Partiality and Impartiality : Morality, Special Relationships, and the Wider World

Issues of impartiality and partiality are a major focus of debate in moral theory. What demands do the needs and interests of others place upon us? Should our personal relationships and commitments have a special place in our moral deliberations? Or, in as much as we are moral, should we be impartial even between our own children and complete strangers? Ten specially written essays by experts in the field offer a variety of perspectives, which will interest readers in both theoretical and practical ethics. A central theme of the volume is whether impartiality and partiality are really opposed dimensions or if they can be harmoniously reconciled in one picture of the good ethical life.