Andrew Mason
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199264414
- eISBN:
- 9780191718489
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264414.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
‘Equality of opportunity for all’ is a fine piece of political rhetoric but the ideal that lies behind it is slippery. Some see it as an alternative to a more robust form of egalitarianism, whilst ...
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‘Equality of opportunity for all’ is a fine piece of political rhetoric but the ideal that lies behind it is slippery. Some see it as an alternative to a more robust form of egalitarianism, whilst others think that when it is properly understood it provides us with a real radical vision of what it is to level the playing field. This book combines a meritocratic conception of equality of opportunity that governs access to advantaged social positions, with redistributive principles that seek to mitigate the effects of differences in people's circumstances. Taken together, these spell out what it is to level the playing field in the way that justice requires.Less
‘Equality of opportunity for all’ is a fine piece of political rhetoric but the ideal that lies behind it is slippery. Some see it as an alternative to a more robust form of egalitarianism, whilst others think that when it is properly understood it provides us with a real radical vision of what it is to level the playing field. This book combines a meritocratic conception of equality of opportunity that governs access to advantaged social positions, with redistributive principles that seek to mitigate the effects of differences in people's circumstances. Taken together, these spell out what it is to level the playing field in the way that justice requires.
Michael Tracey
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159254
- eISBN:
- 9780191673573
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159254.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Public broadcasting was the single most important social, cultural, and journalistic institution of the twentieth century. In the 15 years preceding the publication of this book, it had been ...
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Public broadcasting was the single most important social, cultural, and journalistic institution of the twentieth century. In the 15 years preceding the publication of this book, it had been assaulted politically, ideologically, technologically, and was everywhere in retreat. This book considers the idea of public service broadcasting and examines in detail the assault made upon it, with specific emphasis on global developments and events in the United Kingdom, Japan, Europe, and the United States. It argues that public service broadcasting has been a vital and democratically significant institution now experiencing a terminal decline brought about by changes in political, economic, and technological circumstances. Based on years of research and extensive contact with leading public broadcasters around the world, the book examines the idea of public service broadcasting and how for the most part it has vainly (and often ineffectually) struggled to survive. It concludes that public broadcasting is, as was once said of Weimar, a corpse on leave. Its likely disappearance constitutes an indication of a real and deep-seated crisis within liberal democracy.Less
Public broadcasting was the single most important social, cultural, and journalistic institution of the twentieth century. In the 15 years preceding the publication of this book, it had been assaulted politically, ideologically, technologically, and was everywhere in retreat. This book considers the idea of public service broadcasting and examines in detail the assault made upon it, with specific emphasis on global developments and events in the United Kingdom, Japan, Europe, and the United States. It argues that public service broadcasting has been a vital and democratically significant institution now experiencing a terminal decline brought about by changes in political, economic, and technological circumstances. Based on years of research and extensive contact with leading public broadcasters around the world, the book examines the idea of public service broadcasting and how for the most part it has vainly (and often ineffectually) struggled to survive. It concludes that public broadcasting is, as was once said of Weimar, a corpse on leave. Its likely disappearance constitutes an indication of a real and deep-seated crisis within liberal democracy.
Andrew Mason
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199264414
- eISBN:
- 9780191718489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264414.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter focuses on the neutralization approach and raises a difficulty inherent in it. In particular, it argued that the aim of neutralizing the effects of differences in people's circumstances ...
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This chapter focuses on the neutralization approach and raises a difficulty inherent in it. In particular, it argued that the aim of neutralizing the effects of differences in people's circumstances runs counter to some widely held moral intuitions. For if we suppose that justice or equality of opportunity requires the neutralization of these effects, then it would seem that each of us has a reason to refrain from behaving in any way that would advantage our children relative to others. Yet that, in turn, would entail that we have a reason (even if that reason is inconclusive) not to pass on our skills and experience to our children, or even spend ‘quality time’ with them, when we know that doing so would advantage them. This is strongly counter-intuitive. In place of the neutralization approach, justice requires us to mitigate the effects of differences in people's circumstances.Less
This chapter focuses on the neutralization approach and raises a difficulty inherent in it. In particular, it argued that the aim of neutralizing the effects of differences in people's circumstances runs counter to some widely held moral intuitions. For if we suppose that justice or equality of opportunity requires the neutralization of these effects, then it would seem that each of us has a reason to refrain from behaving in any way that would advantage our children relative to others. Yet that, in turn, would entail that we have a reason (even if that reason is inconclusive) not to pass on our skills and experience to our children, or even spend ‘quality time’ with them, when we know that doing so would advantage them. This is strongly counter-intuitive. In place of the neutralization approach, justice requires us to mitigate the effects of differences in people's circumstances.
