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Building on many years of scholarship, Matthew H. Kramer sets out his definitive philosophical investigation of rights and rights-holding with this monograph, as he sometimes revisits and modifies his previous positions. Beginning with the analytical schema propounded by the American legal theorist Wesley Hohfeld, the book provides a defence of the proposition that every claim-right with a certain content is correlative to at least one duty with the same content and that every duty with a certain content is correlative to at least one claim-right with the same content. The volume then addresses the longstanding debates over the nature of right-holding, with a sustained defense of the Interest Theory and with some innovative critiques of the Will Theory. Finally, it considers the ethical and analytical questions involved in determining who can hold claim-rights at all. It argues that the beings capable of holding claim-rights include not only human adults of sound mind but also all other living human beings, many dead people, and all future generations of people, along with most non-human animals. Addressing some major topics within moral, legal, and political philosophy,Rights and Right-Holding: A Philosophical Investigation will be a key work for philosophers and academic lawyers alike.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A brilliant exploration of freedom—what it is, how it's been misunderstood, and why it's our only chance for survival—by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On Tyranny“A rigorous and visionary argument... Buy or borrow this book, read it, take it to heart.”—The GuardianTimothy Snyder has been called “the leading interpreter of our dark times.” As a historian, he has given us startling reinterpretations of political collapse and mass killing. As a public intellectual, he has turned that knowledge toward counsel and prediction, working against authoritarianism here and abroad. His book On Tyranny has inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom. Now, in this tour de force of political philosophy, he helps us see exactly what we're fighting for.Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means—and this is leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state power: We think we're free if we can do and say as we please, and protect ourselves from government overreach. But true freedom isn't so much freedom from as freedom to—the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.On Freedom takes us on a thrilling intellectual journey. Drawing on the work of philosophers and political dissidents, conversations with contemporary thinkers, and his own experiences coming of age in a time of American exceptionalism, Snyder identifies the practices and attitudes—the habits of mind—that will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish. We come to appreciate the importance of traditions (championed by the right) but also the role of institutions (the purview of the left). Intimate yet ambitious, this book helps forge a new consensus rooted in a politics of abundance, generosity, and grace.

This book brings three timeless classics of Western philosophy which represent the very core of John Stuart Mill's thought. All Mill's major ides, such were his conception of liberty, utilitarianism and call for equality between the sexes, are included in these works. After reading this book you will see why John Stuart Mill is'the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century'. Contents: Utilitarianism What Utilitarianism Is Of the Ultimate Sanction of the Principle of Utility Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility Is Susceptible Of the Connexion Between Justice and Utility On Liberty Liberty of Thought and Discussion Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-being Limits to the Authority of Society Over the Individual Applications The Subjection of Women

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola has been a beacon of progress in modern times, and the Oration on the Dignity of Man has been the engine of his fame. But he never wrote a speech about the dignity of man. The prince's speech announced quite different projects: persuading Christians to become Kabbalists in order to annihilate themselves in God; and convincing philosophers that their path to saving wisdom was concord rather than disputation. Pico della Mirandola On Trial: Heresy, Freedom, and Philosophy shows that Pico's work was in no way progressive - or'humanist'- and that his main authorities were medieval clerics and theologians, not secular Renaissance intellectuals. The evidence is Pico's Apology, his self-defence against heresy charges: this public polemic reveals more about him than the famous speech that he never gave and that deliberately kept its message secret. The orator's method in the Oration was esoteric, but the defendant in the Apology made his case openly in a voice that was academic and belligerent, not prophetic or poetic. Since the middle of the last century, textbooks written for college students have promoted only one Pico, a hero of progressive humanism. But his Conclusions and Apology, products of late medieval culture, were in no way progressive. The grim scene of the Apology, his report on a battle for life and honor, was the proximate medieval past where human history was despised as the annals of sin. To understand Pico's universe of dismal expectations, our best guide is his Apology, based on lessons learned from medieval teachers.

An original, unified reconstruction of Mill's moral and political philosophy—one that finally reveals its consistency and full powerFew thinkers have been as influential as John Stuart Mill, whose philosophy has arguably defined Utilitarian ethics and modern liberalism. But fewer still have been subject to as much criticism for perceived ambiguities and inconsistencies. In Completely Free, John Peter DiIulio offers an ambitious and comprehensive new reading that explains how Mill's ethical, moral, and political ideas are all part of a unified, coherent, and powerful philosophy.Almost every aspect of Mill's practical philosophy has been charged with contradictions, illogic, or incoherence. Most notoriously, Mill claims an absolute commitment both to promoting societal happiness and to defending individual liberty—a commitment that many critics believe must ultimately devolve into an either/or. DiIulio resolves these and other problems by reconsidering and reconstructing the key components of Mill's practical thought: his theories of happiness, morality, liberty, and freedom. Casting new light on old texts, DiIulio argues that Mill's Utilitarianism and liberalism are not only compatible but philosophically wedded, that his theories naturally emanate from one another, and that the vast majority of interpretive mysteries surrounding Mill can be readily demystified. In a manner at once sympathetic and critical, DiIulio seeks to present Mill in his most lucid and potent form.From the higher pleasures and moral impartiality to free speech and nondomination, Completely Free provides an unmatched account of the unity and power of Mill's enduring moral and political thought.

