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71Good Lives: Prolegomena*: LAWRENCE C. BECKERSocial Philosophy and Policy 9 (2): 15-37. 1992.A philosophical essay under this title faces severe rhetorical challenges. New accounts of the good life regularly and rapidly turn out to be variations of old ones, subject to a predictable range of decisive objections. Attempts to meet those objections with improved accounts regularly and rapidly lead to a familiar impasse — that while a life of contemplation, or epicurean contentment, or stoic indifference, or religious ecstasy, or creative rebellion, or self-actualization, or many another th…Read more
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34Book Review:A Discourse on Property: John Locke and His Adversaries. James A. Tully (review)Ethics 92 (2): 361-. 1982.
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17A history of Western ethics (edited book)Routledge. 1992.This is a newly revised and updated edition of A History of Western Ethics, a coherent and accessible overview of the most important figures and influential ideas of the history of ethics in the Western philosophical tradition. Written by eleven distinguished scholars, and including a glossary of key terms, this book is an essential reference for students and general readers alike.
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130ReciprocityRoutledge. 1986.The tendency to reciprocate – to return good for good and evil for evil – is a potent force in human life, and the concept of reciprocity is closely connected to fundamental notions of ‘justice’, ‘obligation’ or ‘duty’, ‘gratitude’ and ‘equality’. In _Reciprocity_, first published in 1986,_ _Lawrence Becker presents a sustained argument about reciprocity, beginning with the strategy for developing a moral theory of the virtues. He considers the concept of reciprocity in detail, contending that i…Read more
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1Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2nd edition (edited book)Routledge. 2001.The editors, working with a team of 325 renowned authorities in the field of ethics, have revised, expanded, and updated this classic encyclopedia. Along with the addition of 150 new entries, all of the original articles have been newly peer-reviewed and revised, bibliographies have been updated throughout, and the overall design of the work has been enhanced for easier access to cross-references and other reference features. New entries include * Aristotelian Ethics * Avicenna * Bad Faith * Ben…Read more
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96Encyclopedia of ethics (edited book)Routledge. 1992.The editors, working with a team of 325 renowned authorities in the field of ethics, have revised, expanded, and updated this classic encyclopedia. Along with the addition of 150 new entries, all of the original articles have been newly peer-reviewed and revised, bibliographies have been updated throughout, and the overall design of the work has been enhanced for easier access to cross-references and other reference features. New entries include * Aristotelian Ethics * Avicenna * Bad Faith * Ben…Read more
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24White, Morton: What Is and What Ought to Be Done (review)Review of Metaphysics 36 (4): 954-956. 1983.
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22A rejoinder to O'ConnorMind 84 (333): 95. 1975.Continuation of the discussion of the author's paper "Foreknowledge and Predestination." Mind 81 (1972): 138-41.
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19Review of John M. Rist, Real Ethics: Reconsidering the Foundations of Morality (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2002 (5). 2002.
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25Habilitation, Health, and Agency: a Framework for Basic JusticeOxford University Press. 2012.This book argues for adopting a new account of the circumstances of justice ("the habilitation framework") for philosophical theories of basic justice. It proposes a concept of basic health as a metric for such theories, and healthy agency as a target for them. It does not, however, propose a specific distributive rule or set of distributive principles. Nor does it propose a specific type of theory to pursue (e.g., utilitarian, contractarian, etc.). The book is thus meant to be largely theory-in…Read more
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68On Justifying Moral JudgementsRoutledge. 1973.Reissue of Becker's 1973 monograph, which argues the following: Much discussion of morality presupposes that moral judgments are always, at bottom, arbitrary. Moral scepticism, or at least moral relativism, has become common currency among the liberally educated. This remains the case even while political crises become intractable, and it is increasingly apparent that the scope of public policy formulated with no reference to moral justification is extremely limited. The thesis of _On Justifying…Read more
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23The Encyclopedia of Ethics (edited book)Garland Publishing. 1992.The editors, working with a team of 325 renowned authorities in the field of ethics, have revised, expanded and updated this classic encyclopedia. Along with the addition of 150 new entries, all of the original articles have been newly peer-reviewed and revised, bibliographies have been updated throughout, and the overall design of the work has been enhanced for easier access to cross-references and other reference features. New entries include * Cheating * Dirty hands * Gay ethics * Holocaust *…Read more
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Individual rightsIn Tom Regan & Donald VanDeVeer (eds.), And justice for all: new introductory essays in ethics and public policy, Rowman & Littlefield. 1982.
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149Disability, Difference, Discrimination: Perspectives on Justice in Bioethics and Public PolicyRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1998.How should we respond to individuals with disabilities? What does it mean to be disabled? Over fifty million Americans, from neonates to the fragile elderly, are disabled. Some people say they have the right to full social participation, while others repudiate such claims as delusive or dangerous. In this compelling book, three experts in ethics, medicine, and the law address pressing disability questions in bioethics and public policy. Anita Silvers, David Wasserman, and Mary B. Mahowald test i…Read more
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30Against the supposed difference between historical and end-state theoriesPhilosophical Studies 41 (2). 1982.
Lawrence C. Becker
(1939 - 2018)
Areas of Specialization
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |