Paradoxes of Political Ethics
Paradoxes of Political Ethics

Author: John M. Parrish

Publisher:

Published: 2009-11-12

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13:

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How do the hard facts of political responsibility shape and constrain the demands of ethical life? That question lies at the heart of the problem of 'dirty hands' in public life. Those who exercise political power often feel they must act in ways that would otherwise be considered immoral: indeed, paradoxically, they sometimes feel that it would be immoral of them not to perform or condone such acts as killing or lying. John Parrish offers a wide-ranging account of how this important philosophical problem emerged and developed, tracing it - and its proposed solutions - from ancient Greece through the Enlightenment. His central argument is that many of our most familiar concepts and institutions - from Augustine's interiorised ethics, to Hobbes's sovereign state, to Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', understanding of the modern commercial economy - were designed partly as responses to the ethical problem of dirty hands in public life.

War and the Politics of Ethics
War and the Politics of Ethics

Author: Maja Zehfuss

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 0198807996

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Contemporary Western war is represented as enacting the West's ability and responsibility to help make the world a better place for others, in particular to protect them from oppression and serious human rights abuses. That is, war has become permissible again, indeed even required, as ethical war. At the same time, however, Western war kills and destroys. This creates a paradox: Western war risks killing those it proposes to protect. This book examines how we have responded to this dilemma and challenges the vision of ethical war itself, exploring how the commitment to ethics shapes the practice of war and indeed how practices come, in turn, to shape what is considered ethical in war. The book closely examines particular practices of warfare, such as targeting, the use of cultural knowledge, and ethics training for soldiers. What emerges is that instead of constraining violence, the commitment to ethics enables and enhances it. The book argues that the production of ethical war relies on an impossible but obscured separation between ethics and politics, that is, the problematic politics of ethics, and reflects on the need to make decisions at the limit of ethics.

Paradoxes in Social Work Practice
Paradoxes in Social Work Practice

Author: Merlinda Weinberg

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-17

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1317084225

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In the helping professions, codes of ethics and decision-making models have been the primary vehicles for determining what constitutes ethical practice. These strategies are insufficient since they assume that shared meanings exist and that the contradictory universal principles of codes can be reconciled. Also, these tools do not emphasize the significance of context for ethical practice. This book takes a new critical theoretical approach, which involves exploring how social workers construct what is ’ethical’ in their work, especially when they are positioned at the intersection of multiple paradoxes, including that of two opposing responsibilities in society: namely, to care for others but also to prevent others from harm. The book is built on narratives from actual front-line workers and therefore is more applicable and grounded for practitioners and students, offering many suggestions for sound practice. It illustrates that an understanding of ethics differs from worker to worker and is heavily influenced by context, workers’ values, and what they take up as the primary discourses that frame their perceptions of the profession. While recognizing the oppressive potential of social work, the book is rooted in a perspective that ethical practice can contribute to a more socially just society.

The Cultural Foundations of Nations
The Cultural Foundations of Nations

Author: Anthony D. Smith

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Published: 2008-04-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781405182195

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This major new work by Professor Anthony D. Smith challenges the notion of nationalism as a product of modernity. Major new work by a leading historical sociologist Challenges the prevailing idea of nationalism as a product of modernity Demonstrates that different political forms of community and collective identity from pre-modern times have contributed to the formation and character of nations Analyzes the chronology and nature of nations, from the ancient world, to the European Middle Ages, the early modern, and the modern eras Discusses alternative destinies facing modern nations today

Moral Paradoxes of Nuclear Deterrence
Moral Paradoxes of Nuclear Deterrence

Author: Gregory S. Kavka

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1987-10-30

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780521338967

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This volume examines the complex and vitally important ethical questions connected with the deployment of nuclear weapons and their use as a deterrent. A number of the essays contained here have already established themselves as penetrating and significant contributions to the debate on nuclear ethics. They have been revised to bring out their unity and coherence, and are integrated with new essays. The books exceptional rigor and clarity make it valuable whether the reader's concern with nuclear ethics is professional or personal. Part I explores the morality of nuclear deterrrence from each of the two dominant traditions in moral philosophy, deontology and consequentialism, and points out a number of interesting ethical dilemmas. Part II criticizes a variety of alternatives to deterrence - unilateral nuclear disarmament, world government, strategic defense against ballistic missiles, and nuclear coercion - and argues for mutual nuclear disarmament as a realistic and desirable long-run alternative.

Hobbes and the Paradoxes of Political Origins
Hobbes and the Paradoxes of Political Origins

Author: M. Kramer

Publisher: Springer

Published: 1997-06-30

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 0230373771

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This book expounds an analytical method that focuses on paradoxes - a method originally associated with deconstructive philosophy, but bearing little resemblance to the interpretive techniques that have come to be designated as 'deconstruction' in literary studies. The book then applies its paradox-focused method as it undertakes a sustained investigation of Thomas Hobbe's political philosophy. Hobbes's theory of the advent and purpose of government turns out to reveal the impossibility of the very developments which it portrays as indispensable.

Paradoxes of Liberalism and Parental Authority
Paradoxes of Liberalism and Parental Authority

Author: Dennis Arjo

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2016-12-20

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1498506968

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This book is a detailed examination of parental authority: what justifies and what are the proper limits of a parent’s authority over her children? Dennis Arjo focuses on and criticizes attempts to answer these and related questions in the context of liberal philosophy of education. He also offers an alternative framework for thinking about parental authority that draws on recent philosophical work in Virtue Ethics, Care Ethics, and Confucianism that challenges some of the assumptions of contemporary liberal theory. This book will be of interest to philosophers working in ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of education.

The Paradoxes of Unintended Consequences
The Paradoxes of Unintended Consequences

Author: Ralf Dahrendorf

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 9789639241091

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"This volume of essays is dedicated to George Soros in honor of his seventieth birthday. In their various fields of work the authors, who come from the interconnected worlds of academe, politics, and business, have each made an active contribution to the growth of the huge philanthropic empire built by Soros." "The editors chose the title The Paradoxes of Unintended Consequences to encourage contributors to adopt a dialogical approach. The title also refers to the case of Giordano Bruno, itself a telling example of paradox. Burnt at the stake 400 years ago for heresy, Bruno's views were probably far more illiberal and undemocratic than the views of those who condemned him. The editors' aim was to show that any complex social process or political attempt to change people's lives will inevitably have unintended consequences, usually of a paradoxical nature. These consequences should force us to reconsider our original theory."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved