Justice for hedgehogs / Ronald Dworkin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dworkin, Ronald.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Values.

Ethics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (521 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Dworkin’s master work, the central thesis is that all areas of value depend on one another. This is one, big thing that the hedgehog knows, in contrast to the fox, who knows many little things. Dworkin’s understanding of the relationship—between ethics, morality, and political morality—is significantly revised and also greatly elaborated. He argues that “dignity” is the essential core of living well and that a satisfactory account of dignity would, in turn, point to two principles. The first states that it is objectively important that each person’s life go well; and the second that each person has a special responsibility for identifying what counts as success in his or her own life. Dworkin believes that values cohere and that in order to defend that coherence he has to take up a broad variety of philosophical issues that are not normally treated in one book. He discusses the metaphysics of value, the character of truth, the nature of interpretation, the conditions of agreement and disagreement, the phenomenon of moral responsibility and the problem of free will as well as more substantive issues of ethical, moral and legal theory.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1 Baedeker

Part One. In depen dence

2 Truth in Morals

3 External Skepticism

4 Morals and Causes

5 Internal Skepticism

Part Two. Interpretation

6 Moral Responsibility

7 Interpretation in General

8 Conceptual Interpretation

Part Three. Ethics

9 Dignity

10 Free Will and Responsibility

Part Four. Morality

11 From Dignity to Morality

12 Aid

13 Harm

14 Obligations

Part Five. Politics

15 Political Rights and Concepts

16 Equality

17 Liberty

18 Democracy

19 Law

Epilogue: Dignity Indivisible

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674071964

0674071964

9780674059337

0674059336

OCLC:

719369541