Political Philosophy and social Welfare – Essays on the Normative Basis of Welfare Provision

HUGH HECLO

Harvard University

(Excerpts)

The subtitle of this book is an accurate portrayal of its contents: a set of essays on the normative basis of welfare provision. The aim is to examine the philosophical underpinnings of state obligations. The method is a critical analysis of the leading British and American literature on this subject, from Hugh to Titmuss, Rawls to Nozick.

    A major virtue of this volume is that it organizes this intellectual tour around a common set of key analytic issues, namely, (1) the concepts of needs and rights, (2) sociopolitical processes for dealing with need, and (3) the role of community. The result is not simply an exegesis of a few “great books” but a coherent and valuable discussion of strategic area of uncertainty in the contemporary commitment to activist social policy.

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