2005
Values and Conflicts in Environmental Ethics
Science and Knowledge-based Society
Introduction to Political Philosophy
Author Jonathan Wolff
Translator Tiiu Hallap
Editor Triin Kaalep
Designer Sirje Ratso
University of Tartu Centre for Ethics 2005
University of Tartu Publishing
Political philosophy is a branch of practical philosophy that deals with questions of social contract, state, political power, democracy, freedom, property and social justice. Political philosopher’s research object is abstract. The philosopher asks how the state has come about and how it stands together. What is the moral justification for such a state? A lot of these kinds of problems remain an open issue and the debate goes on.
The author’s objective is not to present political theories chronologically, but to handle selected questions systematically. He has picked the most absorbing solutions presented throughout history by Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Rawls and Nozick.
To read and understand this book you need not have prior knowledge of philosophy or political science, that is why it suits very well as a textbook both in high school and university. This book is strongly recommended to present and future politicians who want to gain basic knowledge in political philosophy.
Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong
Author Louis P. Pojman
Translator Tiiu Hallap
Editor Ruth Jürjo
Designer Sirje Ratso
Publisher Eesti Keele Sihtasutus
University of Tartu Centre for Ethics 2005
Published with the support ofVolkswagen Stiftung
Louis P. Pojman’s book "Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong" is a textbook of ethics for undergraduates. All the main topics of moral philosophy – moral relativism and objectivism, values, egoism and altruism, deontological, teleological and virtue ethics - are handled in the book very systematically. Also metaethical topics and the relationship of religions to ethics are viewed closely. In addition, the reader can find tips on how to write a philosophical paper.
This textbook is used at the University of Tartu as the main text in teaching the course about the basics of ethics and it is also widely used in other universities and colleges in Estonia and elsewhere in the world.
Also a wider audience might find interest in the book, since the author has been very thorough and skillfully presented examples from everyday life, and from literary and film classics. One should not fear that the book might be too difficult; it is very readable even for people with no prior philosophical education. Ethics should not be limited with what you read or hear in the classroom, it should be used and thought about in our daily life. The author does just that and shows how moral philosophy is connected to our society.
Although there cannot be one right solution or analysis of ethical problems, Pojman’s book sets a good example and gives the reader a method how to think about moral problems.