Against Perfectionism

by Steven Lecce

Overview

In a democracy, political authority should be determined independently of religious, philosophical, and ethical ideals that often divide us. This idea, called liberal neutrality, challenges one of the oldest insights of the Western philosophical tradition in politics. At least since Plato, the concept of perfectionism has insisted that statecraft is akin to "soulcraft," and political questions about the justification of state power have followed from ethical questions about what is valuable in life and about how we should live if we are to live well.

Against Perfectionism defends neutralist liberalism as the most appropriate political morality for democratic societies. Steven Lecce investigates the theoretical foundations of liberalism, bringing together classic and contemporary arguments about the implications of pluralism for liberal equality. He surveys three classic debates over the grounds and limits of tolerance, and investigates the limits of perfectionism as a guide to law and public policy in pluralist societies. Lecce ultimately suggests a version of neutrality that answers the critiques recently leveled against it as a political ideal. Presenting sophisticated and groundbreaking arguments, Against Perfectionism is a call to rethink current concepts of law and public policy in democratic societies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802094476
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Publication date:	01/28/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.04(w) x 9.01(h) x 0.89(d)

About the Author

Steven Lecce is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Manitoba.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     3
Three Classic Controversies
Putting Up with Heresy     19
Introduction     19
The Contractual Argument     21
The Epistemic Argument     26
The Pluralist Argument     28
Proast on Locke     30
Contractualism and Abstraction in Liberal Political Morality     36
Conclusion     44
Freedom for Eccentrics     46
Introduction     46
The Liberty Principle     47
Stephen on Mill     61
Stephen Examined     66
A Utilitarian Defence of Liberalism?     71
Conclusion     74
Is Prostitution Unpatriotic?     76
Introduction     76
Devlin's Disintegration Thesis     79
The Democratic Argument     81
Hart on Devlin     83
The Democratic Argument Considered     87
A Communitarian Reinterpretation of the Disintegration Thesis?     89
Conclusion     93
Liberalism Today
Should Liberals Be Perfectionists?     97
Introduction     97
Well-Being and Personal Autonomy     98
Practical Reason, Value,and Authority     109
Moral Pluralism and the Harm Principle     111
Raz's Harm Principle Examined     115
Perfectionism and Politics     131
Conclusion     134
The Continuity Thesis     136
Introduction     136
The Challenge Model of Ethics     138
From Ethics to Politics     142
The Challenge Model Examined     145
Challenge and Equality of Resources     145
Challenge and Anti-paternalism     148
Challenge and Ethical Neutrality     151
Whom Is the Challenge Model For?     152
Desert Island Contractualism? The Auction and Neutrality     154
Conclusion     161
Contract Killing: A Critique     162
Introduction     162
The Reflexivity Thesis     163
Two Concepts of Reasonableness     169
Equality     170
Plurality     171
Abstraction     172
How to Defend Neutrality     177
Conclusion     179
Defending Liberal Neutrality
Democratic Equality     183
Introduction     183
Moral Equality     185
Democracy      190
Democracy and Contractualism     193
Conclusion     200
Against the Epistemic Turn     201
Introduction     201
Society as a Fair System of Cooperation     204
The Social Contract: The Argument for the Original Position     205
The Social Contract: The Argument from the Original Position     206
Stability for the Right Reasons, and the Idea of a Well-Ordered Society     208
Reasonable Pluralism and Stability     210
Political Liberalism: Basic Ideas     211
The 'Reasonable' in Rawls     214
Scanlon's Contractualism     222
Conclusion     224
Beyond the Basic Structure     226
Introduction     226
The Argument Revisited     228
The Scope of Neutrality     230
Who or What Is to Be Neutral?     231
What Kind of State Neutrality, and Why?     233
Conclusion: The Place of Neutrality     237
How Political Is the Personal?     239
The Moral Division of Labour     241
The Socialist and Feminist Critiques     243
The Institutional Approach Defended     247
Three Ways That 'The Personal Is Political'      249
Applying Political Principles to the Personal: Three Sites and Modes     252
Three Different Types of Partiality     255
Justice and Economic Incentives     257
Justice and the Family     259
Familial Partiality     259
Justice and the Family     262
Conclusion     265
Notes     273
Bibliography     327
Index     341