I Think Too Often In Our Society

First, Individual Rights Cannot Be Sacrificed For The Sake Of The General Good, And Second, The Principles Of Justice That Specify These Rights Cannot Be Premised On Any Particular Vision Of The Good Life. What Justifies The Rights Is Not That They Maximize The General Welfare Or Otherwise Promote The Good, But Rather That They Comprise A Fair Framework Within Which Individuals And Groups Can Choose Their Own Values And Ends, Consistent With A Similar Liberty For Others.

If The Spirit Of Their Intercourse Were Still The Same After Their Coming Together As It Had Been When They Were Living Apart,' Aristotle Writes, Their Association Can't Really Be Considered A Polis, Or Political Community. 'a Polis Is Not An Association For Residence On A Common Site, Or For The Sake Of Preventing Mutual Injustice And Easing Exchange.' While These Conditions Are Necessary To A Polis, They Are Not Sufficient. 'the End And Purpose Of A Polis Is The Good Life, And The Institutions Of Social Life Are Means To That End.

Aiming At Health, Restoring Health - That Is A Goal That Is Both Morally Important And Limited, Because It Aims At The Restoration Of Normal Human Functioning, Which Is An Important Part Of Human Flourishing.

I Grew Up In A Jewish Family, And We Have Raised Our Children In A Jewish Tradition. Religion Gives A Framework For Moral Enquiry In Young Minds And Points Us To Questions Beyond The Material.

It's True That To Speak Of An Ethic Of Giftedness, Which Is Very Much The Ethic That I Deploy In Raising Questions About Designer Children And Genetic Engineering - An Appreciation Of The Giftedness Of The Child Or The Giftedness Of Life Does Have Religious Resonance, Because A Great Many Religious Traditions Emphasize The Sense In Which The Good Things In Life Are Not All Our Own Doing; They Are Gifts From God.