Andrew Mason
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199264414
- eISBN:
- 9780191718489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264414.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
In order to defend a version of the mitigation approach as opposed to the neutralization approach, a plausible set of principles that might constitute that approach must be identified. The strategy ...
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In order to defend a version of the mitigation approach as opposed to the neutralization approach, a plausible set of principles that might constitute that approach must be identified. The strategy here is to work from the bottom up: to seek defensible principles to govern specific goods or specific aspects of people's circumstances, and then to see whether they can be grounded in more abstract principles. The chapter focuses on three areas: access to qualifications, the giving of gifts and bequests, and the effects of differences in natural talents and abilities. The principles that emerge should be thought of as working together to spell out what kind of impact differences in social circumstances and natural endowments may justly have upon access to advantage. These different principles have different characters: some are best understood as quasi-egalitarian, whilst others are grounded in a moderate version of the sufficiency view.Less
In order to defend a version of the mitigation approach as opposed to the neutralization approach, a plausible set of principles that might constitute that approach must be identified. The strategy here is to work from the bottom up: to seek defensible principles to govern specific goods or specific aspects of people's circumstances, and then to see whether they can be grounded in more abstract principles. The chapter focuses on three areas: access to qualifications, the giving of gifts and bequests, and the effects of differences in natural talents and abilities. The principles that emerge should be thought of as working together to spell out what kind of impact differences in social circumstances and natural endowments may justly have upon access to advantage. These different principles have different characters: some are best understood as quasi-egalitarian, whilst others are grounded in a moderate version of the sufficiency view.
Frank Kermode
Robert Alter (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195309355
- eISBN:
- 9780199850860
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309355.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
The question of the canon has been the subject of debate in academic circles for over fifteen years. This book contains two lectures on this important subject by the distinguished literary critic Sir ...
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The question of the canon has been the subject of debate in academic circles for over fifteen years. This book contains two lectures on this important subject by the distinguished literary critic Sir Frank Kermode. In chapters that were originally delivered as Tanner Lectures at Berkeley in November of 2001, this book reinterprets the question of canon formation in light of two related and central notions: pleasure and change. It asks how aesthetic pleasure informs what we find valuable, and how this perception changes over time. The book also explores the role of chance, observing the connections between canon formation and unintentional and sometimes even random circumstance. Others offer incisive comments on these chapters, to which Kermode responds in a lively rejoinder.Less
The question of the canon has been the subject of debate in academic circles for over fifteen years. This book contains two lectures on this important subject by the distinguished literary critic Sir Frank Kermode. In chapters that were originally delivered as Tanner Lectures at Berkeley in November of 2001, this book reinterprets the question of canon formation in light of two related and central notions: pleasure and change. It asks how aesthetic pleasure informs what we find valuable, and how this perception changes over time. The book also explores the role of chance, observing the connections between canon formation and unintentional and sometimes even random circumstance. Others offer incisive comments on these chapters, to which Kermode responds in a lively rejoinder.
Zbyněk Zeman and Antonín Klimek
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205838
- eISBN:
- 9780191676802
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205838.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter introduces Edvard Beneš as a foreign minister during the rise of the Czechoslovak Republic, and as the second president during the fall at Munich. Beneš's person attracted journalists ...
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This chapter introduces Edvard Beneš as a foreign minister during the rise of the Czechoslovak Republic, and as the second president during the fall at Munich. Beneš's person attracted journalists and writers, particularly from writers of memories rather than from historians. There exists a full-length biography of Beneš in Czech. One of his severest critics hinted that Beneš was not a democrat by nature. Beneš thought of politics as a scientific pursuit, and approached politics with a significant resilience. Beneš was slow in coming to terms with the changing international circumstances, and he did not informed his countrymen about the true extent of change that they were to experience.Less
This chapter introduces Edvard Beneš as a foreign minister during the rise of the Czechoslovak Republic, and as the second president during the fall at Munich. Beneš's person attracted journalists and writers, particularly from writers of memories rather than from historians. There exists a full-length biography of Beneš in Czech. One of his severest critics hinted that Beneš was not a democrat by nature. Beneš thought of politics as a scientific pursuit, and approached politics with a significant resilience. Beneš was slow in coming to terms with the changing international circumstances, and he did not informed his countrymen about the true extent of change that they were to experience.
