Applied Ethics
Author: Adela Cortina
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2017-05-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1317073444

Examining the theoretical and empirical status of applied ethics, this volume demonstrates how a pluralistic and democratic society can deal with ethical issues in the light of its moral conscience. The volume first sets the stage for a conception of applied ethics as applications of transnational civil ethics, based both on a discourse theory of knowledge (Apel, Habermas), and on an activities and capabilities approach (Aristotle, Sen). It then examines how applied ethics relates to important theoretical discussions in philosophy such as constructivism, virtue ethics, hermeneutic and deliberative theory. The contributors discuss applied ethics in light of globalization and identify recurring dilemmas as well as the problem of universal norms. They close by considering two aspects of the institutional point of view - republicanism, and contractarianism and constitutional economics.

The Order of Public Reason

The Order of Public Reason
Author: Gerald Gaus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 642
Release: 2010-12-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521868563

In this innovative and important work, Gerald Gaus advances a revised, and more realistic, account of public reason liberalism, showing how, in the midst of fundamental disagreement about values and moral beliefs, we can achieve a moral and political order that treats all as free and equal moral persons. The first part of this work analyzes social morality as a system of authoritative moral rules. Drawing on an earlier generation of moral philosophers such as Kurt Baier and Peter Strawson as well as current work in the social sciences, Gaus argues that our social morality is an evolved social fact, which is the necessary foundation of a mutually beneficial social order. The second part considers how this system of social moral authority can be justified to all moral persons. Drawing on the tools of game theory, social choice theory, experimental psychology, and evolutionary theory, Gaus shows how a free society can secure a moral equilibrium that is endorsed by all, and how a just state respects, and develops, such an equilibrium.

Hobbesian Applied Ethics and Public Policy

Hobbesian Applied Ethics and Public Policy
Author: Shane D. Courtland
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2017-07-20
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1315534398

Most philosophers and political scientists readily admit that Thomas Hobbes is a significant figure in the history of political thought. His theory was, arguably, one of the first to provide a justification for political legitimacy from the perspective of each individual subject. Many excellent books and articles have examined the justification and structure of Hobbes’ commonwealth, ethical system, and interpretation of Christianity. What is troubling is that the Hobbesian project has been largely missing in the applied ethics and public policy literature. We often find applications of Kantian deontology, Bentham’s or Mill’s utilitarianism, Rawls’s contractualism, the ethics of care, and various iterations of virtue ethics. Hobbesian accounts are routinely ignored and often derided. This is unfortunate because Hobbes’s project offers a unique perspective. To ignore it, when such a perspective would be fruitful to apply to another set of theoretical questions, is a problem in need of a remedy. This volume seeks to eliminate (or, at the very least, partially fill) this gap in the literature. Not only will this volume appeal to those that are generally familiar with Hobbesian scholarship, it will also appeal to a variety of readers that are largely unfamiliar with Hobbes.

Rawls and Religion

Rawls and Religion
Author: Tom Bailey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2014-12-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231538391

John Rawls's influential theory of justice and public reason has often been thought to exclude religion from politics, out of fear of its illiberal and destabilizing potentials. It has therefore been criticized by defenders of religion for marginalizing and alienating the wealth of religious sensibilities, voices, and demands now present in contemporary liberal societies. In this anthology, established scholars of Rawls and the philosophy of religion reexamine and rearticulate the central tenets of Rawls's theory to show they in fact offer sophisticated resources for accommodating and responding to religions in liberal political life. The chapters reassert the subtlety, openness, and flexibility of his sense of liberal "respect" and "consensus," revealing their inclusive implications for religious citizens. They also explore the means he proposes for accommodating nonliberal religions in liberal politics, developing his conception of "public reason" into a novel account of the possibilities for rational engagement between liberal and religious ideas. And they reevaluate Rawls's liberalism from the "transcendent" perspectives of religions themselves, critically considering its normative and political value, as well as its own "religious" character. Rawls and Religion makes a unique and important contribution to contemporary debates over liberalism and its response to the proliferation of religions in contemporary political life.

Political Liberalism

Political Liberalism
Author: John Rawls
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 588
Release: 2005-03-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231527535

This book continues and revises the ideas of justice as fairness that John Rawls presented in A Theory of Justice but changes its philosophical interpretation in a fundamental way. That previous work assumed what Rawls calls a "well-ordered society," one that is stable and relatively homogenous in its basic moral beliefs and in which there is broad agreement about what constitutes the good life. Yet in modern democratic society a plurality of incompatible and irreconcilable doctrines—religious, philosophical, and moral—coexist within the framework of democratic institutions. Recognizing this as a permanent condition of democracy, Rawls asks how a stable and just society of free and equal citizens can live in concord when divided by reasonable but incompatible doctrines? This edition includes the essay "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," which outlines Rawls' plans to revise Political Liberalism, which were cut short by his death. "An extraordinary well-reasoned commentary on A Theory of Justice...a decisive turn towards political philosophy." —Times Literary Supplement

Public Reason and Diversity

Public Reason and Diversity
Author: Gerald Gaus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2022-08-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1316512592

This volume offers the most important essays of the leading liberal theorist Gerald Gaus.

A Theory of Justice

A Theory of Justice
Author: John RAWLS
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2009-06-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674042603

Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls's view, so much of the extensive literature on Rawls's theory refers to the first edition. This reissue makes the first edition once again available for scholars and serious students of Rawls's work.

Public Reason

Public Reason
Author: Fred D'Agostino
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
Total Pages: 502
Release: 1998
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

The essays that make up this volume, explore the idea of public reason. The task of identifying a distinctively public reason has become pressing in our deeply pluralistic society, just because doubt has arisen whether what is good reasoning for one must be good reasoning for all. Examining the theories of Hobbes and Kant, and also using more recent work such as the comments and theories of John Rawls and David Gauthier, this book explores aspects of the idea of public reason. It explains public reason, and discusses areas such as pluralism, reasonable disagreement, moral conflict, political legitimacy, public justification and post-modernism.

Kant and Applied Ethics

Kant and Applied Ethics
Author: Matthew C. Altman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2011-08-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1118114132

Kant and Applied Ethics makes an important contribution to Kant scholarship, illuminating the vital moral parameters of key ethical debates. Offers a critical analysis of Kant’s ethics, interrogating the theoretical bases of his theory and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses Examines the controversies surrounding the most important ethical discussions taking place today, including abortion, the death penalty, and same-sex marriage Joins innovative thinkers in contemporary Kantian scholarship, including Christine Korsgaard, Allen Wood, and Barbara Herman, in taking Kant’s philosophy in new and interesting directions Clarifies Kant's legacy for applied ethics, helping us to understand how these debates have been structured historically and providing us with the philosophical tools to address them

Philosophy and Public Policy

Philosophy and Public Policy
Author: Andrew I. Cohen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2018-08-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1786605252

Public policy debates often turn on how to get things done once we know our policy objectives. But how do we make appropriate progress when people disagree about what those objectives might be? In this volume, a team of world-renowned scholars introduce and explore the power of philosophy as a tool for understanding public policy controversies. Each chapter uses the tools and concepts of philosophy to frame an assessment of what is at stake in an enduring and recent policy debate. Organised thematically, the volume addresses issues such as disability policies, parenting, immigration, political apologies, criminal punishment, data gathering, and more. Drawing on the resources of ethical theory, social philosophy, and political theory in a highly accessible way, the book is ideal for students and scholars in both philosophy and public policy.