Not only does it provide a brilliant assessment of the two seminal innovations of the 1970s: John Rawls's Theory of Justice, based on equality and massive redistribution: and Robert Nozick's opposing, almost anarchist, ideal of the minimal state. It also sets out clearly the arguments for two older systems, utilitarianism (which seeks to maximize happiness) and Marxism, and shows how none of them is as powerful and convincing as neo-Aristotelian ideas. In expounding these ideas which attempt to define 'the good life' by considering human nature Brown moves from abstract discussion to the urgent day-to-day issues of practical politics. For anyone seriously concerned with such problems his book will offer a wealth of insight expressed with exemplary clarity and logic.