Product Description: This book presents and defends a novel theory of distributive justice, according to which political economic distributive justice reigns in a state if the government of that state ensures that citizens receive the benefits and burdens they deserve from it...read more

Several years ago I came across a marvelous little paper in which Hector-Neri Castaneda shows that standard versions of act utilitarian­ l ism are formally incoherent. I was intrigued by his argument. It had long seemed to me that I had a firm grasp on act utilitarianism. Indeed, it had often seemed to me that it was the clearest and most attractive of normative theories. Yet here was a simple and relatively uncontrover­ sial argument that showed, with only some trivial assumptions, that the doctrine is virtually unintelligible. The gist of Castaneda's argument is this: suppose we understand act utilitarianism to be the view that an act is obligatory if and only if its utility exceeds that of each alternative. Suppose it is obligatory for a certain person to perform an act with two parts - we can call it 'A & B'. Then, obviously enough, it is also obligatory for this person to perform the parts, A and B. If act utilitarianism were true, we appar­ ently could infer that the utility of A & B is higher than that of A, and higher than that of B (because A & B is obligatory, and the other acts are alternatives to A & B).

According to an ancient and still popular view -- sometimes known as 'eudaimonism' -- a person's well-being, or quality of life, is ultimately determined by his or her level of happiness. According to this view, the happier a person is, the better off he is. The doctrine is controversial in part because the nature of happiness is controversial. In What Is This Thing Called Happiness? Fred Feldman presents a study of the nature and value of happiness. Part One contains critical discussions of the main philosophical and psychological theories of happiness. Feldman presents arguments designed to show that each of these theories is problematic. Part Two contains his presentation and defense of his own theory of happiness, which is a form of attitudinal hedonism. On this view, a person's level of happiness may be identified with the extent to which he or she takes pleasure in things. Feldman shows that if we understand happiness as he proposes, it becomes reasonable to suppose that a person's well-being is determined by his or her level of happiness. This view has important implications not only for moral philosophy, but also for the emerging field of hedonic psychology. Part Three contains discussions of some interactions between the proposed theory of happiness and empirical research into happiness.

Product Description: Misfortune . . . Failure . . . Illness . . . It seems adversity dooms us to lives of frustration.Not so, according to dynamic industrialist and major philanthropist Al Weatherhead. He says adversity is not a curse but a gift--and that when we embrace our problems we temper and empower ourselves to achieve unimagined success...read more

Product Description: Living in a society from which we have learned to accept values based on material gain and the strong need to be a winner, many of us have lost appreciation for the value of positive human relations and the understanding of life’s realities...read more

Product Description: Since ancient times, hedonism has been one of the most attractive and controversial theories about "the Good Life." On this view, the Good Life is the pleasant life-- pleasure is the Good. Now Fred Feldman presents a careful, modern formulation of hedonism, defending the theory against some of the most important objections...read more

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Product Description: Fred Feldman has made a substantial contribution to utilitarian moral philosophy. In this collection, ten previously published essays plus a new introductory essay reveal the striking originality and unity of his views. Feldman's utilitarianism differs from traditional forms in that it evaluates behavior by appeal to the values of accessible worlds...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: An overview of the Palestinian struggle from World War I to the beginning of the intifada in 1987.

Jedidiah Smith, a young man from Pennsylvania, travels west to seek his fortune in the fur trade and explore the upper Missouri River

Product Description: Clear, accurate presentation of the most important classical and contemporary theories in normative and metaethics–utilitarianism (act and rule), egoism, the categorical imperative, social contract theory, formalism, relativism (belief and conceptual), naturalism and non- naturalism, emotivism and prescriptive...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)