Social Justice in the Liberal State

“A ‘new view’ of the theoretical foundations of liberalism that will ‘challenge us to clarify our own implicit notions of liberal democracy.’ ”—The New York Times Book Review
“Professor Ackerman has tackled age-old problems of social justice with the refreshing technique of a series of dialogues in which the proponent of a position must either confront his opponent with an answer, constrained by the three principles of rationality, consistency, and neutrality, or submit to a checkmate. The author’s ability to combine earthiness with extreme subtlety in framing the dialogues has produced a novel, mind-stretching book.”—Henry J. Friendly, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
“What limits should we place on genetic manipulation? How many children should we have? How should we regulate abortions and adoptions? What rights does the community have, what rights do parents have in the education of children? What rights do children have? What resources must we leave to future generations? To see all these as questions of distributive justice is to connect them in a new way (and to make) a significant contribution.”—Michael Walzer, The New Republic 
“The breadth of the attack on the fundamental issues of man and society is impressive.”—Foreign Affairs 
“What an extraordinary book it is. . . profound without being professional. . . novel without being trendy. . . chatty and witty without being cute or flippant.”—Michael Sean Quinn, Lone Star Review/The Dallas Times Herald 
Bruce A. Ackerman is professor of law at the Yale Law School.