From Rationality to Equality

Most contemporary moral and political philosophers would like to have an argument showing that morality is rationally required. In From Rationality to Equality, James P. Sterba provides just such an argument and further shows that morality, so justified, requires substantial equality and is preferable to egoism. Sterba defends his two-part argument against recent critics, and shows how it is preferable not only to alternative attempts to justify morality,but also to alternative attempts to show that morality leads to a right to welfare and/or to equality.

James P. Sterba is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. His previous publications include Three Challenges to Ethics (OUP, 2001), The Triumph of Practice over Theory in Ethics (OUP, 2005) and Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men?--A Debate, with Warren Farrell (OUP, 2007). He is past president of the American Philosophical Association (Central Division) and several other organizations.