Joseph Pilsner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286058
- eISBN:
- 9780191603808
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286051.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Thomas Aquinas believed that human actions have kinds or species. He divided human actions into good, evil, or indifferent, and subdivided them into more particular kinds such as almsgiving, murder, ...
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Thomas Aquinas believed that human actions have kinds or species. He divided human actions into good, evil, or indifferent, and subdivided them into more particular kinds such as almsgiving, murder, fraternal correction, or theft. From his earliest consideration of this topic in the Commentary on the Sentences to his latest in the Summa Theologiae, he used five different terms — end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive — to identify what gives species to human actions. Some difficulties have been noted with respect to his thinking on this subject. A first such difficulty is that his teaching on a few of these terms seems at times inconsistent. For example, although Aquinas maintains in some texts that circumstances can give species to human actions, he seems to deny that they can in other texts. Further, although on some occasions he holds that a remote end is irrelevant for the specification of human actions, on other occasions, he seems to assert that a remote end is the most important principle for such specification. It is not easy to see at first how these seemingly contradictory statements can be true at the same time. A second difficulty is that it is hard to grasp how end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive could all refer to what specifies human actions. Although certain similarities in meaning can be recognized among them, no term seems to be a strict synonym of any other, ruling out an easy reconciliation. This monograph examines Aquinas’s understanding of these five terms to resolve these difficulties and propose a coherent account of his teaching on the specification of human actions.Less
Thomas Aquinas believed that human actions have kinds or species. He divided human actions into good, evil, or indifferent, and subdivided them into more particular kinds such as almsgiving, murder, fraternal correction, or theft. From his earliest consideration of this topic in the Commentary on the Sentences to his latest in the Summa Theologiae, he used five different terms — end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive — to identify what gives species to human actions. Some difficulties have been noted with respect to his thinking on this subject. A first such difficulty is that his teaching on a few of these terms seems at times inconsistent. For example, although Aquinas maintains in some texts that circumstances can give species to human actions, he seems to deny that they can in other texts. Further, although on some occasions he holds that a remote end is irrelevant for the specification of human actions, on other occasions, he seems to assert that a remote end is the most important principle for such specification. It is not easy to see at first how these seemingly contradictory statements can be true at the same time. A second difficulty is that it is hard to grasp how end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive could all refer to what specifies human actions. Although certain similarities in meaning can be recognized among them, no term seems to be a strict synonym of any other, ruling out an easy reconciliation. This monograph examines Aquinas’s understanding of these five terms to resolve these difficulties and propose a coherent account of his teaching on the specification of human actions.
Joseph Pilsner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286058
- eISBN:
- 9780191603808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286051.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter shows that end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive can all be understood to contribute to the specification of human actions for Aquinas in a fundamentally consistent way. Although ...
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This chapter shows that end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive can all be understood to contribute to the specification of human actions for Aquinas in a fundamentally consistent way. Although specification by end and by object have characteristic differences, they are at base compatible because both end and object can refer to precisely the same reality in human action. The same goal can be both a human action’s final cause (end), and that good to which the will is directed (object). Specification by matter can be integrated with the first two: Aquinas asserts that matter specifies human action either because it has been willed as an end or possesses a distinctive formal aspect (like an object’s). Specification by circumstance can be fit into the picture through object: Aquinas believes that a ‘circumstance’ essential with respect to right reason takes on a new name, ‘condition’ or ‘difference’, and constitutes in whole or in part something essential to an object’s formal aspect. Although motives may seem more difficult to integrate since they are sometimes presented as causes for appetite, Aquinas says that motives are ‘proper objects of the will’ and asserts that they specify as ‘ends’ of human action.Less
This chapter shows that end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive can all be understood to contribute to the specification of human actions for Aquinas in a fundamentally consistent way. Although specification by end and by object have characteristic differences, they are at base compatible because both end and object can refer to precisely the same reality in human action. The same goal can be both a human action’s final cause (end), and that good to which the will is directed (object). Specification by matter can be integrated with the first two: Aquinas asserts that matter specifies human action either because it has been willed as an end or possesses a distinctive formal aspect (like an object’s). Specification by circumstance can be fit into the picture through object: Aquinas believes that a ‘circumstance’ essential with respect to right reason takes on a new name, ‘condition’ or ‘difference’, and constitutes in whole or in part something essential to an object’s formal aspect. Although motives may seem more difficult to integrate since they are sometimes presented as causes for appetite, Aquinas says that motives are ‘proper objects of the will’ and asserts that they specify as ‘ends’ of human action.
