Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit the Shop.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

Articles

Does a Just Society Require Just Citizens?

Jimmy Alfonso Licon on moral mediocrity.

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men […] you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
(James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers)

We are tribal in our political and moral thinking, and project our deficiencies onto others. We rarely live up to our ideals.

…