This remarkably rich collection of articles focuses on moral questions about war. The essays, originally published in Philosophy & Public Affairs, cover a wide range of topics from several points of view by writers from the fields of political science, philosophy, and law. The discussion of war and moral responsibility falls into three general categories: problems of political and military choice, problems about the relation of an individual to the actions of his government, and more abstract ethical questions as well.

The first category includes questions about the ethical...

These essays, with one exception originally published in Philosophy & Public Affairs, consider the moral problems associated with improving the social and economic position of disadvantaged groups. If the situation of women and minorities improves so that their opportunities are equal to those of more favored groups, will they then be in a competitive position conducive to equal achievement? If not, can preferential hiring or preferential admission to educational institutions be justified? The contributors explore the complexities of this problem from several points of view.

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Just as there are rational requirements on thought, there are rational requirements on action. This book defends a conception of ethics, and a related conception of human nature, according to which altruism is included among the basic rational requirements on desire and action.

In this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student.

Thomas Nagel is widely recognized as one of the top American philosophers working today. Reflecting the diversity of his many philosophical preoccupations, this volume is a collection of his most recent critical essays and reviews.
The first section, Public and Private, focuses on the notion of privacy in the context of social and political issues, such as the impeachment of President Clinton. The second section, Right and Wrong, discusses moral, political and legal theory, and includes pieces on John Rawls, G.A. Cohen, and T.M. Scanlon, among others. The final section, Mind and Reality,...

John Rawls hat sich in keinem seiner publizierten Werke systematisch mit Fragen der Religion auseinandergesetzt und auch darüber, wie er es persönlich mit dem Glauben hält, stets Diskretion bewahrt. Wenig überraschend also, daß der Autor der Theorie der Gerechtigkeit zeitlebens als "religiös unmusikalisch" galt. Nach Rawls' Tod wurden jedoch zwei Texte entdeckt, die zu einer gründlichen Revision dieses Bildes zwingen: seine "Senior Thesis", 1942 eingereicht an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Princeton, sowie ein kurzer, sehr persönlicher Text aus den neunziger Jahren....

"Vierzehn brillante Essays über existentielle Themen wie Tod, das Absurde, moralische Kontingenz, Gleichheit oder das Subjektive und Objektive, dazu brisante Fragen der öffentlichen Moral bilden ein Panorama ethischer, metaphysischer und erkenntnistheoretischer Positionen. Diese thematische und strukturelle Variationsbreite ist bezeichnend für Nagels OEuvre."