Description: Joseph Raz is one of the world's leading philosophers of law, and in his Seeley Lectures he reflects critically on one of the central tenets of ethical thought, the view that values are universal. He concludes that we should try to understand what is and what is not entailed by the universality of values, with such an understanding central to the future hopes of mankind, rather than abandoning the belief altogether. This is a concise humane account of some fundamental questions of social existence.
Brief description: Joseph Raz is Professor of the Philosophy of Law and a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He is also Visiting Professor at Columbia University. A Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Professor Raz is the author of The Concept of a Legal System (Oxford, 1970), Practical Reason and Norms (Oxford, 1975), The Authority of Law (Oxford, 1979), The Morality of Freedom (Oxford, 1986), Ethics in the Public Domain (Oxford, 1994), and Engaging Reason (Oxford, 2000).
Review Quotes: 'This engaging book explores the central issues surrounding value in an interesting and thought-provoking manner and is well worth reading.' Philosophical Writings