What can guilt, the painful sting of the bad conscience, tell us about who we are as human beings? How can it be explained or justified? Being Guilty seeks to answer these questions through an examination of the views of Kant, Schelling, Schopenhauer, Paul Rée, Nietzsche, and Heidegger on guilt, freedom, responsibility, and conscience. The concept of guilt has not received sufficient attention from scholars working in the history of German philosophy. What's more, even individual thinkers whose conceptions of guilt have been researched have not been studied fully within their historical contexts. Guy Elgat redresses both these scholarly lacunae to show how these philosophers'arguments can be more deeply grasped once read in their historical context, a history that should be read as proceeding dialectically. Thus, in Kant, Schelling, and Schopenhauer, we find variations on the idea that guilt for specific actions we perform is justified because the human agent is guilty in his very being--a guilt for which he is responsible. In contrast, in Rée and Nietzsche, these ideas are rejected and guilt is seen as rarely justified but rather explainable through human psychology. Finally, in Heidegger, we find a near synthesis of the views of the previous philosophers, as he argues we are guilty in our very being yet are not responsible for this guilt. In the process of unfolding the trajectory of these evolving conceptions of guilt, the philosophers'views on these and many other issues are explored in depth, and through them Elgat articulates an entirely new approach to guilt.

Analyzing the importance of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness in Nietzsche's thought, this volume addresses an under-examined topic in the secondary literature. By exploring disparate aspects of these interrelated emotions it provides new insights into his key ideas.The contributors-among them philosophers and political scientists-illustrate the significance of these feelings to reveal political ramifications of their affirmative potential and their broader role in Nietzsche's philosophical aims. These include how the joyful disposition Nietzsche commends informs his free spirit's self-overcoming, attempts to revalue all values, and prospects of ultimately transfiguring humanity.Among other topics, scholars assess the Übermensch and shared joy, learning to laugh at oneself, Schopenhauer's jokes, Pascal's cheerfulness, and the Dada movement's subversively playful aesthetic. By contemplating Nietzsche's emphasis on joy and laughter, the volume reveals a thinker who, far from being a caricature of hopeless nihilism, is in fact the hitherto unrecognised champion of an alternative liberatory politics.

All of us feel the presence of freedom in how we conceptualize, interact with, and accept or reject our political and economic institutions. But what is it? Where did this value come from? How should we describe it in theory? How should we pursue it in practice? For the past two years activist Toby Buckle, host of the popular Political Philosophy Podcast, has interviewed many of the world's leading historians, philosophers, and activists to try and understand freedom's meanings and applications in the modern world. Through a series of accessible interviews this volume introduces the reader to many of the contemporary ideas and debates about freedom from a wide range of perspectives in an engaging conversational presentation. Featuring a foreword by Cécile Fabre, the book includes contributions from Elizabeth Anderson, Mary Frances Berry, Ian Dunt, Michael Freeden, Nancy Hirschmann, Omar Khan, Dale Martin, Orlando Patterson, Phillip Pettit, John Skorupski, Peter Tatchell, and Zephyr Teachout.

This volume tests a hypothesis—philosophy and science are identical forms of behavioristic, organizational psychology: a psychological habit of wondering about causes of organizational existence, formation, and behaviour. Focusing attention on two universal and culturally influential great ideas—freedom and religion—this volume's array of international scholars demonstrate that leading ancient and medieval philosophers did philosophy in this way. Also, well-known philosophers/scientists like Mortimer J. Adler and John N. Deely practiced philosophy this way. Doing so is precisely what made these philosophers uniquely capable of generating great ideas as motivational principles that dramatically alter cultures. In a nutshell, this work offers significant support for its historically and philosophically ground-breaking thesis.

Originally published in 1981, this book provides a detailed account of the emergence of the children's rights movement, and analyses the concept of a right. It considers the justifications which may be sought when rights are claimed. Particular attention is given to the problem which arises when different rights are seen to be in conflict with each other or with other kinds of moral consideration. These arguments are then examined with regard to such special features of children as their incomplete but developing rationality and their material dependence on adults.

Freiheit ist ein Grundbegriff der modernen Philosophie und die Freiheitskonzeptionen Kants und Hegels bilden wichtige Quellen, um Freiheit zu begreifen. Allerdings sind nicht nur Sinn und Gehalt ihrer Konzeptionen bis heute umstritten, sondern auch eine adäquate Bewertung erweist sich als ein Desiderat der Forschung. In der vorliegenden Studie bringt Werner Flach Kants geltungs- und prinzipientheoretische Freiheitslehre zur Darstellung und sucht zu zeigen, welches Erklärungspotential diese Lehre in puncto Humanität hat. Christian Krijnen bringt hingegen Hegels logische und geistphilosophische Freiheitslehre zur Darstellung und sucht zu zeigen, dass und wie in Kants Lehre der fundamentale Aspekt der Wirklichkeit der Freiheit unterbeleuchtet bleibt. Die Diskussionsbeiträge von Martin Bunte, Jakub Kloc-Konkołowicz, Hernán Pringe, Jacco Verburgt, Kenneth R. Westphal und Manfred Wetzel machen deutlich, welchen Stellenwert dem einen und dem anderen Paradigma im aktuellen Urteil zuerkannt wird. Freedom is one of the main issues of modern philosophy and Kant's and Hegel's conceptions of freedom form a major source for comprehending it. However, not only are both Kant's and Hegel'conceptions discussed controversially, in the philosophical debate it also remains highly contested which of them offers a more thorough account of freedom. In this volume, Werner Flach presents Kant's conception of freedom as well as its potential for understanding basic features of humanity. Christian Krijnen presents Hegel's conception of freedom and shows that Kant's conception neglects an essential feature that concerns the actualization of freedom. In their contributions to the discussion, Martin Bunte, Jakub Kloc-Konkołowicz, Hernán Pringe, Jacco Verburgt, Kenneth R. Westphal, and Manfred Wetzel assess the results.