Joseph Pilsner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286058
- eISBN:
- 9780191603808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286051.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
A crucial task for any moral theory is to determine what makes a human action to be of a certain kind. For instance, what makes almsgiving to be in its own species rather than in the species of theft ...
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A crucial task for any moral theory is to determine what makes a human action to be of a certain kind. For instance, what makes almsgiving to be in its own species rather than in the species of theft or selling? Aquinas addresses this issue in a few of his works, most notably Commentary on the Sentences, De Malo, and the Summa Theologiae. However, a puzzle arises when his writings are examined carefully. Aquinas uses five different terms — end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive — to signify what gives species to human actions. Although similarities in meaning can be discerned among certain of these terms, it is difficult to grasp how all five could refer to what specifies human actions. In this monograph, the five terms used by Aquinas are examined and compared to propose a more comprehensive account of his teaching on specification of human action.Less
A crucial task for any moral theory is to determine what makes a human action to be of a certain kind. For instance, what makes almsgiving to be in its own species rather than in the species of theft or selling? Aquinas addresses this issue in a few of his works, most notably Commentary on the Sentences, De Malo, and the Summa Theologiae. However, a puzzle arises when his writings are examined carefully. Aquinas uses five different terms — end, object, matter, circumstance, and motive — to signify what gives species to human actions. Although similarities in meaning can be discerned among certain of these terms, it is difficult to grasp how all five could refer to what specifies human actions. In this monograph, the five terms used by Aquinas are examined and compared to propose a more comprehensive account of his teaching on specification of human action.
Joseph Pilsner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286058
- eISBN:
- 9780191603808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286051.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
A circumstance is an attendant property of an action. In murder, for instance, one might take note of the time, the type of weapon, or the perpetrator’s height. Although Aquinas in some contexts ...
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A circumstance is an attendant property of an action. In murder, for instance, one might take note of the time, the type of weapon, or the perpetrator’s height. Although Aquinas in some contexts denies that any circumstance can give form and species to a human action, in other contexts, he asserts that at least some circumstances do, as when the ‘sacredness’ of a stolen chalice further defines ‘theft’ as ‘sacrilege’. The key to understanding this apparent contradiction lies in recognizing that a human action can be viewed from two perspectives. The very same property in an action can be incidental when an action is considered apart from a comparison to right reason, but essential when this standard is invoked. For instance, the fact that an item being stolen happens to be ‘sacred’ is just one circumstance among many until the action is compared to right reason; then this property ‘sacred’ is recognized as part of what constitutes sacrilege and essential to its object. When speaking with greater precision, Aquinas admits that a property essential in a comparison to right reason (such as ‘sacred’ in sacrilege) even deserves a new name, instead of a ‘circumstance’ it should be called a ‘condition’ or ‘difference’ of an object.Less
A circumstance is an attendant property of an action. In murder, for instance, one might take note of the time, the type of weapon, or the perpetrator’s height. Although Aquinas in some contexts denies that any circumstance can give form and species to a human action, in other contexts, he asserts that at least some circumstances do, as when the ‘sacredness’ of a stolen chalice further defines ‘theft’ as ‘sacrilege’. The key to understanding this apparent contradiction lies in recognizing that a human action can be viewed from two perspectives. The very same property in an action can be incidental when an action is considered apart from a comparison to right reason, but essential when this standard is invoked. For instance, the fact that an item being stolen happens to be ‘sacred’ is just one circumstance among many until the action is compared to right reason; then this property ‘sacred’ is recognized as part of what constitutes sacrilege and essential to its object. When speaking with greater precision, Aquinas admits that a property essential in a comparison to right reason (such as ‘sacred’ in sacrilege) even deserves a new name, instead of a ‘circumstance’ it should be called a ‘condition’ or ‘difference’ of an object.
