A revision of the Library of Liberal Arts edition of 1965. This volume offers the complete text of Kant's Metaphysics of Morals, Part I, translated by John Ladd, along with Ladd's illuminating Introduction to the first edition, expanded to include discussion of such issues as Kant's conception of marriage and its relevance to his view of women. An updated bibliography, glossary, and index are also provided.
What is justice? Questions of justice are questions about what people are due. However, what that means in practice depends on the context in which the question is raised. Depending on context, the formal question of what people are due is answered by principles of desert, reciprocity, equality, or need. Justice, therefore, is a constellation of elements that exhibit a degree of integration and unity. Nonetheless, the integrity of justice is limited, in a way that is akin to the integrity of a neighborhood rather than that of a building. A theory of justice offers individuals a map of that neighborhood, within which they can explore just what elements amount to justice.
Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls's view, so much of the extensive literature on Rawls's theory refers to the first edition. This reissue makes the first edition once again available for scholars and serious students of Rawls's work.
The book is dedicated to the theoretical problems concerning ratio legis. In the contexts of legal interpretation and legal reasoning, the two most important intellectual tools employed by lawyers, ratio legis would seem to offer an extremely powerful argument. Declaring the ratio legis of a statute can lead to a u-turn argumentation throughout the lifespan of the statute itself – in parliament, or in practice during court sessions, when it is tested against the constitution. Though the ratio legis argument is widely used, much about it warrants further investigation. On the general philosophical map there are many overlapping areas that concern different approaches to human rationality and to the problems of practical reasoning. Particular problems with ratio legis arise in connection with different perspectives on legal philosophy and theory, especially in terms of the methods that lawyers use for legal interpretation and argumentation. These problems can be further subdivided into particular aspects of activities undertaken by lawyers and officials who use the ratio legis in their work, and the underlying theories. In short, this book examines what ratio legis is, what it could be, and its practical implications.
Collected here in this omnibus edition are Immanuel Kant's three most important works on the Metaphysics of Morals and Ethics. Included are Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals Introduction to the Metaphysic of Morals and The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics.Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals is one of the most important works in modern moral philosophy. It belongs beside Plato Aristotle Machiavelli and Hobbes. Here Kant sets out to articulate and defend the Categorical Imperative - the fundamental principle that underlies moral reasoning - and to lay the foundation for a comprehensive account of justice and human virtues.In Introduction to the Metaphysic of Morals Kant states: "All duties are either duties of right that is juridical duties or duties of virtue that is ethical duties. Juridical duties are such as may be promulgated by external legislation; ethical duties are those for which such legislation is not possible."In The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics states: "If there exists on any subject a philosophy (that is a system of rational knowledge based on concepts) then there must also be for this philosophy a system of pure rational concepts independent of any condition of intuition in other words a metaphysic. It may be asked whether metaphysical elements are required also for every practical philosophy which is the doctrine of duties and therefore also for Ethics."
The tension between the individualist view and the communalist view dominates current debate about liberal politics. DeLue establishes a basis for political discourse in a liberal society--an enlarged discourse that allows people of both views to be critically reflective citizens with the necessary strong sense of obligation to the state. DeLue describes this enlarged culture and prescribes what the state must do to nurture it.
This is a short, accessible introduction to John Rawls' thought and gives a thorough and concise presentation of the main outlines of Rawls' theory as well as drawing links between Rawls' enterprise and other important positions in moral and political philosophy.
