Universalism vs. Communitarianism: Contemporary Debates in Ethics

By David M. Rasmussen

Book Overview

Universalism vs. Communitarianism focuses on the question, raised by recent work in normative philosophy, of whether ethical norms are best derived and justified on the basis of universal or communitarian standards. It is unique in representing both Continental and American points of view and both the older and a younger generation of scholars. The essays introduce the key issues involved in universalism vs. communitarianism and take up ethics in historical perspective, practical reason and ethical responsibility, justification, application and history, and communitarian alternatives. Based on a special issue of the Journal Philosophy and Social Criticism, the book includes two additional essays by Chantal Mouffe and by Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus.

Contents
Introduction, David, Rasmussen - Universalisms: Procedural, Contextualist, and Prudential, Alessandro Ferrara - Beyond Liberalism and Communitarianism: Toward a Critical Theory of Social Justice, Gerald Doppelt - The Liberal/Communitarian Controversy and Communicative Ethics, Kenneth Baynes - Discourse Ethics and Civil Society, Jean Cohen - Equality, Political Order and Ethics: Hobbes and the Systematics of Democratic Rationality, Rolf Zimmermann - Atomism and Ethical Life: On Hegel's Critique of the French Revolution, Axel Honneth - The Gadamer-Habermas Debate Revisited: The Question of Ethics, Michael Kelly - What Is and What Is Not Practical Reason? Agnes Heller - Adorno, Heidegger, and Postmodernity, Hauke Brunkhorst - Impartial Application of Moral and Legal Norms: A Contribution to Discourse Ethics, Klaus G nther - An Ethics, Politics, and History, J rgen Habermas in an interview conducted by Jean-Marc Ferry - Rawls: Political Philosophy without Politics, Chantal Mouffe - What Is Morality: A Phenomenological Account of the Development of Ethical Expertise, Hubert L Dreyfus, Stuart E. Dreyfus - Universalism and Communitarianism: A Bibliography, Michael Zilles

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262680637
• ISBN13: 9780262680639
• Release Date: August 1990
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 305 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher