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Title: Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality by Michael Walzer ISBN: 0-465-08189-4 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: September, 1984 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: The other shoe never drops
Comment: Before critiquing this book, Mr. Walzer should be given some credit. He manages to make a good argument for pluralism, equality, and the like, and avoids the deus ex machina thought experiments a la Rawls (with "original positions") or the like. For that, Mr. Walzer should be thanked.
Now for the problems. Walzer, author of "Just and Unjust Wars" and "On Toleration" (among many others), is trying to defend a certain order of society where differences can be accepted and equality may be ensured. But Walzer's arguments suffer from a major problem - his starting point(s) are left undefended, and indeed sometimes even undefined. The key to his system is "shared meanings," an idea that he has used in other works (like "Just and Unjust Wars" [J&UW]) under various names. What these shared meanings are, Walzer generally avoids saying directly. As he mentioned in J&UW, Walzer tends to avoid the more complex questions of the foundations for morality and the like - he tends, in practice anyway, to be an antifoundationalist. This presents a problem - he gives the reader all these beautifully reasoned arguments for his idea of society, but always leaves the starting-point out. As such, it is hard to make much of his argument, if you may find yourself in disagreement with his elusive first principles.
Walzer argues that he's starting with "shared meanings," and just following out logically what that entails. In practice, this results in a social democratic, left-oriented society. Fine. But one feels a sleight-of-hand is being played. The "shared meanings" are rather vague. Moreover, "shared" by whom? While Walzer gives some discussion to this, the question lingers. Shared by all those in Western society? By those in only one country? By those in one class? By those on the editorial board of "Dissent" magazine? The reader may find that s/he is locked into the "logical result" of premises that were unknown in the beginning.
Having written all that, this is a very important book in political thoery/philosophy. If those are areas you are interested in, you should read this book. While well-argued, I find it less than compelling (for the reasons discussed above). I could be wrong. Read and decide for yourself.
Rating: 5
Summary: great theory
Comment: Finally, Walzer has published a book that challenges the liberal theory of rationality, justice, and the capitalist markets. Although Walzer does have a few inconsistencies, his theory of the individual and the community dwarfs the liberal theory of Rawls.
Rating: 4
Summary: An easy, excellent read
Comment: One of the major achievements of this is book just how well-written it is. Like one previous reviewer noted, Walzer is much more readable than authors like Nozick and Rawls (not to demean their incredible works). The strength of this book I have found is uneven. Some topics it treats incredibly and others are sorely wanting. Walzer's work is best at showing how justice is not just a political experience but also an economic, social, cultural, religious, and personal one; thus, this book is not just about politics but also about ethics. I recommend the book highly. It's an easy, memorable read for those interested in the topic therein.
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Title: Anarchy, State and Utopia by Robert Nozick ISBN: 0465097200 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: October, 1977 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Liberalism and the Limits of Justice by Michael J. Sandel ISBN: 0521567416 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 28 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations by Michael Walzer ISBN: 0465037054 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad by Michael Walzer ISBN: 0268018979 Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr Pub. Date: June, 1996 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: A Theory of Justice (Belknap) by John Rawls ISBN: 0674000781 Publisher: Belknap Pr Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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