Justice: A Reader

Front Cover
Michael J. Sandel
OUP USA, Sep 27, 2007 - Law - 412 pages
Justice brings together in one indispensable volume essential readings on justice and moral reasoning. With readings from major thinkers from the classical era up to the present, the collection provides a thematic overview of the concept of justice. Moreover, Sandel's organization of the readings and his own commentaries allow readers to engage with a variety of pressing contemporary issues. Looking at a host of ethical dilemmas, including affirmative action, conscription, income distribution, and gay rights, from a variety of angles—morally, legally, politically—the collection engages with the core concerns of political philosophy: individual rights and the claims of community, equality and inequality, morality and law, and ultimately, justice. With concise section introductions that put the readings in context, this anthology is an invaluable tool for students, teachers, and anyone who wishes to engage in the great moral debates that have animated politics from classical times to our own.

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Selected pages

Contents

Doing the Right Thing
3
Chapter II Utilitarianism
9
Chapter III Libertarianism
49
Property Rights
83
Surrogate Motherhood Military Service
127
Freedom as Autonomy
157
Justice as Fairness
203
Equality Entitlement and Merit
223
Reverse Discrimination?
237
Justice and Virtue
263
Cheerleaders and Golf Carts
301
Chapter XII Justice Community and Membership
315
Chapter XIII Moral Argument and Liberal Toleration
343
SameSex Marriage For and Against
379
Credits
411
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About the author (2007)

Michael J. Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught political philosophy since 1980. He is the author of numerous books, including Liberalism and the Limits of Justice, Democracy's Discontent, Public Philosophy and most recently, The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering.