This volume introduces some of the most important topics in contemporary political philosophy and asks if they can be accomodated within the framework of liberal theory. It consists of specially written essays on an array of basic issues in political and social philosophy.Each essay carefully considers both the theoretical and practical problems of a major topic. The book concludes with an attempt to respond to and reconcile a number of the arguments presented in the essays.Traditional perspectives are balanced with new challenges that have emerged and such topics include: moral methodology; libertarianism; socialism; lesbian and gay perspectives; feminism; racial and multicultural perspectives; rationality; welfare liberalism; environmentalism; virtue ethics and community; just war theory and pacifism; and civil disobedience.