Towards Justice and Virtue: A Constructive Account of ...

Challenging the rivalry between those who advocate only abstract, universal principles of justice and those who commend only the particularities of virtuous lives, this work traces this impasse to defects in underlying conceptions of reasoning about action.Constructs an account of the basic principles for moving towards just institutions and virtuous lives.Towards Justice and Virtue is Onora O'Neill's most developed account thus far of her distinctive approach to moral and political philosophy. Readers who are already familiar with O'Neill's articles and her two previous books will appreciate the way it brings together in one sustained and rigorous argument the various themes which have occupied her attention over the years. Those who are new to O'Neill's work will find it a lucid, accessible, and provocative challenge to contemporary ethical theories....O'Neill's book is a welcome contribution to the literature on justice, particularism, Kantian ethics, and practical reasoning in general. It is remarkably concise, given its ambitions, and it lays out a positive view well worth taking seriously. The Philosophical Review'... this book will take its place both as a mjaor statement of one version of a broadly Kantian approach to moral philosophy and as a standard work in its own right'. Jonathan Wolff, Times Literary SupplementThis is a wide-ranging yet beautifully integrated work that connects many topics of significance in moral theory, weaves together strands of O'Neill's own recent writings, and connects all to concrete moral concerns, from poverty to environment degradation. Jrnl of PhilosophyTowards Justice and Virtue exhibits an ingenious applications of Kantian reasoning to a current debate. O'Neill's attention to the concerns of both particularists and universalists will make her critical and constructive contributions invaluable for informed discussion. David Waller, Philosophy in ReviewTowards Justice and Virtue should be admired (among other things)