Public Philosophy
Essays on Morality in Politics
Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2005.
Format: Book
Description: 292 pages ; 22 cm
In this book, Michael Sandel takes up some of the hotly contested moral and political issues of our time, including affirmative action, assisted suicide, abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, the meaning of toleration and civility, the gap between rich and poor, the role of markets, and the place of religion in public life. He argues that the most prominent ideals in our political life - individual rights and freedom of choice - do not by themselves provide an adequate ethic for a democratic society. Sandel calls for a politics that gives greater emphasis to citizenship, community and civic virtue, and that grapples more directly with questions of the good life. Liberals often worry that inviting moral and religious argument into the public sphere runs the risk of intolerance and coercion.
Contents:
I: American civic life -- America's search for a public philosophy -- Beyond individualism: Democrats and community -- The politics of easy virtue -- Big ideas -- The problem with civility -- Impeachment--then and now -- Robert F. Kennedy's promise -- II: Moral and political arguments -- Against state lotteries -- Commercials in the classroom -- Branding the public realm -- Sports and civic identity -- History for sale -- The market for merit -- Should we buy the right to pollute? -- Honor and resentment -- Arguing affirmative action -- Should victims have a say in sentencing? -- Clinton and Kant on lying -- Is there a right to assisted suicide? -- Embryo ethics: the moral logic of stem cell research -- Moral argument and liberal toleration: abortion and homosexuality -- III: Liberalism, pluralism, and community -- Morality and the liberal ideal -- The procedural republic and the unencumbered self -- Justice as membership -- The peril of extinction -- Dewey's liberalism and ours -- Mastery and Hubris in Judaism: what's wrong with playing God? -- Political liberalism -- Remembering Rawls -- The limits of communitarianism.
Subjects:
Political ethics -- United States.
Political science -- Philosophy.
United States -- Moral conditions.
United States -- Politics and government -- 2001-2009.
Political ethics -- United States.
Political science -- Philosophy.
United States -- Moral conditions.
United States -- Politics and government -- 2001-2009.
ISBN:
0674019288 (alk. paper)
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
PHILOSOPHY Ethics San | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-277) and index.