This exceptional work--a collection of eleven essays by one of the most fascinating moral philosophers currently writing--explores a perspective that is at once sympathetic towards and critical of liberal political philosophy. The essays address the capacity of liberal thought, and of the moral traditions on which it draws, to accommodate a variety of challenges posed by the changing circumstances of the modern world. They also consider how, in an era of rapid globalization, when our lives are structured by social arrangements and institutions of ever-increasing size, complexity, and scope, we can best conceive of the responsibilities of individual agents and the normative significance of our diverse commitments and allegiances. Linked by common themes, the volume examines the responsibilities we have in virtue of belonging to a community, the compatibility of such obligations with equality, the demands of distributive justice in general, and liberalism's relationship to liberty, community, and equality. "These essays display a remarkable combination of philosophical acuity, moral seriousness and political realism, and deserve to be read closely and repeatedly for the light they shed on our contemporary moral and political predicament."-- Philosophical Books "Scheffler...has been one of the most talented and productive moral philosophers in the analytic tradition for the past two decades, and the essays in this volume are characteristically thoughtful, subtle and well-written."-- Ethics of International Affairs "Scheffler has collected 11 essays, written from 1987 to the present, that address challenges to liberal thought posed by the changing circumstances of the contemporary world... The essays complement each other well, and they raise specific issues that can be applied usefully in broader contexts."-- Choice Samuel Scheffler is in the Department of Philosophy and Law, University of California, Berkeley.