Criticism and Compassion: The Ethics and Politics of Claudia Card offers a unique perspective on the range of issues explored by Card during her distinguished career in philosophy. Investigates her work as an early leader in the development of feminist philosophy, challenging many preconceptions about the society's norms regarding gender, marriage, and motherhood Crossing many disciplinary boundaries, her concept of social death has come to play a significant role in multidisciplinary field of genocide studies This volume combines many of Claudia Card's important essays with recently commissioned essays by leading philosophers whose work has been influenced by Card The full scope of Card's philosophy is presented here - both in her own words and those of her critics and interpreters

A host of ethical questions has arisen recently in response to the development of new reproductive technologies. This text helps students of theology, philosophy, and health studies, as well as lay readers, to find answers to these questions.

In order to facilitate an informed discussion of the many delicate ethical issues, the book first provides readers with relevant medical and scientific information. It explains in a clear and simple way, for example, what is involved in human embryo and embryonic cell stem research, infertility and its treatments, and prenatal screening and diagnosis. It also explains how the metaphysical framework, in which both Christian and secular philosophers think, relates to the scientific facts and affects the ways in which they solve ethical problems.

Throughout, the author takes a balanced approach, acknowledging his loyalty to Catholicism, yet freely exploring new options indicated by advancing biological science.

Evil is a problem that will not go away. For some it is an inescapable fact of the human condition. For others "evil" is a term that should only be used to name the most horrible of crimes. Still others think that the worst problem lies with the abuse of the term: using it to vilify a misunderstood enemy. No matter how we approach it, "evil" is a concept that continues to call out for critical reflection. This volume collects the results of a two-year deliberation within the Boston University Institute for Philosophy of Religion lecture series, bringing together scholars of religion, literature, and philosophy. Its essays provide a thoughtful, sensitive, and wide-ranging consideration of this challenging problem and of ways that we might be delivered from it.

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC - AD 65), fully Lucius Annaeus Seneca and also known simply as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and-in one work-humorist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. As a tragedian, he is best-known for his Medea and Thyestes.

David-Hillel Ruben mounts a defence of some unusual and original positions in the philosophy of action. Written from a point of view out of sympathy with the assumptions of much of contemporary philosophical action theory, his book draws its inspiration from philosophers as diverse as Aristotle, Berkeley, and Marx. Ruben's work is located in the tradition of the metaphysics of action, and will attract much attention from his peers and from students in the field.

I is perhaps the most important and the least understood of our everyday expressions. This is a constant source of philosophical confusion. Max de Gaynesford offers a remedy: he explains what this expression means, its logical form and its inferential role. He thereby shows the way to an understanding of how we express first-personal thinking. He dissolves various myths about how I refers, to the effect that it is a pure indexical. His central claim is that the key to understanding I is that it is the same kind of expression as the other singular personal pronouns, you and he/she: a deictic term, whose reference depends on making an individual salient. He addresses epistemological questions as well as semantic questions, and shows how they interrelate. The book thus not only resolves a key issue in philosophy of language, but promises to be of great use to people working on problems in other areas of philosophy.

Reason and Value collects 15 new papers by leading contemporary philosophers on themes from the work of Joseph Raz. Raz has made major contributions in a wide range of areas, including jurisprudence, political philosophy, and the theory of practical reason; but all of his work displays a deep engagement with central themes in moral philosophy. The subtlety and power of Raz's reflections on ethical topics make his writings a fertile source for anyone working in this area. Especially significant are his explorations of the connections between practical reason and the theory of value, which constitute a sustained and penetrating treatment of a set of issues at the very center of moral philosophy as it is practiced today. The contributors to the volume acknowledge the importance of Raz's contributions by engaging critically with his positions and offering independent perspectives on the topics that he has addressed. The volume aims both to honour Raz's accomplishments in the area of ethical theorizing, and to contribute to an enhanced appreciation of the significance of his work for the subject. Contributors: Michael E. Bratman, John Broome, Ruth Chang, Jonathan Dancy, Harry Frankfurt, Ulrike Heuer, Philip Pettit, Peter Railton, Donald H. Regan, T. M. Scanlon, Samuel Scheffler, Seana Valentine Shiffrin, Michael Smith, Michael Stocker, Michael Thompson, R. Jay Wallace.