What does it mean to be a flourishing human in a Western liberal democracy in the twenty-first century? In Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing, Winton Bates aims to provide a better framework for thinking about the relationship between freedom, progress, and human flourishing. Bates asserts that freedom enables individuals to flourish in different ways without colliding, allows for a growth of opportunities, and supports personal development by enabling individuals to exercise self-direction. The importance of self-direction is a central theme in the book, and Bates explores throughout why wise and well-informed self-direction is integral to flourishing because it helps individuals attain health and longevity, positive human relationships, psychological well-being, and an ability to live in harmony with nature.

Douglas B. Rasmussen and Douglas J. Den Uyl maintain that a realist turn—namely, one in which the natural order is the basis for individual rights—is needed to bring about a proper understanding and defense of liberty. They argue that the critical character of individual rights results from their being tethered to metaphysical realism. After reprising their explanation and defense of natural rights, Rasmussen and Den Uyl explain metaphysical realism and defend it against neo-pragmatist objections. They show it to be a formidable and preferable alternative to epistemic constructivism and crucial for a suitable understanding of ideal theory.

This book examines the concept of liberty in relation to civilization's ability to live within ecological limits.Freedom, in all its renditions – choice, thought, action – has become inextricably linked to our understanding of what it means to be modern citizens. And yet, it is our relatively unbounded freedom that has resulted in so much ecological devastation. Liberty has piggy-backed on transformations in human–nature relationships that characterize the Anthropocene: increasing extraction of resources, industrialization, technological development, ecological destruction, and mass production linked to global consumerism. This volume provides a deeply critical examination of the concept of liberty as it relates to environmental politics and ethics in the long view. Contributions explore this entanglement of freedom and the ecological crisis, as well as investigate alternative modernities and more ecologically benign ways of living on Earth. The overarching framework for this collection is that liberty and agency need to be rethought before these strongly held ideals of our age are forced out. On a finite planet, our choices will become limited if we hope to survive the climatic transitions set in motion by uncontrolled consumption of resources and energy over the past 150 years. This volume suggests concrete political and philosophical approaches and governance strategies for learning how to flourish in new ways within the ecological constraints of the planet.Mapping out new ways forward for long-term ecological well-being, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of ecology, environmental ethics, politics, and sociology, and for the wider audience interested in the human–Earth relationship and global sustainability.

A General Theory of Authority was first printed in 1962 and is a classic treatment of authority and its relation to justice, life, truth, and order. In recent years authority has been seen as an enemy of freedom, autonomy, and development. In this book the renowned philosopher Yves R. Simon, himself a passionate proponent of liberty, analyzes the idea of authority and defends it as an essential concomitant of liberty. Simon sees authority as the catalyst necessary to bring together the seemingly disparate demands of liberty on one hand and order on the other.Simon's perceptive discussion of how authority differs from law enables him to highlight the effective and personal role that authority can play in the life of the individual and for the good of the community.Professor Yves R. Simon was an esteemed philosopher and teacher at several American universities, including Notre Dame and the University of Chicago. He published numerous books and articles, many of which remain as classic pieces of political and social philosophy. Professor Simon died in 1961.

Originally published in 1942 this book brings together contribution from some of the finest thinkers and philosophers of the 20th century such as Boas, Croce, Einstein, Haldane, Mann, and Russell. The volume discusses the problem of Freedom from diverse points of view and offers a synthesis of issues and conclusions relating to freedom as a basis for action with a view to try and fill the gaps existent in the study of the nature of Man.

Discussed and debated from time immemorial, the concept of personal liberty went without codification until the 1859 publication of On Liberty. John Stuart Mill's complete and resolute dedication to the cause of freedom inspired this treatise, an enduring work through which the concept remains well known and studied. The British economist, philosopher, and ethical theorist's argument does not focus on'the so-called Liberty of the Will…but Civil, or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual.'Mill asks and answers provocative questions relating to the boundaries of social authority and individual sovereignty. In powerful and persuasive prose, he declares that there is'one very simple principle'regarding the use of coercion in society — one may only coerce others either to defend oneself or to defend others from harm.

This book explains why we should stop thinking of freedom as limited to a right to be left alone. It explores how Kantian philosophy and Jewish thought instead give rise to a concept of positive freedom. At heart, freedom is inextricably linked to the obligation to respect the autonomy and dignity of others. Freedom thus requires relationships with others and provides an important source of meaning in liberal democratic societies. While individualism is said to foster detachment, positive freedom fosters relations. Moving from moral theory to law, duties are seen as intrinsic to rights. The book considers test cases involving the law of expression, regarding authorial rights and women's prayer at Jerusalem's holy site of the Western Wall. Affirmative duties of respect are essential. Rights held by copyright owners require that all authors – including so-called users – are shown respect. Moreover, rights held by the authorities at the Western Wall require that all worshippers – including those whose interpretation of Jewish law differs from that adopted by the authorities – are respected.

