Justice, Political Liberalism, and Utilitarianism: Themes from Harsanyi and Rawls

Description

The utilitarian economist and Nobel Laureate John Harsanyi and the liberal egalitarian philosopher John Rawls were two of the most eminent scholars writing on problems of social justice in the last century. This volume pays tribute to Harsanyi and Rawls by investigating themes that figure prominently in their work. In some cases, the contributors explore issues considered by Harsanyi and Rawls in more depth and from novel perspectives. In others, the contributors use the work of Harsanyi and Rawls as points of departure for pursuing the construction of theories for the evaluation of social justice. The introductory essay by the editors provides background information on the relevant economics, game theory, philosophy, and social choice theory, as well as readers' guides to the individual contributions, to make this volume widely accessible to scholars in a wide range of disciplines.

Marc Fleurbaey is Professor at the Centre de Recherche Sens, Ethique, Societe (CERSES) at the University of Paris-5 and Research Director at the CNRS, France. He is also serving as a Lachmann Fellow at the London School of Economics in 2006-08. Professor Fleurbaey coedited the Cambridge University Press journal Economics and Philosophy from 2000 to 2004. Maurice Salles is Professor of Economics at the University of Caen, France, where he has taught since 1984. Coordinating editor of the journal Social Choice and Welfare since 1984, he coedited the volume Social Choice, Welfare, and Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 1995) and has served as an Honorary Research Associate at the London School of Economics since 2002. John A. Weymark is Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. He served as Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia from 1986 to 1999. Professor Weymark is President-Elect of the Society for Social Choice and Welfare through 2007 and also serves as a Managing Editor of the journal Social Choice and Welfare.

"As befits a joint tribute to Harsanyi and Rawls, this edited collection explores overlapping themes from the disciplines of philosophy, politics, and economics ...There are notable contributions by 23 eminent authors ... the book serves as an overdue and fitting reminder not only of our great debts to Harsanyi and Rawls in particular, but also of how philosophy, politics, and economics have always had some close links.' Peter Hammond, University of Warwick 'This is a collection of authoritative essays on utilitarianism, justice, and liberalism by eminent scholars. The editors are to be thanked for this exceptionally stimulating volume which explores some of the central issues in political and social philosophy.' Prasanta K. Pattanaik, University of California, Riverside 'This is a state of the art collection of essays on the works of Rawls and Harsanyi with a superb introduction. Economists and philosophers with interests in well being, social aggregation, cooperation, or liberty will want to read this volume.' Peter Vallentyne, University of Missouri-Columbia