Moral agents and their deserts: the character of Muʿtazilite ethics, by Sophia Vasalou

Moral Agents and their Deserts: The Character of Muʿtazilite Ethics, by Sophia Vasalou (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), xiii + 252 pp., ISBN: 978-0-691-13145-0, $42 (hb) (First paragraph) The purpose of this book is to discuss the problem of the desert, istiḥqāq, in the views of the Baṣran Muʿtazilites from a philosophical perspective. To unfold the complexity of the issue, the author frequently shifts between kalām, Muslim legal theory, and modern ethics. She does not focus on the significance of the desert in Islamic thought. Instead, using a continental philosophical style, she engages in a philosophical discussion of the problem of a person's entitlement to punishment. Often, Muʿtazilite ethics is a vehicle for insights on moral agency, worthiness, and reward.