Do All Persons Have Equal Moral Worth?

Do All Persons Have Equal Moral Worth? PDF Author: Uwe Steinhoff
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198719507
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Get Book Here

Book Description
In present-day political and moral philosophy the idea that all persons are in some way moral equals is an almost universal premise, with its defenders often claiming that philosophical positions that reject the principle of equal respect and concern do not deserve to be taken seriously. This has led to relatively few attempts to clarify, or indeed justify, 'basic equality' and the principle of equal respect and concern. Such clarification and justification, however, would be direly needed. After all, the ideas, for instance, that Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela have equal moral worth, or that a rape victim owes equal respect and concern to both her rapist and to her own caring brother, seem to be utterly implausible. Thus, if someone insists on the truth of such ideas, he or she owes his or her audience an explanation. The authors in this volume-which breaks new ground by engaging egalitarians and anti-egalitarians in a genuine dialogue-attempt to shed light into the dark. They try to clarify the concepts of "basic equality", "equal moral worth","equal respect and concern", "dignity," etc; and they try to (partially) justify-or to refute-the resulting clarified doctrines. The volume thus demonstrates that the claim that all persons have equal moral worth, are owed equal concern and respect, or have the same rights is anything but obvious. This finding has not only significant philosophical but also political implications.

Do All Persons Have Equal Moral Worth?

Do All Persons Have Equal Moral Worth? PDF Author: Uwe Steinhoff
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198719507
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Get Book Here

Book Description
In present-day political and moral philosophy the idea that all persons are in some way moral equals is an almost universal premise, with its defenders often claiming that philosophical positions that reject the principle of equal respect and concern do not deserve to be taken seriously. This has led to relatively few attempts to clarify, or indeed justify, 'basic equality' and the principle of equal respect and concern. Such clarification and justification, however, would be direly needed. After all, the ideas, for instance, that Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela have equal moral worth, or that a rape victim owes equal respect and concern to both her rapist and to her own caring brother, seem to be utterly implausible. Thus, if someone insists on the truth of such ideas, he or she owes his or her audience an explanation. The authors in this volume-which breaks new ground by engaging egalitarians and anti-egalitarians in a genuine dialogue-attempt to shed light into the dark. They try to clarify the concepts of "basic equality", "equal moral worth","equal respect and concern", "dignity," etc; and they try to (partially) justify-or to refute-the resulting clarified doctrines. The volume thus demonstrates that the claim that all persons have equal moral worth, are owed equal concern and respect, or have the same rights is anything but obvious. This finding has not only significant philosophical but also political implications.

How Can We Be Equals?

How Can We Be Equals? PDF Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192699318
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
That all human beings are one another's moral equals is taken by many to be the fundamental premise of contemporary moral, political and legal theory. It is also the demand of individuals and groups to be treated as equals that drives much of political practice and protest today. However, what does such a claim of 'basic equality' between human beings mean? How can it possibly be true, given that we are unequals in almost every other aspect of our lives? And, who, exactly, is meant to fall within its scope? This volume brings together leading thinkers on basic equality to address these questions. Collectively, they explore the concept of equality in history and criticism, analysing and presenting solutions to the most pressing challenges that have been raised against the principle.

Singer and His Critics

Singer and His Critics PDF Author: Dale Jamieson
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9781557869098
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 380

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the first book devoted to the work of Peter Singer, one of the leaders of the practical ethics movement, and one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century.

One Another’s Equals

One Another’s Equals PDF Author: Jeremy Waldron
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674659767
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Get Book Here

Book Description
Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. "More Than Merely Equal Consideration"? -- 2. Prescriptivity and Redundancy -- 3. Looking for a Range Property -- 4. Power and Scintillation -- 5. A Religious Basis for Equality? -- 6. The Profoundly Disabled as Our Human Equals -- Index

The Second-Person Standpoint

The Second-Person Standpoint PDF Author: Stephen Darwall
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674034627
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 363

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why should we avoid doing moral wrong? The inability of philosophy to answer this question in a compelling manner—along with the moral skepticism and ethical confusion that ensue—result, Stephen Darwall argues, from our failure to appreciate the essentially interpersonal character of moral obligation. After showing how attempts to vindicate morality have tended to change the subject—falling back on non-moral values or practical, first-person considerations—Darwall elaborates the interpersonal nature of moral obligations: their inherent link to our responsibilities to one another as members of the moral community. As Darwall defines it, the concept of moral obligation has an irreducibly second-person aspect; it presupposes our authority to make claims and demands on one another. And so too do many other central notions, including those of rights, the dignity of and respect for persons, and the very concept of person itself. The result is nothing less than a fundamental reorientation of moral theory that enables it at last to account for morality’s supreme authority—an account that Darwall carries from the realm of theory to the practical world of second-person attitudes, emotions, and actions.

Moral Value and Human Diversity

Moral Value and Human Diversity PDF Author: Robert Audi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195374118
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 159

Get Book Here

Book Description
Robert Audi looks at four previous major attempts to codify ethical behaviour: the virtue ethics of Aristotle, the rule-based ethics of Kant; J.S. Mill's utilitarianism; and the movement known as 'common-sense' ethics associated with W.D. Ross.

Moral Equality

Moral Equality PDF Author: David McBride
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description


Justice for Hedgehogs

Justice for Hedgehogs PDF Author: Ronald Dworkin
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674071964
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 521

Get Book Here

Book Description
The fox knows many things, the Greeks said, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. In his most comprehensive work, Ronald Dworkin argues that value in all its forms is one big thing: that what truth is, life means, morality requires, and justice demands are different aspects of the same large question. He develops original theories on a great variety of issues very rarely considered in the same book: moral skepticism, literary, artistic, and historical interpretation, free will, ancient moral theory, being good and living well, liberty, equality, and law among many other topics. What we think about any one of these must stand up, eventually, to any argument we find compelling about the rest. Skepticism in all its forms—philosophical, cynical, or post-modern—threatens that unity. The Galilean revolution once made the theological world of value safe for science. But the new republic gradually became a new empire: the modern philosophers inflated the methods of physics into a totalitarian theory of everything. They invaded and occupied all the honorifics—reality, truth, fact, ground, meaning, knowledge, and being—and dictated the terms on which other bodies of thought might aspire to them, and skepticism has been the inevitable result. We need a new revolution. We must make the world of science safe for value.

Social Equality

Social Equality PDF Author: Carina Fourie
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199331103
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
Is equality valuable? This question dominates many discussions of social justice, which tend to center on whether certain forms of distributive equality are valuable, such as the equal distribution of primary social goods. But these discussions often neglect what is known as social or relational equality. Social equality suggests that equality is foremost about relationships and interactions between people, rather than being primarily about distribution. A number of philosophers have written about the significance of social equality, and it has also played an important role in real-life egalitarian movements, such as feminism and civil rights movements. However, as it has been relatively neglected in comparison to the debates about distributive equality, it requires much more theoretical attention. This volume brings together a collection of ten original essays which present new analyses of social and relational equality in philosophy and political theory. The essays analyze the nature of social equality, as well as its relationship to justice and politics.

The Moral Equality of Humans and Animals

The Moral Equality of Humans and Animals PDF Author: Mark H Bernstein
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780230276628
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Received opinion has it that humans are morally superior to non-human animals; human interests matter more than the like interests of animals and the value of human lives is alleged to be greater than the value of nonhuman animal lives. Since this belief causes mayhem and murder, its de-mythologizing requires urgent attention.