Contemporary Debates in Social Philosophy - Paperback

by Laurence Thomas (Editor)

In this important and engaging volume, international scholars present opposing viewpoints to debate ten of the most important issues in contemporary social philosophy.

• Provides an original analysis of some of society's most pressing issues
  
• Written by an outstanding cast of international scholars
  
• Issues covered include the nature of freedom, the limits of religious tolerance, affirmative action, parenting, the death penalty, privacy, violence, world hunger, social diversity, homosexuality, and abortion
  
• Invites the reader to participate in the exchange of arguments

Back Jacket

Contemporary Debates in Social Philosophy offers engaging and original analyses of some of society's most significant and current concerns, with an international cast of scholars presenting sharply opposing viewpoints across ten debates.

The text begins with an introductory essay that provides an overview of the topics and a discussion of their relevance to social philosophy today. It then moves on to consider a broad range of social and political issues, including the nature of freedom, the limits of religious tolerance, group rights and ethnic identity, affirmative action, conceptions of parenting, the death penalty, privacy laws, world hunger, homosexuality, and abortion.

Ideal for university courses, this text offers a balanced range of opinion and perspective, probes the basic questions concerning the nature of a free and just society, and invites the reader to participate in the critical exchange of arguments.

Author Biography

Laurence Thomas is Professor in the departments of Philosophy and Political Science in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where he is also a member of the Center for European Studies. He is the author of over fifty articles and four books, Living Morally: A Psychology of Moral Character (1989), Vessels of Evil: American Slavery and the Holocaust (1993), Sexual Orientation and Human Rights (with Michael Levin, 1999) and The Family and the Political Self (2006). His articles on moral theory and social philosophy have been widely anthologized.