Putting Morality Back into Politics

Machiavelli almost succeeded in removing morality from European politics and, indeed, since his day it has sometimes been assumed that morality and politics are separate. Ryder argues that the time has come for public policies to be seen to be based upon moral objectives. Politicians should be expected routinely to justify their policies with open moral argument.

In Part I, Ryder sketches an overview of contemporary political philosophy as it relates to the moral basis for politics, and Part 2 suggests a way of putting morality back into politics, along with a clearer emphasis upon scientific evidence.

Keywords: Politics, Machiavelli, morality, public policy, moral objectives, politicians, political philosophy, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Jefferson, Rawls, Singer, Nozickhappiness, liberty, equality, justice, democracy, utilitarianism, rights theory, contractarianism, painism, Iraq war