Political Argument

by Brian M. Barry

Since its publication in 1965 Political Argument has come to be recognized as occupying a key position in the revival of Anglo-American political philosophy. A number of the ideas introduced by Barry have become part of the standard vocabulary, such as the distinction between ideal-regarding and want-regarding principles and the division of principles into aggregative and distributive.
Political Argument provided the first precise analysis, still frequently cited, of the conception that political values have trade-off relations; the analysis of the notion of the public interest has also enjoyed wide influence. For this long-awaited reprint, the author has prepared a substantial, new introductory essay in which he recounts the process of writing the book and sets it in the intellectual milieu of its time. He then offers extensive comments on the subsequent fate of some of the leading ideas and assesses the book in light of criticisms and later developments. Finally, Barry evaluates current approaches to political philosophy as they look today.
This new edition of Political Argument will interest political theorists, philosophers, economists, and a range of other scholars. Brilliant and incisive, it will engender discussion and debate from many quarters.

Genres: Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Brian Barry [Fellow of the British Academy] was a moral and political philosopher. He was educated at the Queen's College, Oxford, obtaining the degrees of B.A. and D.Phil under the direction of H. L. A. Hart.

Along with David Braybrooke, Richard E. Flathman, Felix Oppenheim, and Abraham Kaplan, he is widely credited with having fused analytic philosophy and political science.[citation needed] Barry also fused political theory and social choice theory and was a persistent critic of public choice theory.

During his early career, Barry held teaching posts at the University of Birmingham, Keele University and the University of Southampton. In 1965 he was appointed a teaching fellow at University College, and then Nuffield College. In 1969 he became a professor at Essex University.

Barry was Lieber Professor Emeritus of Political Philosophy at Columbia University and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the London School of Economics. He was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science in 2001. Barry also taught at the University of Chicago, in the departments of philosophy and political science. During this time he edited the journal Ethics, helping raise its publication standards. Under his editorship, it became perhaps the leading journal for moral and political philosophy.

He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1978. Barry was a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York in 2006.

Selected publications
* Why Social Justice Matters (Polity 2005)
* Culture & Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism (2001)
* Justice as Impartiality (1995)
* Theories of Justice (Berkeley, 1989)
* Democracy, Power, and Justice: Essays in Political Theory (Oxford, 1989)
* The Liberal Theory of Justice (1973)
* Sociologists, Economists and Democracy (1970)
* Political Argument (1965, Reissue 1990)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Barry

Reviews

[Leonardo]

Discutidio en Justice, Equal Opportunity and the Family Pág.15-16

[Manuel Menezes de Sequeira]

Political Argument by Brian Barry (1967)