Constructions of Practical Reason: Interviews on Moral and Political Philosophy

This set of extended and intellectually nuanced interviews with a broad range of contemporary philosophers working in the fields of moral and political philosophy invites readers to participate in the dialogue. We observe philosophers think as they speak, trying to clarify their views, and we watch them argue with each other, in the process revealing answers to some of the puzzles their writings provoke. The contributors are: Seyla Benhabib, Ronald Dworkin, David Gauthier, Christine M. Korsgaard, Martha C. Nussbaum, Michael J. Sandel, Thomas M. Scanlon, Amartya Sen, and Michael Walzer. Pauer-Studer invites her contributors to talk about major issues from different theoretical perspectives-liberalism and communitarianism, Hobbesianism and rational choice theory, utilitarianism and Kantianism, Critical Theory and neo-Aristotelianism. She also gets them to discuss the relevance of their views to such issues as feminism, abortion, animal rights, ecology, immigration, welfare, and multiculturalism. The interview format creates a much more accessible account of complex philosophical ideas and problematic aspects of the contributors’ works than found in the works themselves.

About the Author :
Herlinde Pauer-Studer is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. This is her first work published in English.

Review :
"Brilliantly organized, this very important work allows nine of the most influential philosophers in the Anglo-American tradition to present their views about ethics, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of law in an accessible and highly revealing manner. The question-answer format allows them to focus not only on the most important aspects of their thought, but also - thanks to the interviewer, Pauer-Studer - on important contrasts and comparisons between their views and the views of the other contributors. Reading these interviews together, in a single volume, reveals infinitely more about the contributors' work than reading their works separately." - David Ingram, Loyola University "The question-answer format allows them to focus not only on the most important aspects of their thought, but also - thanks to the interviewer, Pauer-Studer - on important contrasts and comparisons between their views and the views of the other contributors. Reading these interviews together, in a single volume, reveals infinitely more about the contributors' work than reading their works separately." - David Ingram, Loyola University "The content of [Pauer-Studer's] questions - and hence the substance of the interviews - is of very high quality , , , ,most of the philosophers interviewed, here freed of the contrains of scholarly publication, express their deepese insights in refreshingly ordinary and jargon-free language." - CHOICE