This title was first published in 2001. Ethical considerations play a key role in both the theoretical and practical functioning of the welfare state. The contributors to this book examine these ethical issues, and demonstrate how value judgements must be integrated into any analysis of social security reform.

This title was first published in 2001. Ethical considerations play a key role in both the theoretical and practical functioning of the welfare state. The contributors to this book examine these ethical issues, and demonstrate how value judgements must be integrated into any analysis of social security reform.

Dementia is increasingly being recognised as a public health priority and poses one of the largest challenges we face as a society. At the same time, there is a growing awareness that the quest for a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia needs to be complemented by efforts to improve the lives of people with dementia. To gain a better understanding of dementia and of how to organize dementia care, there is a need to bring together insights from many different disciplines. Filling this knowledge gap, this book provides an integrated view on dementia resulting from extensive discussions between world experts from different fields, including medicine, social psychology, nursing, economics and literary studies. Working towards a development of integrative policies focused on social inclusion and quality of life, Dementia and Society reminds the reader that a better future for persons with dementia is a collective responsibility.

Since Aristotle, many different theories of distributive justice have been proposed, by philosophers as well as social scientists. The typical approach within social choice theory is to assess these theories in an axiomatic way - most of the time the reader is confronted with abstract reasoning and logical deductions. This book shows that empirical insights are necessary if one wants to apply any theory of justice in the real world. It does so by confronting the main theories of distributive justice with data from (mostly) questionnaire experiments. The book starts with an extensive discussion on why empirical social choice makes sense and how it should be done. It then presents various experimental results relating to theories of distributive justice, including the Rawlsian equity axiom, Harsanyi's version of utilitarianism, utilitarianism with a floor, responsibility-sensitive egalitarianism, the claims problem and fairness in health.