Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality
TL;DR: Lawler as mentioned in this paper argued that being for the freeze means that one is not for disarmament, which is hardly a rational position in the sense that it is suspect if not immoral, in the eyes of some.
Abstract: that a plurality of the American Catholic bishops endorse a nuclear freeze (p. 4), saying that they are thus "taking their stance with Moscow,55 which is for a freeze, and not with the Vatican, which "is still in favor of disarmament?not a freeze.55 To make any sense at all, Mr. Lawler must mean that being for the freeze means that one is not for disarmament? hardly a rational position. One recalls here the arguments, during the 19305s and 19405s, that being for racial justice in the United States was suspect if not immoral, in the eyes of some, because the communists also favored it.
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01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: The European Union lacks the chief characteristics of a sovereign constitutional nation state, namely, a congruence of territory, functional authority and identity; a monopoly of legitimate violence within its borders; exclusive control over the movement of goods and persons within its domain; a clear locus and hierarchy of authority and offices; offers little if any democratic accountability to those affected by its decisions; and has no pre-set limits to its area of competence as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Consider for a moment how odd the European Union’s political structure is.2 It lacks the chief characteristics of a sovereign constitutional nation state — namely, a congruence of territory, functional authority and identity; a monopoly of legitimate violence within its borders; exclusive control over the movement of goods and persons within its domain; a clear locus and hierarchy of authority and offices; offers little if any democratic accountability to those affected by its decisions; and has no pre-set limits to its area of competence. These features are largely loaned to it indirectly via the Member States, which also offer it the main source of its legitimacy. Yet this transferral of powers does not occur in the institutionalised and consistent manner of a federal system. It is achieved in a piecemeal fashion, either through the internal dynamics of Community decision making, or as a result of periodic pacts and treaties between the various governments concerned. Eppur si muove! It has a life of its own. The Treaties are not simple international agreements, they offer the basis for an independent legal system. The European agencies and bureaucracies amount to more than an inter-governmental organisation. They can generate and allocate revenue, regulate both public and private behaviour through legal and administrative directives, respond to pressure groups and organise elections, possess diplomatic status, and have the ability to conduct and conclude binding international negotiations on certain trade and security matters.
27 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of the Rawlsian methods of wide reflective equilibrium and overlapping consensus in the field of applied ethics is discussed, and a taxonomy of different kinds of applications is developed, and classified according to the purpose, the content, and the type of justification.
Abstract: Insights from social science are increasingly used in the field of applied ethics. However, recent insights have shown that the empirical branch of business ethics lacks thorough theoretical grounding. This article discusses the use of the Rawlsian methods of wide reflective equilibrium and overlapping consensus in the field of applied ethics. Instead of focussing on one single comprehensive ethical doctrine to provide adequate guidance for resolving moral dilemmas, these Rawlsian methods seek to find a balance between considered judgments and intuitions concerning particular cases on the one hand and general principles and theories on the other. In business ethics this approach is promising because it enables decision-making in a pluralist context with different stakeholders who often endorse different or even conflicting cultural and moral frameworks without giving priority to any of them. Moreover, the method is well founded in political theory. A taxonomy of different kinds of applications is developed, and classified according to the purpose, the content, and the type of justification. On the basis of this taxonomy an inventory of 12 recent applications is made. In terms of the purpose and content of the method the applications are rather diverse. Two conceptual obstacles for applying Rawlsian methods are identified, viz. inclusiveness and the communitarian objection that people have to become detached from their personal life. It is found that methodological questions, such as the question how to retrieve the relevant empirical data, are scarcely addressed in the literature. To advance the use of empirical approaches in general, and that of Rawlsian approaches in particular, it is important not only to use empirical data but to use methodological insights from social sciences in order to further advance the field of empirical ethics. It is recommended that stakeholders be given a more active role in the assessment and justification of these methods.
27 citations
Cites background from "Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pl..."
...The point of criticism raised by Sheridan is related to the communitarian criticism which says that the method is mistakenly aimed at people being detached from their personal life (Walzer, 1983)....
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TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors examined whether managers' and politicians' personal incentives play an important role in firms' contributions to the campaign and found that firms are more likely to contribute if they are state-owned and managers are appointed by governments, if managers have a higher risk of being targeted in a concurrent anti-corruption campaign, if the political leaders in their province are new or intend to seek promotion, and if managers or directors have experienced poverty in their early life.
Abstract: In 2016 the Chinese government initiated a nationwide campaign aiming to eliminate poverty in China by 2020. Over 20% of listed firms in China have made significant contributions to the campaign. Using hand-collected data on listed firms’ contributions to the campaign and multivariate analyses, we examine whether managers’ and politicians’ personal incentives play an important role in firms’ contributions to the campaign. The results show that firms are more likely to contribute if they are state-owned and managers are appointed by governments, if managers have a higher risk of being targeted in a concurrent anti-corruption campaign, if the political leaders in their province are new or intend to seek promotion, and if managers or directors have experienced poverty in their early life. The results suggest that it is important to consider managers’ and politicians’ personal incentives in CSR activities that could have a grand social impact.
27 citations
Cites background from "Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pl..."
...Walzer (1983) observes that insufficient income excludes a citizen from full membership in a society....
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TL;DR: In this article, a rights-based instrumental justification for democratic participation is presented, grounded in a right-based justification for democracy, and it recommends extending participation boundaries to reinforce protections within regional and ultimately global institutions.
Abstract: How should the geographic boundaries of democratic participation be set? This has been a notoriously difficult theoretical question, beset by paradoxes around determining democratic participants democratically. It also is seen as increasingly important in practical terms, amid deepening interdependence between states, immigration tensions, and suprastate regional integration. Numerous recent accounts have called for extending participation beyond the state. The case is generally made on intrinsic grounds: democracy demands it. Respect for individual autonomy is said to be violated when outsiders are deeply affected by decision processes, or subject to coercion from them, without being able to participate in them. Yet, familiar problems around restrictions on the autonomy of persistent democratic minorities remain in such accounts, and they could be magnified with expanded boundaries. An alternative approach is offered here, grounded in a rights-based instrumental justification for democracy. It sees participation as foundationally – though not solely – valuable as a means of promoting and protecting fundamental rights. It recommends extending participation boundaries to reinforce protections within regional and ultimately global institutions. Democratic participation would remain crucial at all levels, not principally as an expression of autonomy but to provide checks on power and promote accountability to individuals in multilevel polities.
26 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined whether teachers' ambiguities regarding language use exist in kindergarten education as in other levels of formal education and whether at the age of kindergarten education children's language attitudes towards the standard and non-standard varieties begin to develop.
Abstract: This study investigates language use and language attitudes in state kindergarten education in Cyprus. Kindergarten education is the primary setting where Greek-Cypriots learn to employ the standard variety on a systematic basis. Consequently, the context of kindergarten education is a principal setting for examining language attitudes and language variation. Specifically, this study examines whether teachers' ambiguities regarding language use exist in kindergarten education as in other levels of formal education and whether at the age of kindergarten education children's language attitudes towards the standard and non-standard varieties begin to develop. The data gathered via class observations and teacher interviews suggest that teacher ambiguities do seem to exist in relation to the use of the two varieties in the classroom and children do distinguish between the two language varieties, as they employ these on different speaking occasions in the classroom with their peers and teachers.
26 citations
Cites background from "Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pl..."
...Language policy, education and national identity are inextricably linked, and as the social philosopher Michael Walzer, claims, education ‘is a programme for social survival’ (Walzer, 1983, p. 197)....
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