Paul Ricoeur's "Pedagogy of Pardon" describes how memory is structured, in culture, civic identity and religion - and addresses central conceptual and methodological issues in his theory of forgiveness (or reconciliation). Where conflict arises from the clash of cultures, memory also becomes a tool to help resolve and heal past wounds. Ricoeur provides a hermeneutical key to examine conflicting narratives so that some shared truths can be arrived at in order to begin afresh. As the many Truth Commissions around the world illustrate; revisiting the past has a positive benefit in steering history in a new direction after protracted violence.A second deeper strand in the book is the connection between Paul Ricoeur and John Paul II. Both lived through the worst period of modern European history (Ricoeur a Prisoner of War for four years in WWII and John Paul, who suffered under the communist regime). Both have written on themes of memory and identity and share a mutual concern for the future of Europe and the preservation of the 'Christian' identity of the Continent as well as the promotion of peace and a civilization of love. The book brings together their shared vision, culminating in the award to Ricoeur by John Paul II of the Paul VI medal for theology (July 2003) - only conferred every five years - for the philosopher's fruitful research in the area of theology and philosophy, faith and reason and ecumenical dialogue.

On the Genealogy of Morality, the classic three essay treatise of Friedrich Nietzsche, is considered by scholars to be one of the author's philosophic masterworks. This astounding work represents the maturity of Nietzsche's ideas, and consists of three distinct essays. In each, Nietzsche isolates and expands upon ideas he expressed in Beyond Good and Evil. Nietzsche juxtaposes ideas of weakness and strength, and notions of human preconception as generated over millenia of hierarchy inclusive of slavery, to demonstrate an evolution of ideas beyond traditional duality. This text controversially introduces the 'blond beast' - a a forebear for Nietzsche's posthumous association with Nazism and racial superiority. Nietzsche demonstrates how people with allegiance to ascetic ideals gained traction in society. He proceeds to discount science as an opposing influence, together with historians and idle thinkers, advocating for criticism of what is accepted as truth, and a replacement for flawed definitions.

In the third millennium, people are increasingly being forced to decide how to lead an ethically acceptable life, both nationally and internationally, amidst the radical pluralism of world views. Surprisingly, while the West was a pioneer in the recognition of human rights, its stance towards both exclusivism and difference is distorted. Spurred on the Global Ethic Project of the Catholic theologian Hans Kung, this book searches for a plausible solution to the dilemma of global societal coexistence by carefully analysing the contemporary philosophical discussion. It uncovers the multifaceted ways, in which the standard Western interpretation promotes neutrality towards particular world views, shows why this interpretation is flawed, and presents an alternative with practical implications and an eye towards the global dialogue of cultures.

Does God's existence make a difference to how we explain morality? Mark C. Murphy critiques the two dominant theistic accounts of morality--natural law theory and divine command theory--and presents a novel third view. He argues that we can value natural facts about humans and their good, while keeping God at the centre of our moral explanations.
The characteristic methodology of theistic ethics is to proceed by asking whether there are features of moral norms that can be adequately explained only if we hold that such norms have some sort of theistic foundation. But this methodology, fruitful as it has been, is one-sided. God and Moral Law proceeds not from the side of the moral norms, so to speak, but from the God side of things: what sort of explanatory relationship should we expect between God and moral norms given the existence of the God of orthodox theism? Mark C. Murphy asks whether the conception of God in orthodox theism as an absolutely perfect being militates in favor of a particular view of the explanation of morality by appeal to theistic facts. He puts this methodology to work and shows that, surprisingly, natural law theory and divine command theory fail to offer the sort of explanation of morality that we would expect given the existence of the God of orthodox theism. Drawing on the discussion of a structurally similar problem--that of the relationship between God and the laws of nature--Murphy articulates his new account of the relationship between God and morality, one in which facts about God and facts about nature cooperate in the explanation of moral law.