Joseph Pilsner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286058
- eISBN:
- 9780191603808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286051.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Aquinas says that motives are responsible for the specification of human action. ‘Motive’ can generally refer to any principle of movement, but two meanings are especially significant in the context ...
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Aquinas says that motives are responsible for the specification of human action. ‘Motive’ can generally refer to any principle of movement, but two meanings are especially significant in the context of the voluntary. First, one sees ‘motive’ referring to what attracts a person to action. In this context, Aquinas calls motives ‘proper objects of the will’ and insists that they specify as ‘ends’ of human action. Second, one sees motives referring to causes related to appetite. For example, Aquinas differentiates gluttony into five species (named by circumstances) because each species is associated with a distinctive motive, as when rapid digestion (motive) incites concupiscence and defines the species of gluttony called ‘too soon’. Since Aquinas holds that a passion is morally relevant only to the extent that it is voluntary, motives regarding appetite must be willed somehow for them to determine a species of sin.Less
Aquinas says that motives are responsible for the specification of human action. ‘Motive’ can generally refer to any principle of movement, but two meanings are especially significant in the context of the voluntary. First, one sees ‘motive’ referring to what attracts a person to action. In this context, Aquinas calls motives ‘proper objects of the will’ and insists that they specify as ‘ends’ of human action. Second, one sees motives referring to causes related to appetite. For example, Aquinas differentiates gluttony into five species (named by circumstances) because each species is associated with a distinctive motive, as when rapid digestion (motive) incites concupiscence and defines the species of gluttony called ‘too soon’. Since Aquinas holds that a passion is morally relevant only to the extent that it is voluntary, motives regarding appetite must be willed somehow for them to determine a species of sin.
Donald Miller
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520234925
- eISBN:
- 9780520929142
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520234925.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
A remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people, this book documents the lives of Armenians in the last two decades. Based on intimate interviews with 300 Armenians, it brings together ...
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A remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people, this book documents the lives of Armenians in the last two decades. Based on intimate interviews with 300 Armenians, it brings together firsthand testimony about the social, economic, and spiritual circumstances of Armenians during the 1980s and 1990s, when the country faced an earthquake, pogroms, and war. The book is a story of extreme suffering and hardship, a searching look at the fight for independence and a complex portrait of the human spirit. A companion to Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide by the same authors, it focuses on four groups of people: survivors of the earthquakes that devastated northwestern Armenia in 1988; refugees from Azerbaijan who fled Baku and Sumgait because of pogroms against them; women, children, and soldiers who were affected by the war in Nagorno-Karabakh; and ordinary citizens who survived several winters without heat because of the blockade against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The authors' narrative situates these accounts contextually and thematically, but the voices of individuals remain paramount.Less
A remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people, this book documents the lives of Armenians in the last two decades. Based on intimate interviews with 300 Armenians, it brings together firsthand testimony about the social, economic, and spiritual circumstances of Armenians during the 1980s and 1990s, when the country faced an earthquake, pogroms, and war. The book is a story of extreme suffering and hardship, a searching look at the fight for independence and a complex portrait of the human spirit. A companion to Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide by the same authors, it focuses on four groups of people: survivors of the earthquakes that devastated northwestern Armenia in 1988; refugees from Azerbaijan who fled Baku and Sumgait because of pogroms against them; women, children, and soldiers who were affected by the war in Nagorno-Karabakh; and ordinary citizens who survived several winters without heat because of the blockade against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The authors' narrative situates these accounts contextually and thematically, but the voices of individuals remain paramount.
Michael W. Foley and Dean R. Hoge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195188707
- eISBN:
- 9780199785315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195188707.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Worship communities play important roles in civil society, in a few cases promoting political engagement around homeland causes and immigrant issues. Many communities provide informal or formal ...
