Rights and Goods: Justifying Social ActionUniversity of Chicago Press, 1989 M07 19 - 336 pages Theories of justice, argues Virginia Held, are usually designed for a perfect, hypothetical world. They do not give us guidelines for living in an imperfect world in which the choices and decisions that we must make are seldom clear-cut. Seeking a morality based on actual experience, Held offers a method of inquiry with which to deal with the specific moral problems encountered in daily life. She argues that the division between public and private morality is misleading and shows convincingly that moral judgment should be contextual. She maps out different approaches and positions for various types of issues, including membership in a state, legal decisions, political activities, economic transactions, interpersonal relations, diplomacy, journalism, and determining our obligation to future generations. Issues such as these provide the true test of moral theory, since its success is seen in the willingness of conscientious persons to commit themselves to it by acting on it in their daily lives. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Revival of Ethics | 8 |
Roles | 21 |
Moral Theory and Moral Experience | 40 |
The Grounds for Social Trust | 62 |
Acceptance or Rejection of the State | 86 |
Law and Rights | 104 |
Rights to Equal Liberty | 121 |
Property and Economic Activity | 166 |
Family and Society | 191 |
Culture Free Expression and the Good Life | 215 |
The Environment and the Future | 233 |
The International Context | 248 |
The Practice of Moral Inquiry | 264 |
Notes | 280 |
314 | |
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Common terms and phrases
accept action acts of civil actual adequate appropriate argue arguments assure basic C. B. Macpherson chapter choice choose citizens civil disobedience claims collective conception conflict consider contexts cooperation corporations cultural decide deontological developed discussion domains Dworkin economic activity egoism equal ethics existing experience freedom given groups H. L. A. Hart human rights individual issues John Rawls judge justice justifiable kind labor legal system legislators liberty live Louis Henkin ment moral inquiry moral judgments moral principles moral rights moral theories negative freedom normative parents particular judgments persons philosophers policies political decisions political system position possible problems public interest question Rawls reasons recent recognize recommend reflective equilibrium require roles Ronald Dworkin rules self-interest sense situations social society teleological teleological arguments Theory of Justice tion trust University Press utilitarian valid values Virginia Held women York
References to this book
Social Trust: Toward a Cosmopolitan Society Timothy Earle,George Cvetkovich No preview available - 1995 |