Ethics in the public domain : essays in the morality of law and politics

This new collection opens with a pivotal chapter, not previously published, on the implications of the moral duties which arise out of concern for the well-being of others. The first part of the book concentrates on the consequences of two central aspects of well-being: the importance of membership in groups — the role of belonging — and the active character of well-being — that it largely consists in successful activities. Both aspects have far-reaching political implications, explored in chapters on free expression, national self-determination, and multiculturalism, among others. Against the background of the moral and political views developed in the first part, the second part of the book explores various aspects of the dynamic interrelations between law and morality, offering some building blocks towards a theory of law. "This new collection of essays opens with a pivotal essay, not previously published, on the implications of the moral duties which arise out of concern for the well-being of others. The first part of the book concentrates on the consequences of two central aspects of well-being: the importance of membership in groups - the role of belonging - and the active character of well-being - that it largely consists in successful activities. Both aspects have far-reaching political implications, explored in essays on free expression, national self-determination, and multiculturalism, among others. Against the background of the moral and political views developed in the first part, the second part of the book explores various aspects of the dynamic inter-relations between law and morality, offering some building blocks towards a theory of law."--BOOK JACKET Copyright PREFACE CONTENTS Part I The Ethics of Well-Being: Political Implications 1 Duties of Well-Being 2 Liberating Duties 3 Rights and Individual Well-Being 4 Facing Diversity: The Case of Epistemic Abstinence 5 Liberalism, Scepticism, and Democracy 6 National Self-Determination (with Avishai Margalit) 7 Free Expression and Personal Identification 8 Multiculturalism: A Liberal Perspective Part II. Between Law and Morality 9 The Problem about the Nature of Law 10 Authority, Law, and Morality 11 The Inner Logic of the Law 12 Legal Rights 13 The Relevance of Coherence 14 On the Autonomy of Legal Reasoning 15 The Obligation to Obey: Revision and Tradition 16 Government by Consent 17 The Politics of the Rule of Law Index In the past twenty years Joseph Raz has consolidated his reputation as one of the most acute, inventive, and energetic scholars currently at work in analytic moral and political theory. This new collection of essays forms a representative selection of his most significant contributions to a number of important debates, including the extent of political duty and obligation, and the issue of self-determination. He also examines aspects of the common (and ancient) theme of the relations between law and morality. This volume of essays, available in one volume for the first time, will be essential to legal philosophers and political theorists. This important collection of essays opens with a pivotal essay on the implications of the moral duties which arise out of concern for the well-being of others. The first part of the book concentrates on the consequences of two central aspects of well-being: the importance on membership in groups--the role of belonging--and the active character of well-being--that it largely consists in successful activities. The author, a scholar of analytic moral and political theory, presents a collection of recent essays examining aspects of the common (and ancient) theme of the relationship between law and morality. The essays collected in this book illustrate the application to one or another political or jurisprudential problem of general views about morality and the law.--Résumé de l'éditeur