Konfuzius, Chinas grosser Weiser, ist 1974 wieder einmal von seinen modernen Landsleuten unter Beschuss geraten. In diesem Buch wird das radikal-kritische Bild, das man damals von Konfuzius aufstellte, anhand der Originalquellen uberpruft. Durch diese Methode der Gegenuberstellung versucht der Autor zu zeigen, dass die wahren Anliegen des Meisters und seiner Schule klarer und aktueller zutage treten. Insbesonde sollte deutlich werden, dass Konfuzius' tiefe Einsichten in das menschliche Wesen von einem unerschutterlichen, religios zu nennenden Glauben getragen wurden. In der Post-Mao-Ara sind (...) die Konfuziuskritiker bereits langst wieder selber kritisiert und der Meister teilweise positiver bewertet worden. Der Anhang gibt davon ein gutes Beispiel. Fur den nicht eingeweihten westlichen Leser aber ist die innerchinesische Konfuziusdiskussion nicht ohne weiteres verstandlich. Daher bemuht sich der Autor, die wichtigsten Daten uber Leben und Lehre des Meisters systematisch zu rekonstruieren. Manche Einzelheiten werden dabei neu uberpruft, und die vielen Zitate sind alle neu ubersetzt worden. Somit durfte diese Studie fur Fachleute wie auch fur Laien von Interesse sein. Konfuzius, Chinas immer wieder entthronter Heiliger, der ubrigens nie einen Thron innehatte, wird in seinem Lande noch lange Zeit aktuell bleiben. Daruberhinaus bleibt er eine der grossen Gestalten der Weltgeschichte, die der Menschheit in der Suche nach der wahren Menschlichkeit leuchtend vorangegangen sind.". (shrink)

The Description for this book, Understanding Rawls: A Reconstruction and Critique of A Theory of Justice, will be forthcoming.

Karl Marx's great work, Capital, has intrigued and puzzled readers for more than a century by its mystifyingly intricate arguments and dramatic literary embellishments. In this book, Robert Paul Wolff dispels much of the mystery surrounding Capital by providing a literary-philosophical analysis of the text and of Marx's intentions.

_In Defense of Anarchism_ is a 1970 book by the philosopher Robert Paul Wolff, in which the author defends individualist anarchism. He argues that individual autonomy and state authority are mutually exclusive and that, as individual autonomy is inalienable, the moral legitimacy of the state collapses.

An intensely personal meditation on the nature of America by a White Philosopher who joined a Black Studies Department and found his understanding of the world transformed by the experience. (Literary Collections).

Gulick’s description and analysis of my The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism is largely on target, but in this response I point out several of his misperceptions and elaborate on several points made in my book. For instance, I note that Polanyi’s monetary prescription for stimulating the economy is no longer relevant when so many US jobs have moved offshore. Polanyi’s interest in achieving full employment has been replaced by Federal Reserve policies that keep risk-taking banks solvent.

At a minimum, a fiduciary is one who is entrusted to act for the benefit of others. But as the essays in this volume indicate, fiduciary relationships can be conceived or argued to be thicker and/or more robust. In addition to a relation of trust and action on behalf of another, fiduciary relationships are often thought to include some or all of the following additions: asymmetries of power, knowledge, skill or ability; discretion or reasonable judgment on the part of the (...) fiduciary; loyalty of the fiduciary to the interests of the trustor, or potential beneficiary; and the ethical obligation to act in good faith, with due care, or with professional or special knowledge in advancing the interests of the trustor. Due to the vulnerability of dependents, their trust in fiduciaries, and ethical obligations of trustees to act beneficently, fiduciary relationships lie at the heart of much ethical reflection, discourse and argumentation. This is especially so for professional fields in which fiduciaries have special knowledge and skill, and consequently special powers. Yet, apart from the specialized sub-disciplines of business ethics, legal ethics and medical ethics, fiduciary roles and relationships have not received much scrutiny and discussion in philosophy. In our view, this deficiency is best remedied by treating fiduciary ethics as a more general sub-field within ethics and deserving of attention in its own right. (shrink)

MOOCS, or massive, online, and open courses aheady have made a major impact on college education. They are touted as a means of developing the best educational products most efficiently and to the widest possible audiences. Of several reasons for concern about MOOCs, however, one briefly considered here isthe contribution MOOCs might make to the decline of the professoriate. The major issue I discuss pertains to the way we ought to understand the ethics of teaching. While promoters of MOOCs believe (...) that the process of teaching can be separated from its content, or product, I dispute this claim. Followmg Alasdair Maclntyre, I argue for an ethics of teaching that includes an ethics of aspiration as well as the virtues. On the model of ethical teachuig thus presented, process cannot be separated from product, and MOOCs seriously interfere with the ethical objectives we seek to attain with our students. (shrink)

In 1945, Michael Polanyi achieved, in Full Employment and Free Trade, the integration of Keynesian and monetarist economics that the economics profession did not ahieve until the 1970s. In yet another field, Polanyi saw the heart of important matters long before anyone else.

Societies emerging from severe internal bloodshed along ethnic, racial or religious lines face significant problems of reconciliation. A particularly “deep” form of recognition between former victims and offenders is necessary to end enmity and achieve solidarity. Yet it appears that deep reconciliation is logically incoherent as it requires that forgiveness be asked and be given for acts that are inexcusable and unforgivable. I argue, however, that toleration, understood as moral attitudes and dispositions, helps us understand why deep reconciliation is logically (...) coherent. Dispelling the apparent paradox lies in understanding the role of toleration in forming what I call relationships of “acknowledgment and forbearance.” Relationships of acknowledgement and forbearance overcome elements of enmity and estrangement, and such relationships are necessary, in turn, for deep reconciliation. (shrink)

“This volume’s twenty-one essays present a spectrum of contemporary understandings and interpretations of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. In the three general areas of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, his ethical theory, and his aesthetics, various particular aspects of Kant’s philosophy are examined in depth. Connecting papers discuss his concept of synthetic and analytic and debate the meaning of the categorical imperative. A wide range of post-war scholarship is represented: all of the papers have been written since 1945, and three (...) appear in this volume for the first time. No philosopher has had a greater influence on contemporary thought than Kant; his influence and the place of his ideas in contemporary philosophical argument are evidenced and illuminated in these essays.”- Publisher. (shrink)

In recent years, philosophers trained in the techniques and constrained by the style of what is known in the Anglo-American world as ‘analytic philosophy’ have in growing numbers undertaken to include within their methodological ambit the theories and insights of Karl Marx.