Applied ethics and social problems presents introductions to the three most influential moral philosophies and relates these to some of the most urgent questions in contemporary public debates about the future of welfare services.

Tony Fitzpatrick is a reader at the University of Nottingham. His recent publications include "After the new social democracy" (2003), "New theories of welfare" (2005) and he was the principal editor of the three-volume "International encyclopaedia of social policy" (2006).