Thick and Thin

Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad frames ideas about justice, social criticism, and national identity in light of the new political world that has arisen in the past three decades.

Michael Walzer focuses on two different but interrelated kinds of moral argument: maximalist and minimalist, local and universal—thick and thin. He revises and extends the arguments in his influential Spheres of Justice to reflect his additional analysis and interrogation as well as the shift in world politics. This edition has a new preface and afterword, written by the author, describing how the reasoning of the book connects with arguments he made in Just and Unjust Wars. Walzer’s highly literate and fascinating blend of philosophy and historical analysis will appeal to any and all intelligent readers who want to understand the arguments about the morality of warfare and engage with them.