Personal Responsibility - (Think Now) by Alexander Brown (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- Personal responsibility is now very much on the political agenda.
- About the Author: Alexander Brown is a Teaching Fellow in Political Theory at the School of Public Policy, University College London, UK.
- 224 Pages
- Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Series Name: Think Now
Description
About the Book
Individual responsibility is an issue at the heart of public debates surrounding justice today - this book explores the philosophical implications of this hugely topical contemporary debate.Book Synopsis
Personal responsibility is now very much on the political agenda. But what is personal responsibility? Why do we care about it? And what, if anything, should governments do to promote it?
This book explores the idea that individuals bear a special responsibility for the success or failure of their own lives looking at philosophical theories, political ideologies, and public opinion on the subject. Alexander Brown lends support to a recent move in political philosophy to deal with real world problems and shows how philosophy can contribute to public democratic debate on pressing issues of personal responsibility. Articulate, provocative, and stimulating, this timely book will make a significant contribution to one of the most important debates of our time.
Review Quotes
"This important and timely book tackles one of the central issues in the relationship between the state and the individual: what is the proper scope of personal responsibility and how can it be supported through social arrangements? Responses to this question have widespread implications for welfare policy, criminal justice and healthcare and map one of the key fault lines in British politics. The book is essential reading for political philosophers, social policy specialists and anyone with an interest in the future of the welfare state." --Tania Burchardt, London School of Economics, UK
"This is clear, comprehensive, original and engagingly written study of the role responsibility might play in our moral and political lives. Expertly drawing on sophisticated political philosophy, the analysis of the reality and rhetoric of politics and empirical survey research, Alexander Brown sets out a new 'right to personal responsibility' - that everyone should have the right to exercise responsibility for their lives - and considers how this might be implemented through the use of citizens' juries. Brown has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the idea of responsibility and its implications." --Jonathan Wolff, University College London, UK "Captivating and topical" --Sunday Business Post "As the philosopher Alexander Brown shows ... the subject is more slippery than politicians imagine." --London Review of Books "Author piece, November 2009." --Philosophy Now "A nicely lucid and comprehensive treatment of personal responsibility as it appears in Western liberal democracies ... an interesting and engaging book." --Times Higher EducationAbout the Author
Alexander Brown is a Teaching Fellow in Political Theory at the School of Public Policy, University College London, UK. He is the author of Ronald Dworkin's Theory of Equality (Forthcoming, Palgrave Macmillan).