This book examines two moral theories of rights justification and applies them to four social issues: redistributive taxation, affirmative action, pornography, and abortion. It assesses the ethical status of several candidate social policies that continue to be debated in the public arenas.
John R. Rowan is assistant professor of philosophy at Purdue University Calumet. His research focuses on ethical theory, applied ethics, and professional ethics
Preface -- Part One: Moral Theory -- Rights and Social Policy -- The Structure of Rights -- The Interest-Based Theory of Rights -- The Goal-Based Theory of Rights -- Part Two: Social Policy Implications -- Redistributive Taxation -- Affirmative Action -- Pornography -- Abortion -- Concluding Remarks
