University College London
Department of Philosophy
PhD, 2006
CV
London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Areas of Interest
Value Theory
Economics
  •  184
    Egalitarianism under Severe Uncertainty
    Philosophy and Public Affairs 46 (3): 239-268. 2018.
    Decision-makers face severe uncertainty when they are not in a position to assign precise probabilities to all of the relevant possible outcomes of their actions. Such situations are common—novel medical treatments and policies addressing climate change are two examples. Many decision-makers respond to such uncertainty in a cautious manner and are willing to incur a cost to avoid it. There are good reasons for taking such an uncertainty-averse attitude to be permissible. However, little work has…Read more
  •  9
    Shlomi Segall’s Why Inequality Matters contains many novel ideas. It should engage researchers with an interest in debates between luck egalitarians and two of their principal opponents, prioritarians and sufficientarians. While, as I shall argue below, not all of its arguments succeed, it also makes contributions which deserve to profoundly influence debates on distributive justice. I proceed as follows. In Section 1, I summarize the book’s central points; in Section 2, I evaluate some of its a…Read more
  •  346
    Universal Health Coverage, Priority Setting and the Human Right to Health.
    with Benedict Rumbold, Octavio Ferraz, Sarah Hawkes, Rachel Baker, Carleigh Crubiner, Peter Littlejohns, Ole Frithjof Norheim, Thomas Pegram, Annette Rid, Sridhar Venkatapuram, Albert Weale, James Wilson, Alicia Ely Yamin, and Daniel Wang
    The Lancet 390 (10095): 712-14. 2017.
    As health policy-makers around the world seek to make progress towards universal health coverage, they must navigate between two important ethical imperatives: to set national spending priorities fairly and efficiently; and to safeguard the right to health. These imperatives can conflict, leading some to conclude that rights-based approaches present a disruptive influence on health policy, hindering states’ efforts to set priorities fairly and efficiently. Here, we challenge this perception. We …Read more
  •  62
    The price of security: a roundtable
    with Catherine Audard, Tony McWalter, Saladin Meckled-García, and Jonathan Rée
    The Philosophers' Magazine 34 53-59. 2006.
  •  1552
    Making Fair Choices on the Path to Universal Health Coverage
    with Ole Frithjof Norheim, Trygve Ottersen, Bona Chitah, Richard Cookson, Norman Daniels, Nir Eyal, Walter Flores, Axel Gosseries, Daniel Hausman, Samia Hurst, Lydia Kapiriri, Toby Ord, Shlomi Segall, Frehiwot Defaye, and Alicia Yamin
    World Health Organisation. 2014.
    This report by the WHO Consultative Group on Equity and Universal Health Coverage addresses how countries can make fair progress towards the goal of universal coverage. It explains the relevant tradeoffs between different desirable ends and offers guidance on how to make these tradeoffs.
  •  578
    Why Health-Related Inequalities Matter and Which Ones Do
    In Ole F. Norheim, Ezekiel J. Emanuel & Joseph Millum (eds.), Global Health Priority-Setting: Beyond Cost-Effectiveness, Oxford University Press. pp. 145-62. 2019.
    I outline and defend two egalitarian theories, which yield distinctive and, I argue, complementary answers to why health-related inequalities matter: a brute luck egalitarian view, according to which inequalities due to unchosen, differential luck are bad because unfair, and a social egalitarian view, according to which inequalities are bad when and because they undermine people’s status as equal citizens. These views identify different objects of egalitarian concern: the brute luck egalitarian …Read more
  •  56
    Making Fair Choices on the Path to Universal Health Coverage: Applying Principles to Difficult Cases
    with Tessa T.-T. Edejer, Lydia Kapiriri, Ole Frithjof Norheim, James Snowden, Olivier Basenya, Dorjsuren Bayarsaikhan, Ikram Chentaf, Nir Eyal, Amanda Folsom, Rozita Halina Tun Hussein, Cristian Morales, Florian Ostmann, Trygve Ottersen, Phusit Prakongsai, and Carla Saenz
    Health Systems and Reform 3 (4): 1-12. 2017.
    Progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) requires making difficult trade-offs. In this journal, Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO Director-General, has endorsed the principles for making such decisions put forward by the WHO Consultative Group on Equity and UHC. These principles include maximizing population health, priority for the worse off, and shielding people from health-related financial risks. But how should one apply these principles in particular cases and how should one adjudicate bet…Read more
  •  1219
    Egalitarianism and the Separateness of Persons
    Utilitas 24 (3): 381-398. 2012.
    The difference between the unity of the individual and the separateness of persons requires that there be a shift in the moral weight that we accord to changes in utility when we move from making intrapersonal tradeoffs to making interpersonal tradeoffs. We examine which forms of egalitarianism can, and which cannot, account for this shift. We argue that a form of egalitarianism which is concerned only with the extent of outcome inequality cannot account for this shift. We also argue that a view…Read more
  •  389
    Response to Rabin
    In Adam Oliver (ed.), Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press. 2013.
    This chapter analyses the behavioural economist Matthew Rabin's work on biases in decision-making. Rabin argues that these biases cause self-harm and that we should tax individuals to ensure that they do not give in to these biases. The chapter's core question is whether there is a soft-paternalistic justification for these taxes. The answer is nuanced. It argues that Rabin’s description of these biases as “irrational” is not always appropriate—sometimes, for example, they are merely a form of …Read more
  •  457
    The house that Jack built
    The Philosophers' Magazine 22 (22): 28-31. 2003.
    A critical overview of John ('Jack') Rawls' key ideas.
  •  1003
    How Much Ambiguity Aversion? Finding Indifferences between Ellsberg's Risky and Ambiguous Bets
    with Ken Binmore and Lisa Stewart
    Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 45 (3): 215-38. 2012.
    Experimental results on the Ellsberg paradox typically reveal behavior that is commonly interpreted as ambiguity aversion. The experiments reported in the current paper find the objective probabilities for drawing a red ball that make subjects indifferent between various risky and uncertain Ellsberg bets. They allow us to examine the predictive power of alternative principles of choice under uncertainty, including the objective maximin and Hurwicz criteria, the sure-thing principle, and the prin…Read more
  •  49
    Philippa Foot
    The Philosophers' Magazine 52 (1): 9-9. 2011.
    A short obituary of the philosopher Philippa Foot.
  •  1094
    Cómo tomar decisiones justas en el camino hacia la cobertura universal de salud
    with Ole Frithjof Norheim, Trygve Ottersen, Bona Chitah, Richard Cookson, Norman Daniels, Frehiwot Defaye, Nir Eyal, Walter Flores, Axel Gosseries, Daniel Hausman, Samia Hurst, Lydia Kapiriri, Toby Ord, Shlomi Segall, Gita Sen, Tessa T. T. Edejer, Andreas Reis, Ritu Sadana, Carla Saenz, Alicia Yamin, and Daniel Wikler
    Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). 2015.
    La cobertura universal de salud está en el centro de la acción actual para fortalecer los sistemas de salud y mejorar el nivel y la distribución de la salud y los servicios de salud. Este documento es el informe fi nal del Grupo Consultivo de la OMS sobre la Equidad y Cobertura Universal de Salud. Aquí se abordan los temas clave de la justicia (fairness) y la equidad que surgen en el camino hacia la cobertura universal de salud. Por lo tanto, el informe es pertinente para cada agente que infl uy…Read more
  •  255
    This paper provides an introductory discussion of questions about three moral duties in the context of global poverty: the duty to aid; the duty not to harm; and the duty to promote just global institutions.
  •  643
    Erasmus: a snapshot
    The Philosophers' Magazine 48 98-100. 2004.
    In the summer of 1514, Desiderius Erasmus (c.1467-1536) was beginning to establish his name as the leading humanist scholar of his age, when he was recalled to his monastery in his native Holland.
  •  407
    Security and the 'war on terror': a roundtable
    In Julian Baggini & Jeremy Strangroom (eds.), What More Philosophers Think, Continuum. pp. 19-32. 2007.
    What is the appropriate legal response to terrorist threats? This question is discussed by politician Tony McWalter, The Philosophers' Magazine editor Julian Baggini, and philosophers Catherine Audard, Saladin Meckled-Garcia, and Alex Voorhoeve.
  •  312
    Prioriteit voor patienten met een lagere levenskwaliteit
    Filosofie En Praktijk 31 40-51. 2010.
    This paper critically analyses the priority-setting rules used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK and proposed by the Netherlands' Council on Public Health and Health Care (RVZ). It argues that neither gives proper weight to improving the lot of those who are worse off than others.
