Constructions of Practical Reason

This set of extended and intellectually nuanced interviews with a broad range of contemporary philosophers working in the fields of moral and political philosophy invites readers to participate in the dialogue. We observe philosophers think as they speak, trying to clarify their views, and we watch them argue with each other, in the process revealing answers to some of the puzzles their writings provoke. The contributors are: Seyla Benhabib, Ronald Dworkin, David Gauthier, Christine M. Korsgaard, Martha C. Nussbaum, Michael J. Sandel, Thomas M. Scanlon, Amartya Sen, and Michael Walzer.

Pauer-Studer invites her contributors to talk about major issues from different theoretical perspectives—liberalism and communitarianism, Hobbesianism and rational choice theory, utilitarianism and Kantianism, Critical Theory and neo-Aristotelianism. She also gets them to discuss the relevance of their views to such issues as feminism, abortion, animal rights, ecology, immigration, welfare, and multiculturalism. The interview format creates a much more accessible account of complex philosophical ideas and problematic aspects of the contributors’ works than found in the works themselves.