Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in PoliticsIn 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. These essays respond to that concern by showing that substantive moral discourse is not at odds with progressive public purposes, and that a pluralist society need not shrink from engaging the moral and religious convictions that its citizens bring to public life. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
AMERICAN CIVIC LIFE | 3 |
Americas Search for a Public Philosophy | 9 |
Democrats and Community | 35 |
The Politics of Easy Virtue | 46 |
Big Ideas | 50 |
The Problem with Civility | 54 |
ImpeachmentThen and Now | 59 |
Should Victims Have a Say in Sentencing? | 105 |
Clinton and Kant on Lying | 109 |
Is There a Right to Assisted Suicide? | 113 |
The Moral Logic of Stem Cell Research | 117 |
Abortion and Homosexuality | 122 |
LIBERALISM PLURALISM AND COMMUNITY | 145 |
Morality and the Liberal Ideal | 147 |
The Procedural Republic and the Unencumbered Self | 156 |
Robert F Kennedys Promise | 63 |
MORAL AND POLITICAL ARGUMENTS | 67 |
Against State Lotteries | 69 |
Commercials in the Classroom | 73 |
Branding the Public Realm | 77 |
Sports and Civic Identity | 81 |
History for Sale | 85 |
The Market for Merit | 89 |
Should We Buy the Right to Pollute? | 93 |
Honor and Resentment | 97 |
Arguing Affirmative Action | 101 |
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