Philosophical Essays concerning Human Families

Stanley Vodraska

In Philosophical Essays concerning Human Families, Stanley Vodraska describes a principle of moral practice that he calls “the principle of familial preference.” In ordinary circumstances, a moral agent should persistently provide preferential treatment to members of his or her family and should not pursue the good of extra-familial persons to such an extent as to disadvantage or neglect his or her family. The essays uncover this principle in human practices of love or charity, mercy, justice, and prudence, and measure its weight in religion, moral philosophy, and the political order.

University Press of America

Pages: 426 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-0-7618-6424-0 • Hardback • August 2014 • $126.00 • (£97.00)

978-0-7618-6425-7 • eBook • August 2014 • $119.50 • (£92.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Essays, Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy / Metaphysics, Philosophy / Political, Philosophy / Religious, Family & Relationships / General

Philosophical Essays concerning Human Families

Hardback

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Summary

In Philosophical Essays concerning Human Families, Stanley Vodraska describes a principle of moral practice that he calls “the principle of familial preference.” In ordinary circumstances, a moral agent should persistently provide preferential treatment to members of his or her family and should not pursue the good of extra-familial persons to such an extent as to disadvantage or neglect his or her family. The essays uncover this principle in human practices of love or charity, mercy, justice, and prudence, and measure its weight in religion, moral philosophy, and the political order.

Details

University Press of America

Pages: 426 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-0-7618-6424-0 • Hardback • August 2014 • $126.00 • (£97.00)

978-0-7618-6425-7 • eBook • August 2014 • $119.50 • (£92.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Essays, Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy / Metaphysics, Philosophy / Political, Philosophy / Religious, Family & Relationships / General

Author

Stanley Vodraska is professor emeritus of philosophy in Canisius College where he began to teach familial philosophy in 1991. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.

Table of Contents

Figures
Tables
References within the Essays
Preface
Philosophical Essay 1: Not the Whole Truth: Father Kolvenbach at Santa Clara
Philosophical Essay 2: Works of Mercy and the Principle of Familial Preference 103
Notes
Philosophical Essay 3: Natural Justice in Heterosexual Family Life
Philosophical Essay 4: Man and the State, God and the Family
Philosophical Essay 5: Domestic Prudence and the Common Good of the Family
Philosophical Essay 6: Against Blackstone and the Concept of Marriage as Contract
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

. . . Vodraska gathers together an important collection of [his] reflections on themes pertinent to what might be called "familial moral philosophy,". . . Although Vodraska is perhaps an unknown figure for many readers, I think his essays should be digested by the bro9ader community of those favorable to the natural law, for they represent the thoughtful and erudite reflections of. . . someone who quite clearly understands (and has well articulated) the importance of the irreducible order of family life in human morality.

— Lex Naturalis

Philosophical Essays concerning Human Families

Stanley Vodraska

Philosophical Essays concerning Human Families

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