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Worship communities play important roles in civil society, in a few cases promoting political engagement around homeland causes and immigrant issues. Many communities provide informal or formal social services to their members; others focus their charitable activities on the needy in inner-city America or abroad. Needier immigrant communities tend primarily to their own, especially in family-style worship communities; others draw on denominational resources to provide for immigrant members and others in their surroundings. More affluent worship communities provide money, goods, and volunteers for causes outside their immediate communities. Circumstances of immigration, the demographic profile of worship communities, and their organizational cultures and religious ties thus explain the considerable variation in the civic presence of immigrant worship communities.Less
Worship communities play important roles in civil society, in a few cases promoting political engagement around homeland causes and immigrant issues. Many communities provide informal or formal social services to their members; others focus their charitable activities on the needy in inner-city America or abroad. Needier immigrant communities tend primarily to their own, especially in family-style worship communities; others draw on denominational resources to provide for immigrant members and others in their surroundings. More affluent worship communities provide money, goods, and volunteers for causes outside their immediate communities. Circumstances of immigration, the demographic profile of worship communities, and their organizational cultures and religious ties thus explain the considerable variation in the civic presence of immigrant worship communities.
Jeremy Waldron
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294962
- eISBN:
- 9780191598708
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294964.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
It is a pity that Sandel neglects the sociological side of John Stuart Mill’s argument in On Liberty–not just because he fails therefore to do justice to the liberal case for neutrality, but also ...
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It is a pity that Sandel neglects the sociological side of John Stuart Mill’s argument in On Liberty–not just because he fails therefore to do justice to the liberal case for neutrality, but also because the question of how traditional moral ideals fare in modern circumstances of mass society (and also global society) is in fact supposed to be a dominant theme of Sandel’s book. Sandel suggests that the liberal ideals of freedom and autonomy are sociologically not availablein modern circumstances; however, under modern circumstances, the Aristotelian ideal of a polity devoted to the inculcation of genuine full-blooded virtue may not be sociologically available either. We cannot pretend that the United States has the population of quattrocento Florence. If the scale of political organization is so different as to enable only civic agency of a different sort, then it is likely that our thinking about “the qualities of character necessary to the common good of self-government” will have to be different too. If the premises of Benjamin Constant’s discussion of the reality and the phenomenology of politics in the modern world are taken seriously, they may necessitate a rethinking of civic virtue: both of what it is and how, more structurally, it is related to the agency conditions of collective action.Less
It is a pity that Sandel neglects the sociological side of John Stuart Mill’s argument in On Liberty–not just because he fails therefore to do justice to the liberal case for neutrality, but also because the question of how traditional moral ideals fare in modern circumstances of mass society (and also global society) is in fact supposed to be a dominant theme of Sandel’s book. Sandel suggests that the liberal ideals of freedom and autonomy are sociologically not availablein modern circumstances; however, under modern circumstances, the Aristotelian ideal of a polity devoted to the inculcation of genuine full-blooded virtue may not be sociologically available either. We cannot pretend that the United States has the population of quattrocento Florence. If the scale of political organization is so different as to enable only civic agency of a different sort, then it is likely that our thinking about “the qualities of character necessary to the common good of self-government” will have to be different too. If the premises of Benjamin Constant’s discussion of the reality and the phenomenology of politics in the modern world are taken seriously, they may necessitate a rethinking of civic virtue: both of what it is and how, more structurally, it is related to the agency conditions of collective action.
Colin M. Macleod
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293972
- eISBN:
- 9780191599798
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293976.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Critically evaluates Dworkin's use of a hypothetical insurance market scheme to illuminate the degree to which justice requires the provision of compensation to persons with significant physical or ...
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Critically evaluates Dworkin's use of a hypothetical insurance market scheme to illuminate the degree to which justice requires the provision of compensation to persons with significant physical or mental disabilities. The chapter argues that the hypothetical insurance market scheme is procedurally unfair, is plagued by epistemic difficulties, and is insufficiently sensitive to the importance of addressing features of the social environment in virtue of which persons with disabilities are disadvantaged.Less
Critically evaluates Dworkin's use of a hypothetical insurance market scheme to illuminate the degree to which justice requires the provision of compensation to persons with significant physical or mental disabilities. The chapter argues that the hypothetical insurance market scheme is procedurally unfair, is plagued by epistemic difficulties, and is insufficiently sensitive to the importance of addressing features of the social environment in virtue of which persons with disabilities are disadvantaged.
Michaela Caroline Benson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719082498
- eISBN:
- 9781781701843
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719082498.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
This is a study of how lifestyle choices intersect with migration, and how this relationship frames and shapes post-migration lives. It presents a conceptual framework for understanding ...
