1st Edition

Justice and Desert-Based Emotions

By Kristján Kristjánsson Copyright 2005
    232 Pages
    by Routledge

    232 Pages
    by Routledge

    The clear message proposed in this book is that justice matters for morality and desert matters for justice - and that emotions matter for desert, justice and morality. Moreover, and no less importantly, justice education needs to take all those facts into consideration. Kristján Kristjánsson’s new book falls on the cutting edge of the latest developments in justice discourse, both in philosophy and in the social sciences. Written from a philosophical perspective, it gives an accessible but penetrating exploration of various interlocking and interdisciplinary themes relating to justice. Kristjánsson justifies the necessary interplay between philosophers and social scientists dealing with justice, probes the role of desert in justice and explains the rising interest in the emotionality of justice. He then analyses the main desert-based emotions, connects his discussion to recent trends in developmental and social psychology, offers a moral justification of desert and desert-based emotions, and concludes by applying all those ideas in a close study of how justice and desert should be handled in moral education at school. Kristjánsson deftly weaves together insights from disparate academic areas relevant for justice, in general, and desert, in particular. This is an engaging, eye-opening and provocative book that should excite anyone interested in justice discourse and help generate debate in different areas related to justice: philosophical, psychological and educational.

    Contents: Preface; Introduction; The nature of desert; Desert-based emotions; From development to justification; From theory to practice: the schooling of justice; References; Index.

    Biography

    Kristján Kristjánsson is the author of Social Freedom: The Responsibility View (1996) and Justifying Emotions: Pride and Jealousy (2002) as well as various papers about morality, emotions and education in international journals.

    'In this book Kristjan Kristjansson formulates and defends a desert-based theory of justice by undertaking two ambitious and pressing tasks: that of bringing together the literature on the philosophy of the emotions and theories of justice, so as to provide an account of the role of desert-based emotions for justice; and that of bridging the gap between philosophers'and social scientists'analysis of desert. The result is a broad-ranging and thought-provoking book which provides a systematic analysis of a timely topic. It will be of great interest to moral and political philosophers, psychologists and educationalists.' Serena Olsaretti, Cambridge University, UK 'This is a highly intelligent, well-written and well-informed book which grips and rewards the attention throughout; and brings the reader to the cutting edge of contemporary thinking on this most important subject.' Heythrop Journal