Studies in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy

The description for this book, The Rhetoric of Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes and the Politics of Cultural Transformation, will be forthcoming. ". . . a new Leviathan has sailed into view. . . . The Rhetoric of Leviathan presents an original and suggestive interpretation of Hobbes's political thought. Indeed, it is the best book on Hobbes in recent years, and, hopefully, it will help to redirect Hobbes scholars toward new paths of interpretive exploration. More importantly, it ought to be read by anyone interested in exploring 'the ideological or cultural foundations of political power,' and the ways in which political theorists contribute to or seek to undermine those foundations."---Richard Ashcraft, Albion "With this lucid, perceptive, and original work, David Johnston . . . moves into the forefront of students of Hobbes."---Roger W. Smith, Perspective "The best writings on Hobbes have always been those that boldly sought to unify the warring elements in his thought. Professor Johnston has written a book belonging to this category. It is unquestionably essential reading for anyone seriously interested in Hobbes."---Timothy Fuller, International Hobbes Association Newsletter

Robert Goodin passionately and cogently defends the welfare state from current attacks by the New Right. But he contends that the welfare state finds false friends in those on the Old Left who would justify it as a hesitant first step toward some larger, ideally just form of society. Reasons for Welfare, in contrast, offers a defense of the minimal welfare state substantially independent of any such broader commitments, and at the same time better able to withstand challenges from the New Right's moralistic political economy. This defense of the existence of the welfare state is discussed, flanked by criticism of Old Left and New Right arguments that is both acute and devastating. In the author's view, the welfare state is best justified as a device for protecting needy--and hence vulnerable--members of society against the risk of exploitation by those possessing discretionary control over resources that they require. Its task is to protect the interests of those not in a position to protect themselves. Communitarian or egalitarian ideals may lead us to move beyond the welfare state as thus conceived and justified. Moving beyond it, however, does not invalidate the arguments for constantly maintaining at least the minimal protections necessary for vulnerable members of society. "Anyone who thinks philosophical debates are irrelevant to the problems of the real world should read this book. Based upon very general considerations concerning ethical issues, it puts together persuasive conclusions about the role of the welfare state in modern societies. It is sober in style and analytical in outlook, but supplies an interpretation of welfare institutions which is both convincing and original."

In recent years serious attempts have been made to systematize and develop the moral and political themes of great philosophers of the past. Kant, Locke, Marx, and the classical utilitarians all have their current defenders and arc taken seriously as expositors of sound moral and political views. It is the aim of this book to introduce Hobbes into this select group by presenting a plausible moral and political theory inspired by Leviathan. Using the techniques of analytic philosophy and elementary game theory, the author develops a Hobbesian argument that justifies the liberal State and reconciles the rights and interests of rational individuals with their obligations. Hobbes's case against anarchy, based on his notorious claim that life outside the political State would be a "war of all against all," is analyzed in detail, while his endorsement of the absolutist State is traced to certain false hypotheses about political sociology. With these eliminated, Hobbes's principles support a liberal redistributive (or "satisfactory") State and a limited right of revolution. Turning to normative issues, the book explains Hobbes's account of morality based on enlightened self-interest and shows how the Hobbesian version of social contract theory justifies the political obligations of citizens of satisfactory States. "This book's great strength is the analytical care with which Kavka addresses Hobbes's theories. He organizes the material by major issues, and his argument builds from chapter to chapter. The whole is a model commentary on a great philosopher's work."-Russell Hardin, University of Chicago

The description for this book, Desert, will be forthcoming. "A complex and subtle depiction of a highly irregular conceptual terrain. . . . Sher's discussion is sure to play an important part in future thinking about desert. It has many virtues, foremost among them its thoroughness and clarity and its refusal to dodge difficulties. It represents a stimulating and educative contribution to several different areas of philosophical debate, and on all these grounds deserves to be widely read."---A. C. Grayling, Times Higher Education Supplement "George Sher's book is a comprehensive and constructive account of our pre-reflective intuitions of desert. Sher reviews the great variety of desert-claims that arise in connection with wages, prizes, honors, rewards, and penalties, as well as in miscellaneous settings, and elaborates a set of supporting justifications. The result is a clearly written, closely reasoned, often ingenious defense of desert."---Kenneth Winston, Political Theory "Although I realize it has become a clich to praise a book by saying that it should be required reading, I believe that from now on those who would write on desert (either pro or con), or who would presuppose some notions of desert in their writings on other topics, have an obligation to study Sher's book."---Jeffrie Murphy, The Philosophical Review

Andrew Altman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University. Scholars in the "Critical Legal Studies" movement have challenged some of the most cherished ideals of modern Western legal and political thought. CLS thinkers claim that the rule of law is a myth and that its defense by liberal thinkers is riddled with inconsistencies. This first book-length liberal reply to CLS systematically examines the philosophical underpinnings of the CLS movement and exposes the deficiencies in the major lines of CLS argument against liberalism. "There are silly ways of criticizing works by CLS scholars, and there are intelligent ways. . . . An example of an intelligent critique is provided by this short but elegant book."---Wojciech Sadurski, Ethics "A serious response to CLS proponents. . . . Anyone who teaches, writes, or researches in the area of jurisprudence or political philosophy would benefit from this book."---Jean Rendleman Kelley, Teaching Philosophy

Reading Nietzsche's works as the "political biography of his soul," Leslie Thiele presents an original and accessible essay on the great thinker's attempt to lead a heroic life as a philosopher, artist, saint, educator, and solitary. He takes as his point of departure Nietzsche's conception of the soul as a multiplicity of conflicting drives and personae, and focuses on the task Nietzsche allotted himself "to make a cosmos out of his chaotic inheritance." This struggle to "become what you are" by way of a spiritual politics is demonstrated to be Nietzsche's foremost concern, which fused his philosophy with his life. The book offers a conversation with Nietzsche rather than a consideration of the secondary literature, yet it takes to task many prevalent approaches to his work, and contests especially the way we often restrict our encounter with him to conceptual analysis. All deconstructionist attempts to portray him as solely concerned with the destruction of the subject and the dispersion of the self, rather than its unification, are called into question. Often portrayed as the champion of nihilism, Nietzsche here emerges as a thinker who saw his primary task as the overcoming of nihilism through the heroic struggle of individuation. "Thiele offers an accessible and accurate portrait of Nietzsche's ideal of heroic individualism. [In Nietzsche,] Thiele retrieves a creator of values, of a model of the 'well-ordered soul,' a seductive and paradoxical existential thinker with a psychagogic aim."

A. John Simmons is Professor of Philosophy at University of Virginia. John Locke's political theory has been the subject of many detailed treatments by philosophers and political scientists. But The Lockean Theory of Rights is the first systematic, full-length study of Locke's theory of rights and of its potential for making genuine contributions to contemporary debates about rights and their place in political philosophy. Given that the rights of persons are the central moral concept at work in Locke's and Lockean political philosophy, such a study is long overdue. "A powerful analysis. . . . [It] succeeds in demonstrating the depth and cogency of much of Locke's moral and political thought and leaves us with a number of excellent reasons for believing that . . . talk of natural rights of a distinctly Lockean kind is indispensable for any satisfactory account of the just society."---G. A. J. Rogers, The Times Higher Education Supplement ". . . a remarkable volume--by far the best treatment of Locke's account of rights and one that is likely to remain so, because it treats the texts with intelligent scholarship and argues with a high degree of sophistication. . ."---Ian Harris, American Political Science Review "[Simmon's] densely argued and heavily referenced work--he reveals deep knowledge of both the primary and secondary literature and overturns many a famous name in a footnote--provides us with a powerful analysis of what is probably the central moral concept of Locke's political philosophy, namely his theory of rights."---G. A. J. Rogers, The Times Higher Education Supplement "[Simmons] succeeds triumphantly in showing that the issues are still alive, and that even if Locke cannot solve our problems, he has much to contribute to an understanding of them."---Susan L. Mendus, Ethics ". . . a comprehensive monograph that goes beyond a learned interpretation of Locke's texts to a reconstruction of a more plausible and contemporarily more acceptable, Lockean theory of rights . . . [T]his penetrating and sympathetic study is a welcome antidote to some tendentious recent monographs, of equal interest to the philosophically and historically inclined."---Ross Rudolph, Canadian Review of Political Science "The Lockean Theory of Rights is an exceptionally good book: Strong, clear, forceful, level-headed, and magnificently patient-an object lesson in educational maturity." "A detailed and comprehensive presentation of Lockean theory as a contribution to modern debates about rights, property, justice, government, and consent. It will be as indispensable to participants in these debates as it will to be those who are interested in the work of John Locke."-Jeremy Waldron, University of California, Berkeley "[This book] is by far the most careful and balanced treatment of this central issue and will be of great value not only to philosophers but also to historians of ideas."-John Dunn, Cambridge University

