PoliticalPhilosophies inMoral Conflict

PETER S. WENZUniveristy of Illinois at Springfield

3N • * • /

Boston Burr Ridge, IL Dubuque, IA Madison, Wl New YorkSan Francisco St. Louis Bangkok Bogota Caracas Kuala LumpurLisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan Montreal New Delhi

Santiago Seoul Singapore Sydney Taipei Toronto

Table of Contents

xi Note to Instructors

xiv Acknowledgments

Introduction 1

1 A Dangerous World

5 Limited Government

8 The Value of Liberty

11 God's Will and Natural Law

12 Utilitarianism and "Spheres of Justice"

15 The Free Market and Liberal Equality

17 How to Choose a Political Philosophy

20 Logical Consistency and Justice

23 Theses and Benefits

27 Judgment Calls

i: God's Will and Natural Law 28

29 The Fight against Jim Crow

33 God's Will Be Done on Earth

34 Secular and Religious Beliefs

37 Reason and Faith

40 Disparate Traditions of Biblical Interpretation

43 Social Morality and Biblical Interpretation

47 Literal Interpretations of the Bible

48 History, Personal Revelation, and Prayerful Meditation

51 Natural Law

vi Table of Contents

53 Replace Religious Arguments with Secular Arguments

55 The Importance of Nature and Religion

58 Conclusion

59 Judgment Calls

2: Utilitarianism 6061 Crime Diminishes Happiness

64 Psychological Egoism and Punishment

68 Equality

70 Hedonism and Preferences

73 Some Preferences Should Not Count

77 Criminal Injustice

81 Social Injustice

84 Utilitarian Calculations

87 Conclusion

88 Judgment Calls

3: Libertarian ism and the Harm Principle 90

92 Medical Paternalism

94 Prohibition

97 The Right to Drugs

101 The War on Drugs

105 Freedom of Speech

108 Hate Speech

111 Marriage

114 Freedom of Association

119 Conclusion

120 Judgment Calls

4: Libertarian ism and Property Rights 122

125 Material Property

.127 The Entitlement Theory

129 Libertarianism and the Free Market

132^Free-Market Immorality

Table of Contents vii

134 Equal Opportunity

136 Liberty, Inequality, and Property

139 Historical Justifications and Reparations for Slavery

143 Rectification of Injustice

145 Property Rights Today

148 Legitimate Taxation

150 Conclusion

151 Judgment Calls

5: Free-Market Conservatism 153

154 Property and Prosperity

158 Efficiency and Competition: The Microsoft Case

164 The Tragedy of the Commons

165 The Dilemma of Selfishness

167 Public Goods and Government Regulation

168 Cost-Benefit Analysis

171 Human Lives and Future Generations

174 Equal Consideration of Interests

176 Scarcity

177 Selling Babies

180 Comparison with Utilitarianism

182 Conclusion

182 Judgment Calls

6: Rawls's Liberal Contractarianism 184

186 The Original Position and the Veil of Ignorance

189 The Principles of Justice

192 The Difference Principle and Welfare

196 Unequal Educational Opportunities

199 Fair Equality of Opportunity and School Vouchers

203 Separation of Church and State

205 Liberal Neutrality, the Two Moral Powers,and Unencumbered Selves

209 Equal Basic Liberties and Racial Profiling

viii Table of Contents

211 Equal Basic Liberties and Affirmative Action

214 Conclusion

215 Judgment Calls

7: Communitarianism and MoralConservatism 217218 The Benefits of Community Orientation

220 Encumbered Individuals and Living Traditions

223 Unencumbered Selves and No-Fault Divorce

226 Legal Prostitution vs. the Practice of Marriage

229 Legal Prostitution and Spheres of Justice

231 Economic Growth and Bourgeois Values

234 Social Capital and the Good Society

237 Some Concerns about Moral Conservatism

240 Some Concerns about Communitarianism

242 Theocrats and Moral Conservatives

244 Conclusion .

245 Judgment Calls

8: Deliberative Democracy, Multiculturalism,and the Limits of Tolerance 247249 The Deliberative Ideal

251 Deliberative Democracy and Nude Dancing

253 Deliberative Democracy and Multiculturalism

256 The Value of Multiculturalism

261 Amish School Attendance and Internal Restrictions

263 Multiculturalism and Other Isms Compared

265 The Cultural Defense and Hmong Marriage-by-Capture

269 Money and Elective Politics

271 Money and Civil Society

274 Democracy and Distributive Justice

277 Conclusion

278 Judgment Calls

Table of Contents ix

9: Feminism 280

282 Classical Liberal Feminism

284 Moral Conservative Arguments against Feminism

288 The Feminization of Poverty

290 Radical Feminism

294 Sexual Harassment

297 The Battered-Woman Defense

301 Cultural Feminism

305 Subsidized Day Care

309 Conclusion

310 Judgment Calls

10: Environmentalism 313

313 Industrial Pollution

315 The Overall Benefits of Industry

318 Limits to Growth

322 Government Subsidies

326 Future Generations and Nuclear Waste

331 Communitarians, Moral Conservatives, Environmentalists,and the Future

333 Old-Growth Forests, Endangered Species, and Job Security

337 Property Rights and the Takings Clause

339 Economic Growth

341 Anticonsumerism and the Good Life

344 Conclusion

344 Judgment Calls

11: Cosmopolitanism 347348 Our Duty to Aid the Poor

352 Political Realism

354 Prisoner Abuse

357 International Morality

360 Individual Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity

x Table of Contents

364 Cultural Relativism and Female Circumcision

368 Walzer's Thick and Thin

370 The Law of Peoples

374 Globalization

377 National Borders and Fair Trade

379 Conclusion

379 Judgment Calls

Conclusion 38i382 Abortion

392 Genetic Engineering of Human Beings

402 Immigration Policy

410 Political Philosophies Right and Left

412 Glossary

420 Index