Description
Book SynopsisMost contemporary moral and political philosophers would like to have an argument showing that morality is rationally required. In From Rationality to Equality, James P. Sterba provides just such an argument and further shows that morality, so justified, requires substantial equality. His argument from rationality to morality is based on the principle of non-question-beggingness and has two forms. The first assumes that the egoist is willing to argue for egoism non-question-beggingly, and the second only assumes that the egoist is willing to assent to premises she actually needs to achieve her egoistic goals. Either way, he argues, morality is rationally (i.e., non-question-beggingly) preferable to egoism.Sterba''s argument from morality to equality non-question-beggingly starts with assumptions that are acceptable from a libertarian perspective, the view that appears to endorse the least enforcement of morality, and then shows that this perspective requires a right to welfare which, w
Trade ReviewJames P. Sterba has put together a clearly written, closely and thoroughly argued, and well-organized book that advances arguments that address two fundamental questions in ethics and social theory. * Social Theory and Practice *
Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. The Historical Connection to Immanuel Kant ; 3. From Rationality to Morality ; 4. Critics of the Rationality to Morality Argument ; 5. Alternative Justifications for Morality ; 6. From Liberty to Equality ; 7. Critics of the Liberty to Equality Argument ; 8. Alternative Justifications for Welfare and Equality ; 9. Conclusion
