Equality and Tradition: Questions of Value in Moral and Political Theory

"Scheffler...has been one of the most talented and productive moral philosophers in the analytic tradition for the past two decades, and the essays in this volume are characteristically thoughtful, subtle, and well-written."---Ethica and International Affairs

"These essays display a remarkable combination of philosophical acuity, moral seriousness, and political realism, and deserve to be read closely and repeatedly for the light they shed on our contemporary moral and political predicament."---Philosophical Books

"The book...stands out because it combines high-level philosophical thought with an awareness of practical concerns in need of urgent attention....Required reading for liberals of any persuasion as well as those interested in tackling the theoretical or practical deficiencies within liberal thought."---Political Studies

"This concise, clear, and careful book raises a wide range of important issues about the relations between morality and self-interest. Scheffler raises old debates to a new level of precision and presents positions and arguments that are original, important, and persuasive....A major contribution to ethics, and I recommend it strongly. Future discussions of all of these issues cannot ignore and should be improved by Scheffler's distinctions, arguments, and insights."---Philosophical Books

This collection of essays by noted philosopher Samuel Scheffler combines discussion of abstract questions in moral and political theory with attention to the normative dimension of current social and political controversies. In addition to chapters on more abstract issues such as the nature of human valuing, the role of partiality in ethics, and the significance of the distinction between doing and allowing, the volume also includes essays on immigration, terrorism, toleration, political equality, and the normative significance of tradition.

Uniting the essays is a shared preoccupation with questions about human value and values. The volume opens with an essay that considers the general question of what it is to value something---as opposed, say, to wanting it, wanting to want it, or thinking that it is valuable. Other essays explore particular values, such as equality, whose meaning and content are contested. Still others consider the tensions that arise, both within and among individuals, in consequence of the diversity of human values. One of the overarching aims of the book is to illuminate the different ways in which liberal political theory attempts to resolve conflicts of both of these kinds.

Samuel Scheffler is University Professor and Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University. He is the author of The Rejection of Consqentialism, Human Morality, and Boundaries and Allegiances, all published by Oxford University Press.