The Ivory Tower: Essays in Philosophy and Public Policy.

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in silver, dust jacket (ownership inscription to front pastedown, otherwise a near fine copy). Oxford, Basil Blackwell.

The title of this collection is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the charges of philosophy being out of touch with the concerns of real life. Anthony Kenny responds by focussing on matters of public policy that highlight the overlap between philosophy, politics and law. In the first half of the book he uses case studies to emphasise how the court's job of defining legal terms is inherently philosophical. The second part of the book looks at the morality of nuclear policy. The final essay on 'Academic Freedom' rounds off the collection by arguing that the free debate of philosophical ideas is beneficial not just to academics but to the wider world.

Stock Code: 246358