Research Catalog

Title

Utilitarianism as a public philosophy / Robert E. Goodin.

Author

Goodin, Robert E.

Publication

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 352 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

Utilitarianism, the great reforming philosophy of the nineteenth century, has today acquired the reputation for being a crassly calculating, impersonal philosophy unfit to serve as a guide to moral conduct. Yet what may disqualify utilitarianism as a personal philosophy makes it an eminently suitable guide for public officials in the pursuit of their professional responsibilities. Robert E. Goodin, a philosopher with many books on political theory, public policy and applied ethics to his credit, defends utilitarianism against its critics and shows how it can be applied most effectively over a wide range of public policies. In discussions of such issues as paternalism, social welfare policy, international ethics, nuclear armaments, and international responses to the environment crisis, he demonstrates what a flexible tool his brand of utilitarianism can be in confronting the dilemmas of public policy in the real world.

Series Statement

Cambridge studies in philosophy and public policy

Uniform Title

Cambridge studies in philosophy and public policy.

Subject

• Political science > Philosophy
• Utilitarianism

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-346) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

pt. I. Introduction: Moral Bases of State Action. 1. Utilitarianism as a public philosophy. 2. The state as a moral agent -- pt. II. Morality, Public and Private. 3. Do motives matter? 4. Government house utilitarianism -- pt. III. Shaping Private Conduct. 5. Responsibilities. 6. Distributing credit and blame. 7. Apportioning responsibilities -- pt. IV. Shaping Public Policies. 8. Liberalism and the best-judge principle. 9. Laundering preferences. 10. Heroic measures and false hopes. 11. Theories of compensation. 12. Stabilizing expectations. 13. Compensation and redistribution. 14. Basic income. 15. Relative needs. 16. What is so special about our fellow countrymen? 17. Nuclear disarmament as a moral certainty. 18. International ethics and the environmental crisis.

ISBN

• 0521462630 (hard)
• 052146806X (pbk.)

LCCN

^^^94003385^

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library