Justice, Rights, and Toleration

Essays for Richard Vernon

The political theory of Richard Vernon has made major contributions to the many complex dimensions of political morality, democratic dialogue, justice, and toleration. Justice, Rights, and Toleration offers critical engagement with the central ideas of his work on the perennial political challenges in liberal democratic societies.

The political theory of Richard Vernon has been a guiding light for students of politics for over five decades. From the situated ethics of shared citizenship to the normative character of individuals’ connections to members of other societies and generations, Vernon has cleared a distinctive course in his contributions to the many complex dimensions of political morality.

Justice, Rights, and Toleration centres on the core ideas that animate Vernon’s approcach to political theory. Contributors to this volume – all former students and colleagues of Vernon – offer critical engagement with the fundamental themes threaded throughout the thinker’s work on the perennial political challenges in liberal democratic societies, including the understanding of citizenship and political membership, justice within and between nations and generations, the rights of children and parents, and the idea of toleration. Vernon articulated a clear vision of the nature of these problems as well as a nuanced approach to addressing them, one rooted in the ideas of democratic dialogue and justice. The essays in this volume are a testament to the breadth of the pressing issues on which Vernon’s work continues to advance critical insights.

Justice, Rights, and Toleration provides a worthy tribute to the wide range of Richard Vernon’s interests and the inspiration still to be found in his deep yet subtle body of work in political theory.