Public Morality and Liberal Society

<p>The issue of public morality so often at the center of heated debates about pornography narcotics public indecency violent entertainment family values et cetera is at once a continuing reality and a persistent dilemma in our liberal society. With <em>Public Morality and Liberal Society</em> Harry M. Clor makes an important contribution to this perennial and intensely debated theme by considering how public morality can be justified in theory and accommodated in practice within a liberal society.</p><p>Clor develops his argument in five parts. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the various controversies and ambiguities about public morality in American life and public opinion. In Chapter 2 Clor presents the case for a public standard of morality and defends it against the most persistent objections. Chapter 3 covers some of the themes prominent in recent treatments of the subject of public morality and Chapter 4 critically analyzes the two theoretically dominant liberal orientations of recent decades the libertarian and egalitarian views. In Chapter 5 Clor compares the traditional ethical indictment of pornography with the current feminist indictment.</p>