Kant's conception of freedom is of special importance in the history of philosophy. It not only brings together older traditions but has great influence on later theories of freedom. The edited volume analyzes Kant's theory, referring to the concepts of will, choice, autonomy, and reason. It consists of four parts: Kant's theory in its historical context; Kant's own conception as developed in his various philosophical works; central conceptions of freedom in German Idealism after Kant (including Reinhold, Schiller, Maimon, Jacobi, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer); the systematic relevance of Kant's conception of freedom with regard to recent debates in analytic philosophy (agent causality, compatibilism and incompatibilism).

In Rethinking Existentialism, Jonathan Webber articulates an original interpretation of existentialism as the ethical theory that human freedom is the foundation of all other values. Offering an original analysis of classic literary and philosophical works published by Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Frantz Fanon up until 1952, Webber's conception of existentialism is developed in critical contrast with central works by Albert Camus, Sigmund Freud, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Presenting his arguments in an accessible and engaging style, Webber contends that Beauvoir and Sartre initially disagreed over the structure of human freedom in 1943 but Sartre ultimately came to accept Beauvoir's view over the next decade. He develops the viewpoint that Beauvoir provides a more significant argument for authenticity than either Sartre or Fanon. He articulates in detail the existentialist theories of individual character and the social identities of gender and race, key concerns in current discourse. Webber concludes by sketching out the broader implications of his interpretation of existentialism for philosophy, psychology, and psychotherapy.

This collection of nineteen of Kenneth Minogue's essays, written over a period of more than fifty years, celebrates the advent of modern liberty. They describe the conditions under which liberty and individuality can flourish and the threats to liberty's flourishing in our time. Minogue offers a powerful critique of political correctness, of ideological flights from reality, and of the deformities of study in the modern university.

'I have a dream'declared Martin Luther King in 1967. Those words, which echoed round the world, soon became immortal. King gave his life in the cause of eradicating racism, eliminating poverty and resolutely opposing all forms of war and violence. This dialogue brings together two figures who likewise have striven in all their activities to promote peace and fight discrimination: one a Christian theologian, historian and nonviolent activist who knew King personally and who moved in 1958 from Chicago to the American South to participate in the nascent struggle for civil rights; the other a foremost Buddhist leader who has been inspired in his own thinking by King's example. Vincent Harding and Daisaku Ikeda here bring the wisdom of their respective traditions and experiences to reflect on the personal cost of fighting for justice, and the courage that that entails. Their conversations range widely, across issues which include war and violence, the continuing blight in America of institutionalized racism, the need to overcome global disparities of wealth and the consequent dangers of materialism and consumerism

This volume provides an in-depth discussion on the central question – how can people express and survive dissent and disagreement in confined habitats in space? The discussion is an important one because it could be that the systems of inter-dependence required to survive in space are so strong that dissent becomes impossible. John Locke originally said that people have a right to use revolution to overthrow a despotic regime. But if revolution causes violence and damage that causes depressurisation with the risk of killing many people, is it even permissible to have a revolution? How then are people to express their liberty or dissatisfaction with their rulers? The emergence of structures of dissent and disagreement is an essential part of the construction of a framework of liberty in space (revolution is just the extreme example) and thus the topic deserves in-depth and immediate attention. Even today, the way in which we assemble organisations and corporations for the government and private exploration of space must take into account the need for mechanisms to allow people to express dissent.

Ce livre part du constat qu'il n'y a pas de réflexion sur le libéralisme sans pensée de la liberté mais que toute pensée de la liberté ne saurait être incluse dans les différentes formes de libéralismes. Les deux mots qui se trouvent au départ de cette interrogation renvoient à des réalités empiriques ou conceptuelles et à des chronologies a priori différentes. Liberté renvoie à une problématique millénaire, existant depuis que les hommes réfléchissent sur les formes possibles du vivre ensemble. Libéralisme se réfère davantage à un corps de doctrine qui trouve son origine dans une interprétation du rôle moteur de la liberté pour les échanges et les formes d'organisation de la société. Le pari de ce recueil d'études, transdisciplinaire par choix et par nécessité, est de confronter les deux notions dans leurs usages et leur histoire.Ce livre propose ainsi une cartographie plus fine de ces concepts que celles qui sont proposées par la littérature analytique (que ce soit la catégorisation duale d'Isaiah Berlin opposant liberté positive et liberté négative ou l'opposition désormais figée entre libéralisme et républicanisme). L'un des résultats de l'entreprise est ainsi de fournir un principe d'explication de la diversité des libéralismes, que la littérature contemporaine s'emploie trop souvent à décrire, indépendamment des moments historiques de leur institutionnalisation

Der Aufsatz ist zugleich erschienen als ein Beitrag in »Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in'Grundlegung III'«, Hrsg. von Dieter Schönecker (mentis 2015), ISBN print 978-3-89785-078-1 und E-Book 978-3-97543-981-9. Über das Buch »Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in'Grundlegung III'«: Der dritte Abschnitt von Kants'Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten'gilt schon immer als dunkel und unzugänglich, und bis heute ist dieser Text in der Kant-Forschung völlig umstritten. Dabei geht es um die grundlegende Frage, auf welche Weise Kant Freiheit und den kategorischen Imperativ begründet. In diesem Band stellen international etablierte und jüngere Kantforscher neue Interpretationsansätze vor. Einer der berühmtesten Texte der Philosophiegeschichte wird noch einmal in ein neues Licht gerückt.

