Kant, Respect and Injustice : The Limits of Liberal Moral Theory

ISBN-13: 9780415570930 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 244 str.

Victor Seidler

Opis

In this work, originally published in 1986, Victor Seidler explores the different notions of respect, equality and dependency in Kant's moral writings. He illuminates central tensions and contradictions not only within Kant's moral philosophy, but within thinking and feeling about human dignity and social inequality.

Simone Weil — philosopher, trade union militant, factory worker — developed a penetrating critique of Marxism and a powerful political philosophy which serves an alternative both to liberalism and to Marxism. In A Truer Liberty, originally published in 1989, Blum and Seidler show how Simone Weil’s philosophy sought to place political action on a firmly moral basis. The dignity of the manual worker became the standard for political institutions and movements. Weil criticized Marxism for its confidence in progress and revolution and its attendant illusory belief that history is on the side of the proletariat.

Blum and Seidler relate Weil’s work to influential trends in political philosophy today, from analytic Marxism to central traditions within liberal thought. The authors stress the importance of Weil’s work for understanding liberation theology, Catholic radicalism, and, more generally, social movements against oppression which are closely tied to religion and spirituality.

Spis treści

1. Introduction: Respect, Equality and the Autonomy of Morality  2. Respect and Human Nature  3. Respect and Dignity  4. Respect, Impartiality and the Moral Law  5. Respect, Independence and Self-sufficiency  6. Obligation and Inequality  7. Liberalism, Inequality and Social Dependence  8. Liberalism and the Autonomy of Morality

O autorze

Victor Seidler