The decline of the Roman Empire gave rise to two problems, which combined to form one of the most perplexing philosophical questions of late antiquity. On the one hand, Rome found itself under constant military threat as various tribes from the north an east encroached along its borders to fill the power vacuum left by the receding Empire. On the other hand, adherents to the Empire's new official faith - Christianity - found themselves without clear guidance as to what military roles their faith would permit. The death of the apostles has left Christians without ongoing revelatory guidance, and the New Testament writings alone were not definitive on the subject. The question thus became: 'Can a Christian answer the Empire's call to military duty and still have a clear conscience before God?' Fifth-century philosopher St Augustine of Hippo sought to provide an answer to the question. His approach formed the foundation of the 'just war' tradition, which has has enormous influence upon moral-philosophical thought on military issues in the West ever since.This major new study identifies Augustine's fundamental premises, reconstructs his judt-war theory, and critically evaluates the reconstructed theory in light of the historical context and neo-Platonic and Christian philosophical considerations. John Mark Mattox PhD is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. He has lectured and published widely on military ethics, and has taught at the United States Militar Academy, West Point, the University of Maryland in Europe and the NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany.

This volume gathers eleven new and three previously published essays on the fertile connection between ethics and epistemology. They examine the following topics: epistemic duty, doxastic voluntarism, the normativity of justification, internalism vs. externalism, truth as the epistemic goal, skepticism and the search for the criteria of justification, virtue epistemology, and understanding as an epistemic value. Among the contributors are Erneat Sosa, Linda Zagzebski, Susan Haack, and Alvin Goldman.

The international community's efforts to halt child soldiering have yielded some successes. But this pernicious practice persists. It may shift locally, but it endures globally. Preventative measures therefore remain inadequate. Former child soldiers experience challenges readjusting to civilian life. Reintegration is complex and eventful. The homecoming is only the beginning. Reconciliation within communities afflicted by violence committed by and against child soldiers is incomplete. Shortfalls linger on the restorative front. The international community strives to eradicate the scourge of child soldiering. Mostly, though, these efforts replay the same narratives and circulate the same assumptions. Current humanitarian discourse sees child soldiers as passive victims, tools of war, vulnerable, psychologically devastated, and not responsible for their violent acts. This perception has come to suffuse international law and policy. Although reflecting much of the lives of child soldiers, this portrayal also omits critical aspects. This book pursues an alternate path by reimagining the child soldier. It approaches child soldiers with a more nuanced and less judgmental mind. This book takes a second look at these efforts. It aspires to refresh law and policy so as to improve preventative, restorative, and remedial initiatives while also vivifying the dignity of youth. Along the way, Drumbl questions central tenets of contemporary humanitarianism and rethinks elements of international criminal justice. This ground-breaking book is essential reading for anyone committed to truly emboldening the rights of the child. It offers a way to think about child soldiers that would invigorate international law, policy, and best practices. Where does this reimagination lead? Not toward retributive criminal trials, but instead toward restorative forms of justice. Toward forgiveness instead of excuse, thereby facilitating reintegration and promoting social repair within afflicted communities. Toward a better understanding of child soldiering, without which the practice cannot be ended. This book also offers fresh thinking on related issues, ranging from juvenile justice, to humanitarian interventions, to the universality of human rights, to the role of law in responding to mass atrocity.

This title explores the implications of our animal origins and posthuman futures for our understanding of our humanity and our relations with other species. "Beyond Human" investigates what it means to call ourselves human beings in relation to both our distant past and our possible futures as a species, and the questions this might raise for our relationship with the myriad species with which we share the planet. Drawing on insights from zoology, theology, cultural studies and aesthetics, an international line-up of contributors explore such topics as our origins as reflected in early cave art in the upper Palaeolithic through to our prospects at the forefront of contemporary biotechnology. In the process, the book positions 'the human' in readiness for what many have characterized as our transhuman or posthuman future. For if our status as rational animals or 'animals that think' has traditionally distinguished us as apparently superior to other species, this distinction has become increasingly problematic. It has come to be seen as based on skills and technologies that do not distinguish us so much as position us as transitional animals. It is the direction and consequences of this transition that is the central concern of "Beyond Human".