Der Aufsatz ist zugleich erschienen als ein Beitrag in »Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in'Grundlegung III'«, Hrsg. von Dieter Schönecker (mentis 2015), ISBN print 978-3-89785-078-1 und E-Book 978-3-97543-981-9. Über das Buch »Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in'Grundlegung III'«: Der dritte Abschnitt von Kants'Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten'gilt schon immer als dunkel und unzugänglich, und bis heute ist dieser Text in der Kant-Forschung völlig umstritten. Dabei geht es um die grundlegende Frage, auf welche Weise Kant Freiheit und den kategorischen Imperativ begründet. In diesem Band stellen international etablierte und jüngere Kantforscher neue Interpretationsansätze vor. Einer der berühmtesten Texte der Philosophiegeschichte wird noch einmal in ein neues Licht gerückt.

Der Aufsatz ist zugleich erschienen als ein Beitrag in »Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in'Grundlegung III'«, Hrsg. von Dieter Schönecker (mentis 2015), ISBN print 978-3-89785-078-1 und E-Book 978-3-97543-981-9. Über das Buch »Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in'Grundlegung III'«: Der dritte Abschnitt von Kants'Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten'gilt schon immer als dunkel und unzugänglich, und bis heute ist dieser Text in der Kant-Forschung völlig umstritten. Dabei geht es um die grundlegende Frage, auf welche Weise Kant Freiheit und den kategorischen Imperativ begründet. In diesem Band stellen international etablierte und jüngere Kantforscher neue Interpretationsansätze vor. Einer der berühmtesten Texte der Philosophiegeschichte wird noch einmal in ein neues Licht gerückt.

'it is only the cultivation of individuality which produces, or can produce, well developed human beings'Mill's four essays,'On Liberty','Utilitarianism','Considerations on Representative Government', and'The Subjection of Women'examine the most central issues that face liberal democratic regimes - whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first. They have formed the basis for many of the political institutions of the West since the late nineteenth century, tackling as they do the appropriate grounds for protecting individual liberty, the basic principles of ethics, the benefits and the costs of representative institutions, and the central importance of gender equality in society. These essays are central to the liberal tradition, but their interpretation and how we should understand their connection with each other are both contentious. In their introduction Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen set the essays in the context of Mill's other works, and argue that his conviction in the importance of the development of human character in its full diversity provides the core to his liberalism and to any defensible account of the value of liberalism to the modern world. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

This book explores and critically evaluates conceptual and justificatory models related to paternalism in the context of moral philosophy. Paternalistic interventions promoting someone's good or protecting the person from self-harming actions raise controversial questions from a legal and an ethical perspective. The tension between the benevolent character of paternalism and its interference with personal autonomy seems to hinder the development of a coherent theory that could specify the «proper» limits of protective state interventions. The theoretical investigation is complemented by selected cases from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Hungary.

Die frappierende konzeptionelle Nähe von Fichte und Sartre ist Gegenstand der Beiträge dieses Bandes, obwohl Sartre kaum etwas von Fichtes Wissenschaftslehre gelesen haben dürfte. Bekanntlich sind die bedeutenden geistigen Wegmarken für Sartre Hegel, Husserl und Heidegger, schließlich auch Descartes und Kant, sowie Freud. Fichte denkt Freiheit im Hinblick auf die Sittlichkeit und die Selbstbestimmung des Menschen, während Sartre den Menschen unausweichlich in eine Freiheit und Verantwortlichkeit geworfen sieht, die der Mensch aushalten und austragen muss. Fichte gilt mit seiner Theorie der Anerkennung der Freiheit des Anderen im Naturrecht von 1796/97 vor Hegel als der erste Theoretiker einer Theorie der Intersubjektivität. Das Verhältnis zum Anderen reflektiert Sartre im Kapitel über den Blick (Le Regard) in Das Sein und das Nichts (L'Être et le Néant) hingegen als ein Sein für den Anderen, dessen Grundstruktur die einer wechselseitigen Objektivierung ist, gegen die es die eigene Subjektivität wiederherzustellen gilt. Im Hinblick auf heutige Debatten um die Fraglichkeit der Freiheit ist es von großem Interesse, diese beiden emphatischen Denker der Freiheit, Subjektivität und Andersheit in einen Dialog zu bringen.

John Stuart Mill's masterwork: A meditation on the relationship between the individual and society One of the foremost thinkers of his age, John Stuart Mill was a steadfast advocate of individual freedom. This groundbreaking work explores the relationship between freedom and authority, between the citizen and the state, applying Mill's concept of utilitarianism to the philosophy of governance. Individual liberties, Mill argues, are threatened by the very concept of democracy, which is continually at risk of veering into tyranny. Mill outlines the basic liberties to which individuals are entitled as well as the dangers of governmental intervention. An enduring classic of political philosophy, On Liberty remains as relevant to government today as it was upon its first publication. A true cornerstone of liberalism, Mill's treatise is a powerful argument for individuality.

