Actual Ethics [Paperback]

A defense of the 'classical liberal' political tradition, applied to today's moral and political issues.Actual Ethics offers a moral defense of the 'classical liberal' political tradition and applies it to today's moral and political issues. Otteson addresses several contemporary problems - wealth, poverty, public education, animal welfare, and affirmative action - showing how each can be plausibly addressed within the Kantian, Aristotelian and classical liberal framework.Actual Ethics offers a moral defense of the 'classical liberal' political tradition and applies it to today's moral and political issues. Otteson addresses several contemporary problems - wealth, poverty, public education, animal welfare, and affirmative action - showing how each can be plausibly addressed within the Kantian, Aristotelian and classical liberal framework.Actual Ethics offers a moral defense of the 'classical liberal' political tradition and applies it to several of today's vexing moral and political issues. James Otteson argues that a Kantian conception of personhood and an Aristotelian conception of judgment are compatible and even complementary. He shows why they are morally attractive, and perhaps most controversially, when combined, they imply a limited, classical liberal political state. Otteson then addresses several contemporary problems - wealth and poverty, public education, animal welfare, and affirmative action - and shows how each can be plausibly addressed within the Kantian, Aristotelian and classical liberal framework. Written in clear, engaging, and jargon-free prose, Actual Ethics will give students and general audiences an overview of a powerful and rich moral and political tradition that they might not otherwise consider.Part I. Working out the Position: 1. Personhood and judgment; 2. A matter of principle, Part I. The betrayal of personhood; 3. A matter of principle, Part II. Personhood writ large; 4. The demands of poverty; 5. The wealth of nations; Part II. ApplSŠ