What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings

by Solomon, Robert C.; Murphy, Mark C.

• ISBN13: 9780195065442
• ISBN10: 0195065441
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1990-10-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, 2/e, brings together many of the most prominent and influential writings on the topic of justice, providing an exceptionally comprehensive introduction to the subject. It places special emphasis on "social contract" theories of justice, both ancient and modern, culminating in the monumental work of John Rawls and various responses to his work. It also deals with questions of retributive justice and punishment, topics that are often excluded from other volumes on justice. This new edition features expanded and updated readings on justice and punishment and includes more recent responses to John Rawls's work.Part One of the book features selections from classical sources including Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Mencius, as well as excerpts from the Bible and the Koran. Part Two provides readings on the state of nature and the social contract, from Hobbes and Locke to Rawls, Nozick, Gauthier, and Baier. Part Three includes the Declaration of Independence and Amendments to the U.S. Constitution in addition to selections on property and social justice by Locke, Hume, Adam Smith, Engels, Marx, Mill, and several contemporary authors. Part Four offers a wide variety of readings on punishment, several of which address the death penalty. Part Five begins with selections from Rawls's work and includes responses from Dworkin, Nagel, Nozick, MacIntyre, Sandel, Walzer, Okin, and Rawls himself. Each selection is preceded by a brief introduction and each of the five parts opens with an introduction. The volume is further enhanced by a general introduction and an updated and extensive bibliography.Ideal for a wide variety of courses including social and political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of law, and contemporary moral problems, What Is Justice?, 2/e, does not assume any philosophical or specialized background. It is also engaging reading for anyone interested in justice.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Classical Sources

Homer, from the Iliad

""Justice, Equality, Desert,"" from the Bible

Plato from the Republic

Aristotle, from the Nicomachean Ethics

""Justice, Retribution, and Mercy,"" from the Koran

Aquinas, from Summa Theologica

Mencius, from On the Mind

Justice and the Social Contract

Hobbes, from Leviathan

Locke, from Second Treatise on Government

Rousseau, from A Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract

Hegel, from Phenomenology of Spirit

Rawls, from A Theory of Justice

Nozick, from Anarchy, State, and Utopia

Gauthier, from ""The Social Contract as Ideology""

Baier, from ""Trust and Antitrust""

Justice and Society

The Declaration of Independence and Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America

Locke, from Second Treatise on Government

Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Justice and A Treatise of Human Nature

Adam Smith, from A Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations

Kant, from Philosophy of Law

Hegel, from Philosophy of Right

Mill, from Utilitarianism

Engels, from Anti-Duhring, and Marx, from A Critique of the Gotha Programme

von Hayek, from The Mirage of Social Justice

Bernard Williams, from ""The Idean of Equality

David Miller, from Social Justice

Justice and Punishment

Pietro Marongiu and Graeme Newman, from Vengeance

Nozick, from Philosophical Explanations

Bentham, from Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Kant, from Philosophy of Law

Hegel, from Philosophy of Right

Nietzsche, from On the Genealogy of Morals

Rawls, from ""Two Concepts of Rules""

Michael Moore, from ""The Moral Worth of Retribution""

Jean Hampton, from ""The Moral Education Theory of Punishment""

Robert Solomon, from A Passion for Justice

United States Supreme Court, Gregg v. Georgia

Hugo Bedau, from ""Capital Punishment and Retributive Justice""

Ernst van den Haag, from ""Deterrence and the Death Penalty""

Camus, from ""Reflections on the Guillotine""

The Contemporary Debate on Distributive Justice

Rawls, from A Theory of Justice

Dworkin, from ""The Original Position""

Thomas Nagel, from ""Rawls on Justice""

Nozick, from Anarchy, State and Utopia

MacIntyre, from After Virtue

Michael Sandel, from Liberalism and the Limits of Justice

Michael Walzer, from Spheres of Justice

Susan Moller Okin, from Justice, Gender and the Family

Rawls, from ""Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical""

Bibliography

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.