This book extends the discussion of the nature of freedom and what it means for a human to be free. This question has occupied the minds of thinkers since the Enlightenment. However, without exception, every one of these discussions has focused on the character of liberty on Earth.In this volume the authors explore how people are likely to be governed in space and how that will affect what sort of liberty they experience. Who will control oxygen? How will people maximise freedom of movement in a lethal environment? What sort of political and economic systems can be created in places that will be inherently isolated? These are just a few of the major questions that bear on the topic of extra-terrestrial liberty. During the last forty years an increasing number of nations have developed the capability of launching people into space. The USA, Europe, Russia, China and soon India have human space exploration programs. These developments raise the fundamental question of how are humans to be governed in space.This book follows from a previous volume published in this series which looked at the Meaning of Liberty Beyond the Earth and explored what sort of freedoms could exist in space in a very general way. This new volume focuses on systems of governance and how they will influence which of these sorts of freedoms will become dominant in extra-terrestrial society. The book targets a wide readership covers many groups including:Space policy makers interested in understanding how societies will develop in space and what the policy implications might be for space organisations.Space engineers interested in understanding how social developments in space might influence the way in which infrastructure and space settlements should be designed.Space scientists interested in how scientific developments might influence the social structures of settlements beyond the Earth.Social scientists (political philosophers, ethicists etc) interested in understanding how societies will develop in the future.

To be happy is to be emotionally and evaluatively satisfied with one's life according to a standard of satisfaction one can claim as one's own as a reasoning being. Since there is no definitive proof of what the standard of satisfaction is, being open to the devising and testing of standards by others is part of claiming one's own standard as a reasoning being. This open-ness is equivalent to being open to and hence respecting and caring for the pursuit of happiness of others. Since such respect and care is what it is to be moral, it follows that one cannot be happy without being moral.

Zentrale Werke der nachmetaphysisch orientierten Sozialphilosophie bestimmen Moral in einer rechtstheoretisch verkürzten Weise, indem sie dem äußeren, reziproken Rechtfertigungsdruck maßgebliche Relevanz beimessen, und beziehen die Logik des Vetrags auch auf das ‚Wir‘ persönlicher Beziehungen. Damit bleiben signifikante Aspekte des Moralischen unterbelichtet. Im Rekurs auf Kant und Hegel lassen sich dagegen Elemente für eine angemessenere Auffassung gewinnen: Wird Autonomie im Sinne von Kants Konzeption der inneren Freiheit als Selbstgesetzgebung bestimmt, tritt die Verpflichtung der Zuwendung zur Individualität der anderen hervor – primär die Pflicht des Zuhörens, die auch globale Relevanz besitzt –, und die Vermittlung von Moral und Glück stellt sich in einer subtileren Weise dar, als die gängige Rigorismuskritik annimmt. Von Hegel her kommt in Sicht, wie die Idee der ‚wahren Liebe‘ in einer für heutige Geschlechterbeziehungen plausiblen Form formuliert werden könnte. Vor diesem Hintergrund kann auch das Verhältnis von Moral, Recht und Religion anders durchdacht werden als in jenem Diskurs, der eine Gleichsetzung von Vernunft und säkularem Denken vornimmt, und die Frage der religiösen Pluralität im liberalen Verfassungsstaat erscheint in neuem Licht.

Eddy M. Souffrant calls for a reassessment of the starting points of moral, social, and political philosophy that takes into account the actual living circumstances of persons living the 21st century.

These two essays by John Stuart Mill, England's greatest nineteenth-century philosopher, are the fruit of six hundred years of progressive thought about individual rights and the responsibilities of society. Together they provide the moral and theoretical justification for liberal democracy as we know it, and their incalculable influence on modern history testifies not only to the force of their arguments, but also to the power ideas can have over human affairs.

Otfried Höffe führt in diesem Buch Schritt für Schritt durch Kants praktische Philosophie. Der erste Teil stellt die vier Antriebskräfte vor, die Kant zu seiner praktischen Philosophie motivierten und die bis heute aktuell sind: Aufklärung, Kritik, Moral und Kosmopolitismus. Dann zeigt Höffe im zweiten Teil, inwiefern Kant die Moralphilosophie revolutionierte, und erläutert im dritten Teil die Provokationen, die in Kants praktischer Philosophie liegen. Die weiteren Teile befassen sich mit der Politischen Philosophie, der Geschichtsphilosophie und Kants Denken über Religion und über Erziehung. Verfaßt von einem der besten Kenner, führt das Buch systematisch in einen der wichtigsten Bereiche von Kants Philosophie ein und setzt deren Grundgedanken in Beziehung zu den heutigen Debatten.

Nielsen offers a dialogue with Foucault, Frederick Douglass, Frantz Fanon and the Augustinian-Franciscan tradition, investigating the relation between social construction and freedom and proposing an historically friendly, ethically sensitive, and religico-philosophical model for human being and existence in a shared pluralistic world.

