Cooperation and Social Justice

This book analyses tensions that arise between the principles of social justice and the need for cooperation to advance collective goals.

Joseph Heath is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto.

"This excellent and wide-ranging book offers an insightful treatment of the importance of justice and maintaining social cooperation. Heath argues that much political philosophy fails to grapple with the complexities of cooperation and he provides provocative suggestions about the considerations that should guide the feasible pursuit of social justice in various domains. Even when it courts controversy, Heath’s analysis is stimulating, informative, and challenging."

Jacob T. Levy, Professor of Political Science, McGill University:

"In this rigorous and iconoclastic book, Joseph Heath brings social scientific understanding to bear on a wide range of pressing topics in current politics and political philosophy from socialism to immigration. No reader will be persuaded by everything, but all will find their thinking productively challenged. Throughout, Heath treats the liberal order, the democratic state, and the market economy as complex institutions of large-scale societies rather than as mere applications of ordinary moral intuitions, and forces the reader to see how important that distinction really is."

Rainer Forst, Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy, Goethe University Frankfurt/Main:

"In his impressive and lucid book, Joseph Heath redirects our thinking about egalitarian justice. For such justice can only be achieved through social and political cooperation, and so we must deal with the many difficulties of achieving such cooperation in modern, complex societies. The insights we gain from this superb treatise are multiple, and they invite debate not just about realizing justice, but also about its very meaning."

Christopher Morris, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Maryland:

"Cooperation and Social Justice comprises six brilliant essays on contemporary political controversies by one of the very best political philosophers. On topics such as immigration and border control, race relations in the United States, and egalitarianism, Joseph Heath skillfully isolates the important theoretical questions raised and forcefully and persuasively defends a position which is novel. His writing is accessible to serious readers in any field, a model for all of us thinking about contemporary politics. The opening essay on the scalability of cooperative solutions – a gem – raises the fundamental but neglected question of scale. Recommended for anyone interested in contemporary politics."

Carolyn Hughes Tuohy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto:

"With clarity, compassion, and keen insight, Joseph Heath stands conventional assumptions on their head, to offer new ways of understanding and responding to seemingly intractable problems of social justice. By turns provocative, intriguing, and inspiring (and sometimes all three at once), this book will challenge you to change the way you think about the leading policy issues of our day."