The Affirmative Action Debate

by Steven M. Cahn (Editor)

This book is an essential guide to the full range of arguments surrounding affirmative action. Following the debate, as no other collection does, from all the early foundational articles to up-to-date selections, the book presents the strongest contributions from both sides of this highly charged issue. For students and general readers seeking to understand the controversy, this book offers a unique guide to the main lines of argument in the discussion. The contributors include most of the major contributors to the Anita L. Allen, Robert Amdur, Michael D;. Bayles, Tom L. Beauchamp, Barbara R. Bergmann, Derek Bok, William G. Bowen, Carl Cohen, J. L. Cowan, Ronald Dworkin, Robert K. Fullinwider, Alan H. Goldman, Sidney Hook, James W. Nickel, William A. Nunn III, George Sher, Robert Simon, Paul W. Taylor, Abigail Thernstrom, Stephen Thernstrom, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Celia Wolf-Devine, and Paul Woodruff.

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1995

About the author

Steven M. Cahn, Ph.D. (Philosophy, Columbia University, 1966; A.B., Columbia College, 1963), teaches academic ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education at the Graduate Center and has published widely in the field of philosophy and education.

Cahn joined the Graduate Center as professor of philosophy and dean of graduate studies in 1983. He was named provost and vice president for academic affairs in 1984, remaining in that position until 1992. He previously taught at Dartmouth College, Vassar College, the University of Rochester, New York University, and the University of Vermont, where from 1973 to 1980 he headed the department of philosophy. He held executive positions with the Exxon Education Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he is longtime president of the John Dewey Foundation.

Reviews

[Dick Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding collection of essays that debate, back and forth, the pro and con positions on affirmative action. I was left with an impression of how weak the argument is in favor of affirmative action, the anti-affirmative action case was much more clearly stated.