Liberty is perhaps the most praised of all social ideals. Rare is the modern political movement which has not inscribed'liberty,''freedom,''liber­ ation,'or'emancipation'prominently on its banners. Rarer still is the political leader who has spoken out against liberty, though, of course, some have condemned'license.'While there is overwhelming agreement on the value of liberty, however, there is a great deal of disagreement on what liberty is. It is this fact that explains how it is possible for the most violently opposed of political parties to pay homage to the'same'ideal. From among the many ways liberty is understood, this essay will be concerned with only two. The first takes liberty to be the absence of human interference with the individual's actions. This is the way liberty has been understood by the Anglo-American'liberal'tradition from Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century to l. S. Mill in the nineteenth to such contemporary, and very dissimilar, political philosophers as John Rawls and Robert Nozick. The'absence of interference'school is far from monolithic in its understanding of liberty, but it is united in its opposition to a rival account on which liberty is not taken to be the absence of human interference but rather the presence of diverse pos­ sibilities or opportunities.

This study of the political philosophy of William Ernest Hocking be­ gan as a doctoral dissertation at Tulane University. Hocking (1873- 1966) was for many years Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity at Harvard University. Although he is relatively well-known among American philosophers, particularly by students of metaphysics and the philosophy of religion, very little atten­ tion has been given to his political philosophy. Some general studies of his thought summarize his political writings in a very cursory fashion, but they do not discuss his contributions in detail or relate them to significant issues in political philosophy. Most important general works on modern political philosophy or American political thought do not even mention Hocking; a few note his name in passing. Because he is almost completely unknown in the social sciences, the original purpose of this study was to explore, systematize, and present his extensive writings in political philosophy. It then became apparent that his entire political philosophy is oriented around the concepts of liberty and community. When his thought is analyzed in terms of these themes, its unity and coherence are more obvious. Moreover, his writings become more significant when they are related to liberty and community, for these are focal concepts for important problems in modern political philosophy. This study of Hocking's political philosophy will, it is hoped, help us to see how liberty and community can be more understandable, attainable, and compatible with one another.

Would you rather your child was smart or good? Academic achievement is not the only important aspect of raising children. We also need to think consciously as to how we develop the next generation to be ethical thinkers and decent members of society. Ethical thinking has brought the world many things: democracy, freedom of speech and the end of slavery together with Monty Python, bikinis on Bondi Beach and Free Range Eggs. It is vital to the continued development of our world. The main place children learn basic morals and ethics is not from school or religion but from their parents in the home. Conversation is vital, and Ethics 101 Conversations to have with your Kids prompts discussion by posing 101 ethical questions and their logical progressions. The questions are perfectly pitched to the world of the 10 to 15 year old: from friendships, sport, parties and bullying, through to animal rights and climate change.

The motley crew tread where others fear traversing in this daring look into the fundamentals of religious fervor and the power it wields to destroy lives at first sight. A well balanced amount of personalities make for an interesting broth that may either inspire or anger. You have been warned.

This book offers a bold forecast of the year 2050 and what life will look like in the emerging global village.Is this profound new work, Thomas McFaul examines the interwoven concepts of truth and freedom in the context of the Modernist movement that has fundamentally reshaped our world. McFaul's thesis? Societies that make truth and freedom their signature values stand the best chance of prospering in the emerging global village.In The Future of Truth and Freedom in the Global Village: Modernism and the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century, McFaul relates the two cornerstone ideas of truth and freedom to the development of Modernism and its impact on science, religion, ethics, economics, and politics. This sets the stage for thought-provoking speculation as McFaul forecasts what life might be like in the year 2050, with scenarios that range from moving forward as a unified world embracing new possibilities to sliding back to the'good old days.'McFaul's well-reasoned conclusion is that any society's long-term viability rests on having the freedom to adapt to changes in the modern world in new and creative ways.

True Freedom: Spinoza's Practical Philosophy is a straightforward presentation of Spinoza's philosophy focused on the issue of how one might live. The book is unique among recent Spinoza scholarship in the way in which it centers on the ethical component in Spinoza's work. In order to bring Spinoza's ethics to the fore, Brent Adkins begin with what he considers to be Spinoza's fundamental ethical insight: namely, that emotions are controlled by understanding them. Adkins reveals how the process of unfolding Spinoza's philosophy is always anchored in the very practical issue of living well. The significance of True Freedom lies in its understanding of Spinoza's ethics as an'experimentalism'and its accessibility to a very wide audience. Despite the fact that Spinoza died over 300 years ago, his writings remain remarkably prescient for a wide variety of disciplines, from religion to neuroscience. The source of this prescience, however, comes from Spinoza's recasting ethical theory in terms of how we might live rather than in terms of how we should live. Freedom in every aspect of life from the personal to the political to the religious is dependent on a particular way of engaging with the world. This engagement takes the form of an experiment to see if what we engage with results in an increase or a decrease in our capacity to affect and be affected by the world. True freedom, for Spinoza, lies in increasing our capacities.

