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Review: Spheres of Justice

Redaktioneller Bericht - Kirkus Reviews

Domination, says Institute for Advanced Studies professor Walzer, is the real enemy of freedom, and domination takes many forms. Against John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and other contemporary political philosophers, Walzer argues that no single principle of equality can justifiably address all these forms. Rather, he maintains that different areas of social life--education, kinship and love, political office, moneymaking and spending--require different principles. Because someone is more beautiful than others, or smarter, does not entitle that person to a greater share of wealth or political power. Similarly, the wealthy person is not entitled to a lion's share of public recognition. What Walzer is really after is not equality but equalities: in different cultures these ""spheres"" will be ordered differently, according to different values. Walzer therefore opposes strict equality. Relative material wealth is not a problem for him, as long as its effects are confined to material things. He would like to recapture the Greek idea that citizens may be unequal economically but equal politically, and receive honors on the basis of virtues other than wealth. This worked for a time in Athens and, in a different form, in the Indian caste system (where caste, hot wealth, determined prestige). But Walzer's argument, even though it engages current issues like affirmative action and school busing, has an unreal aspect: the fact that political office is bought, that justice is bought, is simply ignored. Walzer can't avoid the economic problem by confining himself to a sphere of stereos and cars. His argument may make us think about the way we think about equality, but his hope that we can evolve a society in which citizens rule in some spheres and are ruled in others--his modernization of Aristotle's dictum that the citizen is one who is capable of ruling and being ruled--is left stranded on an island of logic, surrounded by the here-and-now.

Nutzerrezensionen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Mark Fitzpatrick - Goodreads

This was a really difficult book to read when I was an undergraduate. I took a course on Social Justice and this was one of the books we read. Without going into too much detail (much of which I am ... Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Kony - Goodreads

Caveat: My rating here probably reflects my growing dislike for this whole genre. Academic political philosophy = meh. If you're into this stuff, don't mind me and my two stars. Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Mattschratz - Goodreads

Performs the admirable service of rendering clearly and coherently all of the things you had thought went without saying about political life in a (seventeenth C. definition) liberal society until you tried talking about it to *that* uncle at Thanksgiving. So you know, useful. Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Soha Bayoumi - Goodreads

A book that happens to be important in contemporary political philosophy, though full of historical, anthropological and economic fallacies and bad documentation, besides some communitarian-flavored ... Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - LJ - Goodreads

just started reading this one- the preface is great enough, :-). I plan to finish it this week-end. Finished reading... but no time to write a review yet. ne Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Chris Meyers - Goodreads

Spheres of Justice represents Walzer's half of a debate with Robert Nozick. (Nozick's side of the debate is found in his Anarchy, State, and Utopia, which was also written as a response to Rawls's ... Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Elle - Goodreads

Walzer aims for complex equality, a system where justice is determined relative to each sphere of social goods and no ruling characteristic, office or good in one sphere dominates any other sphere. A ... Vollständige Rezension lesen

Review: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality

Nutzerbericht - Ralph - Goodreads

I've wanted to read this book for a long time, but overall I was somewhat disappointed. It is much more an assertion than an argument, and certainly not the "defense of pluralism and equality ... Vollständige Rezension lesen