LEADER 04119nam 2200745 a 450 001 9910780054103321 005 20230422042445.0 010 $a1-282-75362-2 010 $a9786612753626 010 $a1-4008-2288-2 010 $a1-4008-1129-5 024 7 $a10.1515/9781400822881 035 $a(CKB)111056486505720 035 $a(EBL)581544 035 $a(OCoLC)700688283 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000116518 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11141775 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000116518 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10033833 035 $a(PQKB)10942770 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC581544 035 $a(OCoLC)51542680 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse36043 035 $a(DE-B1597)446260 035 $a(OCoLC)979577851 035 $a(OCoLC)984657566 035 $a(DE-B1597)9781400822881 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL581544 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10035778 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL275362 035 $a(EXLCZ)99111056486505720 100 $a19980813d1999 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurnn#---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aBy nature equal$b[electronic resource] $ethe anatomy of a Western insight /$fJohn E. Coons and Patrick M. Brennan ; with a foreword by John Witte, Jr 205 $aCore Textbook 210 $aPrinceton, N.J. $cPrinceton University Press$dc1999 215 $a1 online resource (388 p.) 225 1 $aNew forum books 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-691-05922-5 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [261]-348) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tCONTENTS --$tACKNOWLEDGMENT AND APOLOGY /$rCoons, John E. --$tFOREWORD /$rWitte, John --$tINTRODUCTION: In Search of a Descriptive Human Equality --$tPART I: HUMAN EQUALITY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? --$tPART II: COULD THE PHILOSOPHERS BELIEVE IN HUMAN EQUALITY? --$tPART III: COULD THE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN HUMAN EQUALITY? --$tPART IV: GOOD PERSONS AND THE COMMON GOOD --$tNOTES --$tINDEX 330 $aWhat do we mean when we refer to people as being equal by nature? In the first book devoted to human equality as a fact rather than as a social goal or a legal claim, John Coons and Patrick Brennan argue that even if people possess unequal talents or are born into unequal circumstances, all may still be equal if it is true that human nature provides them the same access to moral self-perfection. Plausibly, in the authors' view, such access stems from the power of individuals to achieve goodness simply by doing the best they can to discover and perform correct actions. If people enjoy the same degree of natural capacity to try, all of us are offered the same opportunities for moral self-fulfillment. To believe this is to believe in equality. This truly interdisciplinary work not only proposes the authors' own rationale but also provides an effective deconstruction of several other contemporary theories of equality, while it engages historical, philosophical, and Christian accounts as well. Furthermore, by divorcing the "best" from the "brightest," it shows how descriptive equality acquires practical significance. Among other accomplishments, By Nature Equal offers communitarians a core principle that has until now eluded them, rescues human dignity from the hierarchy of intellect, identifies racism in a new way, and shows how justice can be freshly grounded in the conviction that every rational person has the same capacity for moral excellence. 410 0$aNew forum books. 606 $aEquality$xPhilosophy 606 $aEquality$xReligious aspects 606 $aEquality before the law 615 0$aEquality$xPhilosophy. 615 0$aEquality$xReligious aspects. 615 0$aEquality before the law. 676 $a305/.01 700 $aCoons$b John E$0291944 701 $aBrennan$b Patrick M.$f1966-$01464716 701 $aWitte$b John$f1959-$0510813 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910780054103321 996 $aBy nature equal$93674500 997 $aUNINA