Tibor Machan's central political imperative in The Promise of Liberty is one that he has found borne out by history, analysis, and personal experience: to recognize that individuals have unalienable rights to their lives, liberty, and property (which includes, of course, the pursuit of their happiness, their life agendas), that the only limitations on these rights should be others'equal rights, and that the proper function or role of the legal authorities in a country is to'secure'or protect these rights. As Machan points out, however, that imperative cannot survive scrutiny all on its own; it needs to be grounded on other true notions, on facts about us, the world, and the nature of community life. As a result, this book touches on a wide-ranging array of topics and addresses basic issues in ethics and the possibility of moral and ethical knowledge. This book will be of interest to students of politics and political economy, as well as those interested in what kind of human community is best suited for human living as such, with all its variety and multiplicity.

Wilhelm von Humboldts Rechtsphilosophie ist bei weitem nicht so bekannt wie seine Sprachphilosophie oder gar seine Rolle als Bildungsreformer. Der Autor untersucht zu diesem Zweck Humboldts „Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Grenzen der Wirksamkeit des Staates zu bestimmen“. Diese für den politischen Liberalismus zentrale Jugendschrift ist im Gedankenaustausch mit Friedrich Schiller entstanden und hat John Stuart Mill bei seinem berühmten Essay über die Freiheit maßgeblich beeinflusst. Der Verfasser unternimmt den Versuch einer rechtsphilosophischen Untersuchung der Ideen Humboldts, die mit einer kritischen Nachzeichnung der angloamerikanischen Ursprünge und Rezeption (neben Mill vor allem Adam Smith, Rawls, Nozick und Buchanan) verbunden ist.

Grundbegriff des klassischen Liberalismus ist der Begriff der negativen Freiheit: Freiheit als Abwesenheit von Zwang. Doch was ist Zwang? Warum ist Zwang in der freiheitlichen Sicht ein Übel? Der liberale Nationalökonom und Sozialphilosoph Friedrich August von Hayek entwickelt in seiner Verfassung der Freiheit eine Bestimmung des Begriffspaars Freiheit und Zwang, die jedoch unvollständig bleibt und einige grundsätzliche Fragen an seine Moralphilosophie und Theorie der kulturellen Evolution aufwirft. Philipp Batthyány unternimmt den Versuch einer werkimmanenten Definition des Zwangsbegriffs Hayeks und einer Begründung für die Verwerflichkeit des Zwangs als Grundübel in der Gesellschaft. Unter Einbeziehung wesentlicher Teile des unveröffentlichten Nachlasses durchdringt der Autor Hayeks Gesamtwerk mit Blick auf die ihm zugrundeliegende Konzeption von Freiheit und Zwang und schließt damit eine wichtige Lücke in der Hayek-Forschung.

Die Freiheit des Willens ist einer jener zentralen Begriffe, die unser Selbstverständnis als Menschen bestimmen. Durch die Erkenntnisse von Neurowissenschaften und Hirnforschung wurde er allerdings grundsätzlich in Frage gestellt: Ist unsere Freiheit nur das Ergebnis von gesetzmäßig ablaufenden Prozessen, oder besteht sie darin, eine Lücke in diesen Gesetzmäßigkeiten zu finden? Oder gehört Freiheit in einen Bereich, der von den physikalischen und biologischen Vorgängen gar nicht kontrolliert werden kann?Die Evolution der Freiheit bildet den ersten Schwerpunkt der AG „Humanprojekt“ an der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Die beteiligten Wissenschaftler aus der Neurobiologie, Zoologie, Psychologie, Psychiatrie und Philosophie erarbeiten einen Begriff von Freiheit, der sich sowohl naturwissenschaftlich erklären als auch kulturwissenschaftlich fassen lässt. Dieses im besten Sinne interdisziplinäre Vorgehen erfordert eine Reflexion der Grundüberzeugungen innerhalb der jeweiligen Disziplin, um zu einem klaren Verständnis der verwendeten Begriffe zu gelangen. Mit Beiträgen von Julia Fischer, Volker Gerhardt, Martin Heisenberg, Geert Keil, Julian Nida-Rümelin, Jens Reich, Gerhard Roth u.a. Renommierte Beiträger Umfangreiche systematische Einführung

Actual Ethics offers a moral defense of the'classical liberal'political tradition and applies it to several of today's vexing moral and political issues. James Otteson argues that a Kantian conception of personhood and an Aristotelian conception of judgment are compatible and even complementary. He shows why they are morally attractive, and perhaps most controversially, when combined, they imply a limited, classical liberal political state. Otteson then addresses several contemporary problems - wealth and poverty, public education, animal welfare, and affirmative action - and shows how each can be plausibly addressed within the Kantian, Aristotelian and classical liberal framework. Written in clear, engaging, and jargon-free prose, Actual Ethics will give students and general audiences an overview of a powerful and rich moral and political tradition that they might not otherwise consider.

In Hegel's Idea of the Good Life, Joshua D. Goldstein presents the first book-length study of the development and meaning of Hegel's account of human flourishing. This volume will be welcomed by philosophers and political theorists seeking to engage with the details of Hegel's early and mature social thought. By bringing Hegel's earliest writings into dialogue with his Philosophy of Right, Goldstein argues that Hegel's mature political philosophy should be understood as a response to his youthful failure to build a sustainable account of the good life upon the foundations of ancient virtue. This study reveals how Hegel's mature response integrates ancient concerns for the well-ordered life and modern concerns for autonomy in a new, robust conception of selfhood that can be actualized across the full expanse of the modern political community.