Political philosophy : a beginners' guide for students and politicians /
Adam Swift.
- 2a ed., rev. and expanded.
- Cambridge ; Malden, MA : Polity, 2006.
- xi, 240 p. ; 22 cm.
Previous ed.: 2001.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Pt. 1. Social justice -- Concept v. conceptions : the case of justice -- Hayek v. social justice -- Rawls : justice as fairness -- Nozick : justice as entitlement -- Popular opinion : justice as desert -- Pt. 2. Liberty -- Two concepts of liberty? -- Three distinctions between conceptions of liberty. Effective freedom v. formal freedom ; Freedom as autonomy v. freedom as doing what one wants ; Freedom as political participation v. freedom beginning where politics ends -- Freedom, private property, the market and redistribution -- Resisting the totalitarian menace -- Pt. 3. Equality -- The egalitarian plateau -- Equality of opportunity -- Equality and relativities : should we mind the gap? -- Positional goods -- Three positions that look egalitarian but aren't really. Utilitarianism (or any aggregative principle) ; Diminishing principles, priority to the worst off, and maximin ; Entitlement and sufficiency -- Equality strikes back -- Pt. 4. Community -- Correcting misunderstandings and misrepresentations. Liberals assume that people are selfish or egoistic ; Liberals advocate a minimal state ; Liberals emphasize rights rather than duties or responsibilities ; Liberals believe that values are subjective or relative ; Liberals neglect the way in which individuals are socially constituted ; Liberals fail to see the significance of communal relations, shared values and a common identity ; Liberals wrongly think that the state can and should be neutral -- Outstanding issues. Liberalism, neutrality and multiculturalism ; Liberalism and the nation-state Pt. 5. Democracy -- What is democracy? -- Degrees of democracy. Directness or indirectness of the decision ; Accountability of representatives ; Equality (of opportunity) for influence ; Scope of authority of democratic will -- Procedures and outcomes -- Is democracy paradoxical? -- Subjectivism, democracy, and disagreement -- The values of democracy. Freedom as autonomy ; Self-realization ; Equality ; Good or correct decisions ; Intellectual or moral development of citizens ; Perceived legitimacy.