The purpose of this book is to introduce students of philosophy and the social sciences to the wide range of questions which occupy contemporary social philosophers. These range from abstract and theoretical issues - Are we products of our society or is society what we as individuals make it? - to the more practical questions of social policy - Is affirmative action justifiable? What are the arguments for and against state health systems? Can societies reasonably control the depiction of sex and violence in books and on television? No previous knowledge of philosophy is assumed and throughout the book special care is taken to explain the arguments in non-technical language. The principal aim, however, is to demonstrate the intellectual excitement of contemporary social philosophy and to provide students with the material to start thinking about these important issues for themselves.