''Social Justice in the Liberal State'' is a book written by
Bruce A. Ackerman.
[
] The book is an essay in political philosophy,
a "new view" of the theoretical foundations of liberalism that will "challenge us to clarify our own implicit notions of liberal democracy." Ackerman addresses the positive case for a liberalism that glorifies neither the state bureaucracy nor the private market. References to the sphere of relations among states are few, but the breadth of the attack on the fundamental issues of man and society is impressive. To Ackerman, liberalism is a kind of structured conversation in which verbal negotiation among those with differing visions of the good life is an alternative to the exercise of naked power. Ackerman has mounted a profound challenge to contract thinking. It works, crudely, on the idea that the premises of a course of contract reasoning can be manipulated so as to yield (more or less) any conclusion that the theorist has some antecedent interest in producing. The social contract is the contract which would be confirmed by the entire population, under ideal conditions, after perfect and complete consideration. Ackerman has offered a suggestion for determining whether any persons among a genetically diverse group are genetically disadvantaged. His suggestion is that to be genetically undominated, a person must possess a set of abilities that permit him to pursue some life purpose that some persons have, with as much facility as any other person is able to pursue that life purpose. He asserts that every person has a right to be genetically undominated. The privatization of religious convictions is also strongly defended. Ackerman argues for a maximal separation doctrine in that religion does not have an appropriate place in the public realm of a liberal democracy. The book also briefly suggests
[
] "responsive lotteries",
[
] prototypes of lottery voting as a way to decide issues but leaves the question hanging in the air by inviting others to devote more serious thought to lottery voting.
See also
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Political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...
*
Social contract
In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is a theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment and usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual.
Social ...
*
Social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...
References
External links
Social Justice in the Liberal Stateat Yale University Press
;Related works
Citizenship: European and Globalat Universitetet i Oslos
Common schooling and educational choiceat Washington University in St. Louis
at
Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
Religious Virtues, Religious Vicesat George Mason University
;Scholastic inclusion
Public Lectures Academic Year 2002/2003at Collegium Budapest Institute for Advanced Study
SOC321 Social Justiceat Lingnan University
PH 3538 Social and Political Philosophyat University of Aberdeen
Social Justice Resources at Colorado Christian University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Justice In The Liberal State
Philosophy books
Social justice
Books about liberalism