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This is a study of how lifestyle choices intersect with migration, and how this relationship frames and shapes post-migration lives. It presents a conceptual framework for understanding post-migration lives that incorporates culturally specific imaginings, lived experiences, individual life histories, and personal circumstances. Through an ethnographic lens incorporating in-depth interviews, participant observation, life and migration histories, this monograph reveals the complex process by which migrants negotiate and make meaningful their lives following migration. By promoting their own ideologies and lifestyle choices relative to those of others, British migrants in rural France reinforce their position as members of the British middle class, but also take authorship of their lives in a way not possible before migration. This is evident in the pursuit of a better life that initially motivated migration and continues to characterise post-migration lives. As the book argues, this ongoing quest is both reflective of wider ideologies about living, particularly the desire for authentic living, and subtle processes of social distinction. In these respects, the book provides an empirical example of the relationship between the pursuit of authenticity and middle-class identification practices.Less
This is a study of how lifestyle choices intersect with migration, and how this relationship frames and shapes post-migration lives. It presents a conceptual framework for understanding post-migration lives that incorporates culturally specific imaginings, lived experiences, individual life histories, and personal circumstances. Through an ethnographic lens incorporating in-depth interviews, participant observation, life and migration histories, this monograph reveals the complex process by which migrants negotiate and make meaningful their lives following migration. By promoting their own ideologies and lifestyle choices relative to those of others, British migrants in rural France reinforce their position as members of the British middle class, but also take authorship of their lives in a way not possible before migration. This is evident in the pursuit of a better life that initially motivated migration and continues to characterise post-migration lives. As the book argues, this ongoing quest is both reflective of wider ideologies about living, particularly the desire for authentic living, and subtle processes of social distinction. In these respects, the book provides an empirical example of the relationship between the pursuit of authenticity and middle-class identification practices.
Lawrence C. Becker
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199917549
- eISBN:
- 9780199950454
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199917549.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Since habilitation is being proposed here as a framework for theories of basic justice, the proposal should pay some explicit attention to the circumstances under which habilitation is both possible ...
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Since habilitation is being proposed here as a framework for theories of basic justice, the proposal should pay some explicit attention to the circumstances under which habilitation is both possible and necessary. This effort will enlarge and reorient standard accounts of the "circumstances of justice." The most fundamental and general circumstances of habilitation have to do with the most fundamental and general facts about our humanness and our need for habilitation. This chapter surveys such factors and the habilitative tasks they generate for human beings. The concluding section condenses and summarizes the circumstances of habilitation into a single item: the practical possibility of creating or sustaining hospitable social environments. It then indicates the way in which focusing on that practical possibility points toward the importance of human health and healthy agency.Less
Since habilitation is being proposed here as a framework for theories of basic justice, the proposal should pay some explicit attention to the circumstances under which habilitation is both possible and necessary. This effort will enlarge and reorient standard accounts of the "circumstances of justice." The most fundamental and general circumstances of habilitation have to do with the most fundamental and general facts about our humanness and our need for habilitation. This chapter surveys such factors and the habilitative tasks they generate for human beings. The concluding section condenses and summarizes the circumstances of habilitation into a single item: the practical possibility of creating or sustaining hospitable social environments. It then indicates the way in which focusing on that practical possibility points toward the importance of human health and healthy agency.
Till Wahnbaeck
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199269839
- eISBN:
- 9780191710056
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269839.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
This book charts the development of political economy in eighteenth-century Italy, and it argues that the focus on economic thought is characteristic of the Italian enlightenment at large. Through an ...
