Suchergebnisse

Why should leaders of polities, as representatives of citizens, be required to apologise and make reparations for deeds committed in the historical past? Assumptions commonly made by liberals about the scope of responsibility and the duties of citizens make this question difficult to answer. This paper considers some unsuccessful attempts within a liberal framework to defend obligations of reparation for historical injustices and puts forward an account based on the lifetime-transcending interests of citizens.

Conkin reviews 'Christianity and Liberal Society' by Robert Song.

We live in a liberal, democratic, multicultural society where ideally the values of personal liberty and autonomy are paramount. In such a society the state, through the law, should not be concerned with telling people how they should live their lives. In spite of this, many of the ethical stances taken in liberal societies are paternalistic and authoritarian. This readable and balanced book is an original discussion of contemporary issues in bioethics. Max Charlesworth argues that as there can be no public consensus on a set of core values – liberal societies accept a variety of religious, non-religious, political and moral stances - there should be a plurality of ethical stances as well. On this basis he discusses issues such as the ending of human life, the new reproductive technologies and ethical distribution of limited health-care resources, particularly hospital care

Robert Song discusses the different aspects and interpretations of liberalism with reference to the critiques of three 20th century theologians, and concludes with an account of the critical but supportive stance he believes Christian theology should take

Better policing can only come by devolving accountability and responsibility. This, combined with decentralisation and privatisation where possible, will create an environment where innovation flourishes and good practice is copied. There are many lessons from the USA which could usefully be adopted by the UK.

"Warum sollte man von politischen Führern, die Repräsentanten von Bürgern sind, Entschuldigungen und Entschädigungen für die in der Geschichte begangenen Taten fordern? Die üblichen von Liberalen vorgebrachten Theorien über die Reichweite von Verantwortung und die Möglichkeit ihrer Übernahme im Rahmen von Bürgerpflichten machen es schwer, diese Frage zu beantworten. Diese Abhandlung betrachtet - innerhalb eines liberalen Rahmens - einige erfolglose Versuche, die Pflicht zur Wiedergutmachung für historische Ungerechtigkeiten zu verteidigen und legt einen Ansatz vor, welcher auf den lebensübergreifenden Interessen von Bürgern basiert." (Autorenreferat)