Manipulation

Christian Coons is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University. His research focuses on theory selection in normative ethics, the nature of value, and the structural relationship between normative concepts. He has published work in each of the major sub-fields of moral philosophy: applied ethics, normative ethics, axiology, metaethics, and political and legal theory.Michael Weber is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Bowling Green State University. He has published widely in ethics and political philosophy, with emphasis on contemporary egalitarianism, rational choice theory, and ethics and the emotions. His papers have appeared in journals including in Ethics, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, The Canadian Philosophical Review, Philosophical Studies, The International Encyclopedia of Ethics, The Journal of Ethics and Social Policy, The Journal of Ethics, and Public Affairs Quarterly.

• Introduction ; Michael Weber and Christian Coons ; 1. Coercion, Manipulation, Exploitation ; Allen Wood ; 2. What is Manipulation? ; Anne Barnhill ; 3. Towards a Theory of Interpersonal Manipulation ; Moti Gorin ; 4. The Mens Rea and Moral Status of Manipulation ; Marcia Baron ; 5. A Framework for Assessing the Moral Status of "Manipulation" ; J.S. Blumenthal-Barby ; 6. Manipulation as an Aesthetic Flaw ; Claudia Mills ; 7. Information Manipulation and Moral Responsibility ; Todd Long ; 8. Unsavory Seduction and Manipulation ; Eric Cave ; 9. The Implications of Ego Depletion for the Ethics and Politics of Manipulation ; Michael Cholbi ; 10. Non-Machiavellian Manipulation and the Opacity of Motive ; Kate Manne ; Bibliography ; Index

The essays in this volume take important steps toward identifying the core features of manipulation, and they are well written, thorough and methodical. The book contains multiple perspectives on the methods of manipulation, discussing the distinction between manipulation and coercion, the moral status (or statuses) of manipulation, how manipulation is used as a morally loaded term from several viewpoints, and a discussion about the ethics of more systemic attempts at manipulation in our societies. In short, Manipulation: Theory and Practice is a valuable and engaging contribution to the literature.