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This book charts the development of political economy in eighteenth-century Italy, and it argues that the focus on economic thought is characteristic of the Italian enlightenment at large. Through an analysis of the debate about luxury, it traces the shaping of a new language of political economy which was inspired by, and contributed to, European debate, but which offered solutions that were as much shaped by intellectual traditions and socio-economic circumstances as by French or Scottish precedent. Ultimately, those traditions were responsible for the development of very distinct ‘cultures of enlightenment’ across the peninsula -from the insertion of the economy into the edifice of enlightened Catholicism, to the development of physiocracy in Tuscany, to a new analytical approach to economics in the Milanese enlightenment. The author draws on treatises, academic debates, university lectures, sermons, letters, dictionaries, and personal sketches to trace the development of a public culture in Italy in the middle of the century, to establish the channels for the transmission of ideas between Italy, France, and Scotland, and the development of an analytical language of economy in Milan in the second half of the century. This work relates those developments to the socio-economic and political contexts in which they occurred and argues that the focus on the economy (especially in northern Italy) can be explained by a triple reason: against the background of a declining economy and a shift towards agriculture in a competitive European environment, economic thought addressed the region's most pressing needs; secondly, subjection to Habsburg rule meant that political reform was monopolized in Vienna, whereas economic policy was an area of developed government and hence offered a safe route to influence without infringing on Habsburg prerogatives; and finally, advances in economic thinking in Milan in particular provided a claim to power against the previous generation which had dominated the field of jurisprudence.Less
This book charts the development of political economy in eighteenth-century Italy, and it argues that the focus on economic thought is characteristic of the Italian enlightenment at large. Through an analysis of the debate about luxury, it traces the shaping of a new language of political economy which was inspired by, and contributed to, European debate, but which offered solutions that were as much shaped by intellectual traditions and socio-economic circumstances as by French or Scottish precedent. Ultimately, those traditions were responsible for the development of very distinct ‘cultures of enlightenment’ across the peninsula -from the insertion of the economy into the edifice of enlightened Catholicism, to the development of physiocracy in Tuscany, to a new analytical approach to economics in the Milanese enlightenment. The author draws on treatises, academic debates, university lectures, sermons, letters, dictionaries, and personal sketches to trace the development of a public culture in Italy in the middle of the century, to establish the channels for the transmission of ideas between Italy, France, and Scotland, and the development of an analytical language of economy in Milan in the second half of the century. This work relates those developments to the socio-economic and political contexts in which they occurred and argues that the focus on the economy (especially in northern Italy) can be explained by a triple reason: against the background of a declining economy and a shift towards agriculture in a competitive European environment, economic thought addressed the region's most pressing needs; secondly, subjection to Habsburg rule meant that political reform was monopolized in Vienna, whereas economic policy was an area of developed government and hence offered a safe route to influence without infringing on Habsburg prerogatives; and finally, advances in economic thinking in Milan in particular provided a claim to power against the previous generation which had dominated the field of jurisprudence.
Johannes Lindvall
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199590643
- eISBN:
- 9780191723407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590643.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
This chapter describes the consolidation of new macroeconomic regimes in Denmark and the Netherlands in the early 1980s and the end of employment-oriented macroeconomic policies in Austria and Sweden ...
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This chapter describes the consolidation of new macroeconomic regimes in Denmark and the Netherlands in the early 1980s and the end of employment-oriented macroeconomic policies in Austria and Sweden in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main argument of the chapter is that the policy changes in Austria and Sweden were associated with wider changes in the Austrian and Swedish political models in the late 1980s and early 1990s – a period when Austria and Sweden became, in a certain sense, ordinary European states. The chapter also considers the role of economic ideas and Europeanization.Less
This chapter describes the consolidation of new macroeconomic regimes in Denmark and the Netherlands in the early 1980s and the end of employment-oriented macroeconomic policies in Austria and Sweden in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main argument of the chapter is that the policy changes in Austria and Sweden were associated with wider changes in the Austrian and Swedish political models in the late 1980s and early 1990s – a period when Austria and Sweden became, in a certain sense, ordinary European states. The chapter also considers the role of economic ideas and Europeanization.
Katherine Beckett and Steve Herbert
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195395174
- eISBN:
- 9780199943319
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195395174.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter addresses the question of whether a society should banish or not. It explores the possible alternatives to banishment and stresses the need to decrease the economic and social inequality ...
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This chapter addresses the question of whether a society should banish or not. It explores the possible alternatives to banishment and stresses the need to decrease the economic and social inequality that supports the present urban crisis. This chapter also shows that banishment mostly works to expand the criminal justice system and decrease both the rights bearing capacity and life circumstances of those who are targeted for banishment.Less
This chapter addresses the question of whether a society should banish or not. It explores the possible alternatives to banishment and stresses the need to decrease the economic and social inequality that supports the present urban crisis. This chapter also shows that banishment mostly works to expand the criminal justice system and decrease both the rights bearing capacity and life circumstances of those who are targeted for banishment.
