A Critique Of Freedom And Equality (cambridge Studies In The History And Theory Of Politics)

This book is about the grounds of ethical life, or the nature and basis of our ethical obligations. It contains an original account of these grounds and shows how this understanding requires specific forms of social and political life. Charvet considers the ideas of the freedom and equality of men in the many forms they have taken and shows that there is a radical incoherence underlying them which consists in the failure to integrate in a coherent way the particular and the moral or communal dimensions of individual life. These two dimensions are separated and opposed to each other. In the final section of the book Charvet develops an original account of the grounds of ethical life which satisfactorily integrates these particular and communal elements of individuality. It is designed to show how the moral claims of individuals are grounded in their associated wills in a community and yet how such a conception preserves the separate individuality of the community's members. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 The equal value of individuals as self-determining beings......Page 20 A preliminary notice of the difficulties......Page 28 Authenticity......Page 30 Egoism......Page 32 The principle of equal value in some contemporary literature......Page 34 The motivational structure of morality......Page 47 Hobbesian egoism......Page 50 Benevolence and sympathy......Page 60 Rousseau......Page 64 Rationalism and Kant......Page 78 Self-interest, morality and the divided self......Page 90 Utilitarianism......Page 95 Subordinate ordering principles......Page 104 The liberal theory of equal freedom......Page 105 Egalitarianism......Page 111 The Rawlsian combination......Page 118 Hegel......Page 126 Marx......Page 144 The relativity of value......Page 166 The fundamental moral attitude......Page 170 The possibility of morality......Page 172 The moral attitude and the rights of individuals......Page 174 The right to particular satisfaction or welfare......Page 180 The standpoint of the whole......Page 181 Ethical criticism......Page 202 Subjectivity and objectivity in morals......Page 205 The unity of the human race......Page 208 Index......Page 210 CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF POLITICS......Page 214 Mr Charvet's book is about the grounds of ethical life, or the nature and basis of our ethical obligations. He begins with an extended criticism of individualist theories; he also considers the theories of Hegel and Marx, which, like his own, are critical of individualist conceptions. He develops an original account of the grounds of ethical life that successfully integrates the particular and communal elements of individuality, and he shows how this conception requires specific forms of social and political life. This unusual book will appeal to students and scholars of political theory, the history of ideas, sociology and philosophy 9780521112260 Cambridge Studies in the History and Theory of Politics John Charvet. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.