Contemporary Debates in Social Philosophy

Laurence Thomas is Professor in the departments of Philosophy and Political Science in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where he is also a member of the Center for European Studies. He is the author of over fifty articles and four books, Living Morally: A Psychology of Moral Character (1989), Vessels of Evil: American Slavery and the Holocaust (1993), Sexual Orientation and Human Rights (with Michael Levin, 1999) and The Family and the Political Self (2006). His articles on moral theory and social philosophy have been widely anthologized.

"Thomas has put renowned scholars in debate with each other and the result is a collection of stimulating debates of the highest order. In these well-written and argued articles, one is treated to the best of scholarly argumentation. One may not agree with all that is said. Nevertheless, one will find that after reading this volume one will have a better understanding of the importance of what Thomas calls 'virtuous disagreement'." Bill E. Lawson, University of Memphis“Volume combines practical ethics and political philosophy in a somewhat unusual way; it has quite a lot of reasonable material on race and affirmative action.”Metapsychology

• Acknowledgments viiNotes on Contributors viiiIntroduction: Virtuous Disagreements in Social Philosophy 1Laurence Thomas Equality 171 Freedom and Money 19G. A. Cohen2 The Meanings of Freedom 43Leif WenarThe Family 553 The Good and Bad Family 57Rosalind Hursthouse4 Family Resemblances 69Elizabeth F. CohenSexual Rights 775 Homosexuality, Harm, and Moral Principles 79John Corvino6 Homosexual Acts, Morality, and Public Discourse 94Christopher WolfeAbortion and The Limits of Freedom 1117 The Fetus in Perspective: The Moral and the Legal 113Anne Fagot-Largeault8 Abortion and Moral Repugnancy 122Laurence ThomasPrivacy 1299 Privacy 131John Deigh10 Privacy’s Value 146Terrance McConnellReligious Tolerance 15311 In Defense of Religious Toleration 155Philip L. Quinn12 Does Religious Toleration Make Any Sense? 171Thomas ChristianoDiversity 19113 Ethnicity, Disunity, and Equality 193Lawrence Blum14 Diversity Limited 212David BenatarRacial Integration 22715 The Future of Racial Integration 229Elizabeth Anderson16 When Turnabout Is Not Fair Play 250Carl CohenScarce Resources 26117 Moral Issues in Rationing Scarce Resources 263F. M. Kamm18 Locke’s Defense of Preferential Treatment 279Bernard R. BoxillViolence 29719 Psychological Violence and Institutional Racism: The Moral Responsibility of Bystanders 299Howard McGary20 McGary’s Striking Claim and the Roles of Self-Deception, Acquiescence, and Complicity 312B. C. Postow Index 317