Yael Tamir is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Tel-Aviv University. A founding member of the Israeli peace organization Peace Now, she has also been active in the civil rights movement in Israel. "This is a most timely, intelligent, well-written, and absorbing essay on a central and painful social and political problem of our time."-Isaiah Berlin "The major achievement of this remarkable book is a critical theory of nationalism, worked through historical and contemporary examples, explaining the value of national commitments and defining their moral limits. Tamir explores a set of problems that philosophers have been notably reluctant to take on, and leaves us all in her debt."-Michael Walzer In this provocative work, Yael Tamir urges liberals not to surrender the concept of nationalism to conservative, chauvinist, or racist ideologies. In her view, liberalism, with its respect for personal autonomy, reflection, and choice, and nationalism, with its emphasis on belonging, loyalty, and solidarity, are not irreconcilable. Here she offers a new theory, "liberal nationalism," which allows each set of values to accommodate the other. Tamir sees nationalism as an affirmation of communal and cultural memberships and as a quest for recognition and self-respect. Persuasively she argues that national groups can enjoy these benefits through political arrangements other than the nation-state. While acknowledging that nationalism places members of national minorities at a disadvantage, Tamir offers guidelines for alleviating the problems involved, using examples from currents conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Liberal Nationalism is an impressive attempt to tie together a wide range of issues often kept apart: personal autonomy, cultural membership, political obligations, particularity versus impartiality in moral duties, and global justice. Drawing on material from disparate fields-including political philosophy, ethics, law, and sociology-Tamir brings out important and previously unnoticed interconnections between them, offering a new perspective on the influence of nationalism on modern political philosophy. "As this century staggers to its balkanized end, it is harder than ever to believe, with Mazzini, that liberal principle can be reconciled with nationalism, or that national liberation can ever have liberal results. It is against this brutal historical background that one begins to appreciate the daring of Yael Tamir's enterprise.... This is a book of philosophy that illuminates the real world.... [An] intelligent and humane work."---Michael Ignatieff, New Republic "Tamir constructs a philosophical ideal of nationalism, but in leading the reader to questions such as this, she also performs a valuable service for those who try to understand its reality."---Liah Greenfeld, American Political Science Review "One hopes that her argument here will lead liberal states to reexamine their obligations to all citizens of the world, not just those within their borders."---David McCabe, Commonweal "Yael Tamir has made an important theoretical contribution to a crucial debate that should interest anyone trying to come to terms with contemporary politics. It is a mark of her achievement that one finishes the book willing to credit the non-oxymoronic nature of the term 'liberal nationalism' and, thus, to accept the possibility that [one is not forced] to choose between these."---Sanford Levinson, Ethics "[Tamir's] case for a 'liberal nationalism' would save liberalism from a shallow universalism, and save nationalism from its darkest impulses. Tamir's achievement is to bring moral clarity, and hope, to one of the most vexing political questions of our time."-Michael Sandel, Harvard University "I can say with assurance that I have not for many years read a piece of work so intelligent, lucid, and sensible, both theoretically subtle and firmly rooted in the real world, as is Yael Tamir's essay on this subject."-Isa

Paul W. Taylor (1923–2015) was professor emeritus of philosophy at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. What rational justification is there for conceiving of all living things as possessing inherent worth? In Respect for Nature, Paul Taylor draws on biology, moral philosophy, and environmental science to defend a biocentric environmental ethic in which all life has value. Without making claims for the moral rights of plants and animals, he offers a reasoned alternative to the prevailing anthropocentric view--that the natural environment and its wildlife are valued only as objects for human use or enjoyment. Respect for Nature provides both a full account of the biological conditions for life--human or otherwise--and a comprehensive view of the complex relationship between human beings and the whole of nature. This classic book remains a valuable resource for philosophers, biologists, and environmentalists alike--along with all those who care about the future of life on Earth. A new foreword by Dale Jamieson looks at how the original 1986 edition of Respect for Nature has shaped the study of environmental ethics, and shows why the work remains relevant to debates today. "When it first appeared, Respect for Nature was at once recognized for the important, groundbreaking work it was. It was deservedly a major influence in the then newly developing field of environmental ethics. Time has only confirmed this first opinion and it is good to have the book back before us."-Michael Ruse, editor of Philosophy after Darwin "Paul Taylor notes that just as we would not ask 'What is a human being good for?,' so also should we not ask 'What is nature good for?' This is surely right. His Respect for Nature is a systematic working out of the consequences of this observation. It is even more relevant today than when it first appeared twenty-five years ago."-Stephen Darwall, Yale University