On Compromise and Rotten Compromises

Resumen del libro

When is political compromise acceptable--and when is it fundamentally rotten, something we should never accept, come what may? What if a rotten compromise is politically necessary? Compromise is a great political virtue, especially for the sake of peace. But, as Avishai Margalit argues, there are moral limits to acceptable compromise even for peace. But just what are those limits? At what point does peace secured with compromise become unjust? Focusing attention on vitally important questions that have received surprisingly little attention, Margalit argues that we should be concerned not only with what makes a just war, but also with what kind of compromise allows for a just peace.

Examining a wide range of examples, including the Munich Agreement, the Yalta Conference, and Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, Margalit provides a searching examination of the nature of political compromise in its various forms. Combining philosophy, politics, and history, and written in a vivid and accessible style, On Compromise and Rotten Compromises is full of surprising new insights about war, peace, justice, and sectarianism.

Biografía del autor

Avishai Margalit se licenció, doctoró y obtuvo un master en Filosofía en la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén, donde fue profesor desde 1973. En 1980 obtuvo la cátedra Schulman de Filosofía en la misma universidad donde impartió clases hasta 1998. Desde esta fecha hasta su jubilación, fue profesor en el Instituto de Estudios Avanzados de la Universidad de Princeton, en Estados Unidos. Ha sido profesor visitante en la Universidad Libre de Berlín y en la Universidad de Oxford. Colabora en la New York Review of Books.Sus libros filosóficos y del pensamiento, tratan sobre la condición humana y la lucha entre el Islám y Occidente.