Boundaries and Allegiances

Boundaries and Allegiances
Author: Samuel Scheffler
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2002-09-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0191037311

This book, a collection of eleven essays by one of the most interesting moral philosophers currently writing, is written from a perspective that is at once sympathetic towards and critical of liberal political philosophy. The essays explore the capacity of liberal thought, and of the moral traditions on which it draws, to accommodate a variety of challenges posed by the changing circumstances of the modern world. The essays consider how, in an era of rapid globalization, when people's lives are structured by social arrangements and institutions of ever increasing size, complexity, and scope, we can best conceive of the responsibilities of individual agents and the normative significance of people's diverse commitments and allegiances. The volume is linked by common themes including the responsibilities persons have in virtue of belonging to a community, the compatibility of such obligations with equality, the demands of distributive justice in general, and liberalism's relationship to liberty, community, and equality.

What Philosophy Is

What Philosophy Is
Author: Havi Carel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2004-03-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1441174052

What do we mean when we talk about philosophy today? How does philosophy relate to science, to politics, to literature? What methods does the modern philosopher use, and how does philosophy progress? Does philosophy differ from place to place? What can philosophy do for us? And what can it not do? This book, with contributions from such exciting and influential contemporary philosophers as Simon Blackburn, Michael Friedman, Simon Critchley and Manuel DeLanda, offers us a fascinating picture of the character and methods of philosophy; its possibilities and its limitations. And of course, it is itself a piece of philosophy in action, not merely offering us answers but also prompting us to ask further questions and to philosophise for ourselves.

Identities, Affiliations, and Allegiances

Identities, Affiliations, and Allegiances
Author: Seyla Benhabib
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2007-08-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 113946437X

Where do political identities come from, how do they change over time, and what is their impact on political life? This book explores these and related questions in a globalizing world where the nation state is being transformed, definitions of citizenship are evolving in unprecedented ways, and people's interests and identities are taking on new local, regional, transnational, cosmopolitan, and even imperial configurations. Pre-eminent scholars examine the changing character of identities, affiliations, and allegiances in a variety of contexts: the evolving character of the European Union and its member countries, the Balkans and other new democracies of the post-1989 world, and debates about citizenship and cultural identity in the modern West. These essays are essential reading for anyone interested in the political and intellectual ferment that surrounds debates about political membership and attachment, and will be of interest to students and scholars in the social sciences, humanities, and law.

Partiality

Partiality
Author: Simon Keller
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2013-05-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1400846382

We are partial to people with whom we share special relationships--if someone is your child, parent, or friend, you wouldn't treat them as you would a stranger. But is partiality justified, and if so, why? Partiality presents a theory of the reasons supporting special treatment within special relationships and explores the vexing problem of how we might reconcile the moral value of these relationships with competing claims of impartial morality. Simon Keller explains that in order to understand why we give special treatment to our family and friends, we need to understand how people come to matter in their own rights. Keller first presents two main accounts of partiality: the projects view, on which reasons of partiality arise from the place that people take within our lives and our commitments, and the relationships view, on which relationships themselves contain fundamental value or reason-giving force. Keller then argues that neither view is satisfactory because neither captures the experience of acting well within special relationships. Instead, Keller defends the individuals view, on which reasons of partiality arise from the value of the individuals with whom our relationships are shared. He defends this view by saying that we must accept that two people, whether friend or stranger, can have the same value, even as their value makes different demands upon people with whom they share different relationships. Keller explores the implications of this claim within a wider understanding of morality and our relationships with groups, institutions, and countries.

Boundaries and their Meanings in the History of the Netherlands

Boundaries and their Meanings in the History of the Netherlands
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2009-06-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 9047429818

Traditionally, the term boundary applies to the demarcation between a physical place and another physical place, most commonly associated with lines on a map As the essays in this volume demonstrate, however, a boundary can also function in a more broadly conceptual manner. A boundary becomes not an “imaginary line” but a tool for thinking about how to separate any two elements, whether ideas, events, etc., into categories by which they become comprehensible and distinct. The scholar contributors seek not simply to discern the boundaries, but, and perhaps more importantly, to understand the process of delination, and its consequences. With its maverick history and grass-root political traditions, the Netherlands provides an auspicious setting to examine the historical function of boundaries both real and imagined.

Equality and Tradition

Equality and Tradition
Author: Samuel Scheffler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2012-01-12
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199899576

This collection of essays by noted philosopher Samuel Scheffler combines discussion of abstract questions in moral and political theory with attention to the normative dimension of current social and political controversies. In addition to chapters on more abstract issues such as the nature of human valuing, the role of partiality in ethics, and the significance of the distinction between doing and allowing, the volume also includes essays on immigration, terrorism, toleration, political equality, and the normative significance of tradition. Uniting the essays is a shared preoccupation with questions about human value and values. The volume opens with an essay that considers the general question of what it is to value something - as opposed, say, to wanting it, wanting to want it, or thinking that it is valuable. Other essays explore particular values, such as equality, whose meaning and content are contested. Still others consider the tensions that arise, both within and among individuals, in consequence of the diversity of human values. One of the overarching aims of the book is to illuminate the different ways in which liberal political theory attempts to resolve conflicts of both of these kinds.

Sociology of Globalization

Sociology of Globalization
Author: Keri E. Iyall Smith
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2018-04-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429972717

A rich collection of diverse voices, Sociology of Globalization examines the processes of globalization as well as its impact on people around the world. It looks beyond the headlines, stereotypes, and hype and features a balanced selection of classic scholarship and theory, cutting-edge research, and engaging journalism. Key pieces from prominent scholars, journalists, and theorists will resonate with students, stretch the classroom into their daily lives, and give the study of globalization concrete meaning. Each of three sections (culture, economy, and politics) begins with an original introduction from the editor which familiarizes readers with essential themes and concepts and provides necessary context for the readings that follow. Useful resources for further research, including websites, films, and class exercises, are also provided to exemplify and add relevance to major topics. Accessible and expansive, this is the ideal primary reader or supplement for undergraduate courses on the sociology of globalization.

Friends, Citizens, Strangers

Friends, Citizens, Strangers
Author: Richard Vernon
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0802090796

Friends, Citizen, Strangers proposes a solution: a moderate form of cosmopolitanism that finds a place for multiple levels of attachment and association.