Public Ethics for Real People

This book develops a coherent and innovative paradigm of public ethics that provides a unique insight into three central terms-recognition, social conflicts and democratic distortions-while critically celebrating the work of Anna Elisabetta Galeotti. In honor of her seventieth birthday, this book brings together leading scholars in the field of normative political philosophy to reason upon the main themes of her research. The book envisages a general paradigm of public ethics to deal with social conflicts that involve structural dynamics and deliberative deficits. All the contributors, while addressing different though related topics, show a commitment toward the idea that all members of society should be treated not as patients but as agents, thus sharing the authorship of policies that profoundly shape their lives. Against this backdrop, this book strikes a difficult-to-reach balance between refined theorizing over classical themes of the liberal tradition and the ability to open these classic themes to new strands of research. The book deals with pressing contemporary challenges to the democratic order, such as the anti-vax movement, the spread of conspiracy theories, the weakening of social bonds and different instances of democratic corruption.