Ethics and Public Policy: A Philosophical Inquiry

by Jonathan Wolff

Train crashes cause, on average, a handful of deaths each year in the UK. Technologies exist that would save the lives of some of those who die. Yet these technical innovations would cost hundreds of millions of pounds. Should we spend the money? How can we decide how to trade off life against financial cost? Such dilemmas make public policy is a battlefield of values, yet all too often we let technical experts decide the issues for us. Can philosophy help us make better decisions? Ethics and Public Policy: A Philosophical Inquiry is the first book to subject important and controversial areas of public policy to philosophical scrutiny. Jonathan Wolff, a renowned philosopher and veteran of many public committees, such as the Gambling Review Body, introduces and assesses core problems and controversies in public policy from a philosophical standpoint. Each chapter is centred on an important area of public policy where there is considerable moral and political disagreement. Topics discussed include: Other chapters discuss health care, disability, safety and the free market. Throughout the book, fundamental questions for both philosopher and policy maker recur: what are the best methods for connecting philosophy and public policy? Should thinking about public policy be guided by an ‘an ideal world’ or the world we live in now? If there are ‘knock down’ arguments in philosophy why are there none in public policy? Each chapter concludes with ‘Lessons for Philosophy’ making this book not only an ideal introduction for those coming to philosophy, ethics or public policy for the first time, but also a vital resource for anyone grappling with the moral complexity underlying policy debates.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Jonathan Wolff is a Professor specialising in political philosophy at University College London, in England. Wolff earned his MPhil from UCL under the direction of G.A. Cohen. He is the secretary of the British Philosophical Association and honorary secretary of the Aristotelian Society, which publishes Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. Recently, Wolff's work has specialized in disadvantage and equality and public policy decision making.

Reviews

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Autor hat in verschiedenen Gremien für die britische Regierung gearbeitet und sich vom Standpunkt der Philosophie unterschiedlichen Gesetzgebungen genähert. Darunter gehören zum Beispiel Glücksspiel, Tierversuche für Kosmetik und Medizin und Drogenpolitik.

Er vertritt einen maximal pragmatischen Ansatz.

Das Buch ist insofern interessant, als dass es die Argumente beider Seiten einer Debatte systematisch herleitet und einordnet. Das Buch ist im Grunde eine einzige Veranschaulichung der philosophisch-argumentatorischen Herangehensweise.

Jedes Kapitel schließt mit "Lessons for Philosophy" ab. Das wiederum ist meiner Meinung nach ein wenig zu oberflächlich und regt kein weiteres Interesse an den Grundlagen der philosophischen Positionen oder Weltsichten an.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I found this to be a good read for flexing the philosophical muscle, and it's been awhile since I've used mine to the extent of topics covered in this book. (For the present time my philosophical questions center around, the purpose of life and other spiritual conundrums).

Subjects of inquiry include:
CH 1: Scientific experiments on animals
CH 2: Gambling
CH 3: Drugs
CH 4: Safety
CH 5: Crime & Punishment
CH 6: Health
CH 7: Disability
CH 8: The free market

Chapters that proved intellectual thoughts included, scientific experiments on animals and drugs. The most intriguing subject matter to me was crime and punishment - in looking at the "roles" of prison's.

[Theresa Sl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making the link and reflecting on the interaction between political theory and public policy is an interesting, under-explored subject. Wolff makes a useful undertaking as such. Many policy areas are explored as examples, but at some points arguments should have been more elaborate, explaining why a topic was investigated in a certain way. This made the conclusions for public policy and political theory not entirely convincing, as Wolff adds more and more examples to try to make a point. I would have liked more comprehensive arguments and relatedness between the chapters.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of philosophical approaches to many different public policy issues. Wolff makes no pretensions to solving public policy problems, but he does a good job of clarifying them without wandering too deep in the weeds. He does like to go off on tangents, but they are usually fruitful.