Political Philosophy A Beginners' Guide for Students and Politicians

Name: Political Philosophy A Beginners' Guide for Students and Politicians
Price: 100.68 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780745635323

ISBN-10: 0745635326

ISBN-13: 9780745635323

Edition: 2nd 2006 (Revised)

Authors: Adam Swift

List price: $24.95

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Description:

Politicians invoke grand ideas: social justice, democracy, liberty, equality,community. But what do these ideas really mean? How can politicians across the political spectrum appeal to the same values?This revised and expanded edition of Political Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide for Students and Politicians, answers these important questions. Accessible and lively, the book is an ideal student text, but it also brings the insights of the world's leading political philosophers to a wide general audience. Using plenty of examples, it equips readers to think for themselves about the ideas that shape political life.Democracy works best when both politicians and voters move beyond rhetoric to…

Book details

List price: $24.95
Edition: 2nd
Copyright year: 2006
Publisher: Polity Press
Publication date: 8/4/2006
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 208
Size: 5.25" wide x 8.25" long x 0.50" tall
Weight: 0.748
Language: English



Preface to first edition


Preface to second edition


Introduction


Further reading



Social Justice


Concept v. conceptions: the case of justice


Hayek v. social justice


Rawls: justice as fairness


Nozick: justice as entitlement


Public opinion: justice as desert


Conclusion


Further reading



Liberty


Two concepts of liberty?


Three distinctions between conceptions of liberty:



effective freedom v. formal freedom



freedom as autonomy v. freedom as doing what one wants



freedom as political participation v. freedom beginning where politics ends


Freedom, private property, the market and redistribution


Resisting the totalitarian menace


Conclusion


Further reading



Equality


Egalitarian plateau


Equality of opportunity


Equality and relativities: should we mind the gap?


Positional goods


Three positions that look egalitarian but aren't really



Utilitarianism (or any aggregative principle)



Diminishing principles, priority to the worst-off, and maximin



Entitlement and sufficiency


Equality strikes back


Conclusion


Further reading



Community


Correcting misunderstandings and misrepresentations


Objection 1: Liberals assume that people are selfish or egoistic


Objection 2: Liberals advocate a minimal state


Objection 3: Liberals emphasize rights rather than duties or responsibilities


Objection 4: Liberals believe that values are subjective or relative


Objection 5: Liberals neglect the way in which individuals are socially constituted


Objection 6: Liberals fail to see the significance of communal relations, shared values and a common identity


Objection 7: Liberals wrongly think that the state can and should be neutral


Summary


Outstanding Issues


Liberalism, neutrality and multiculturalism


Liberalism and the nation state


Conclusion


Further Reading


Conclusion


Index