  •  117
    Scanlon on Substantive Responsibility
    Journal of Political Philosophy 16 (2): 184-200. 2007.
    I argue that Scanlon's Value of Choice View does not offer a plausible account of substantive responsibility. I offer a new account, which I call the Potential Value of Opportunities View. On this view, when a person is in a position to freely and capably make an informed choice, we assess her situation not by the outcome she achieves but by the potential value of her opportunities. This value depends on the value of the various things that she can achieve through her choices, as well as on how …Read more
  •  377
    Bernard Mandeville
    The Philosophers' Magazine 20 53. 2002.
    A short account of the philosopher Bernard Mandeville's key ideas.
  •  360
    Making Fair Choices on the Path to Universal Health Coverage: A Precis
    with Trygve Ottersen and Ole Frithjof Norheim
    Health Economics, Policy and Law 11 (1): 71-77. 2016.
    We offer a summary of the WHO Report "Making Fair Choices on the Path to Universal Health Coverage".
  •  117
    Heuristics and biases in a purported counter-example to the acyclicity of 'better than'
    Politics, Philosophy and Economics 7 (3): 285-299. 2008.
    Stuart Rachels and Larry Temkin have offered a purported counter-example to the acyclicity of the relationship 'all things considered better than'. This example invokes our intuitive preferences over pairs of alternatives involving a single person's painful experiences of varying intensity and duration. These preferences, Rachels and Temkin claim, are confidently held, entirely reasonable, and cyclical. They conclude that we should drop acyclicity as a requirement of rationality. I argue that, t…Read more
  •  190
    Equality of opportunity and opportunity dominance
    with Matthias Hild
    Economics and Philosophy 20 (1): 117-145. 2004.
    All conceptions of equal opportunity draw on some distinction between morally justified and unjustified inequalities. We discuss how this distinction varies across a range of philosophical positions. We find that these positions often advance equality of opportunity in tandem with distributive principles based on merit, desert, consequentialist criteria or individuals' responsibility for outcomes. The result of this amalgam of principles is a festering controversy that unnecessarily diminishes t…Read more
  •  11
    The limits of autonomy
    The Philosophers' Magazine 46 78-82. 2009.
    Brian Barry believed liberals should not follow Mill in appealing to the value of autonomy in order to justify liberal rights. Barry believed the basic liberal aim was to find social and political institutions that could be justified to citizens who held differing views about the good life as a fair way of adjudicating between these citizens’ conflicting interests and conceptions of the good.
  •  485
    Three Case Studies in Making Fair Choices on the Path to Universal Health Coverage
    with Tessa Edejer, Kapiriri Lydia, Ole Frithjof Norheim, James Snowden, Olivier Basenya, Dorjsuren Bayarsaikhan, Ikram Chentaf, Nir Eyal, Amanda Folsom, Rozita Halina Tun Hussein, Cristian Morales, Florian Ostmann, Trygve Ottersen, Phusit Prakongsai, and Carla Saenz
    Health and Human Rights 18 (2): 11-22. 2016.
    The goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) can generally be realized only in stages. Moreover, resource, capacity and political constraints mean governments often face difficult trade-offs on the path to UHC. In a 2014 report, Making fair choices on the path to UHC, the WHO Consultative Group on Equity and Universal Health Coverage articulated principles for making such trade-offs in an equitable manner. We present three case studies which illustrate how these principles can guide pr…Read more
  •  1092
    How Should We Aggregate Competing Claims
    Ethics 125 (1): 64-87. 2014.
    Many believe that we ought to save a large number from being permanently bedridden rather than save one from death. Many also believe that we ought to save one from death rather than a multitude from a very minor harm, no matter how large this multitude. I argue that a principle I call “Aggregate Relevant Claims” satisfactorily explains these judgments. I offer a rationale for this principle and defend it against objections.
  •  769
    Review of Matthew D. Adler: Well-Being and Fair Distribution. Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis (review)
    Social Choice and Welfare 42 (1): 245-54. 2014.
    In this extended book review, I summarize Adler's views and critically analyze his key arguments on the measurement of well-being and the foundations of prioritarianism.
  •  1349
    Faire Des Choix Justes Pour Une Couverture Sanitaire Universelle
    with Ole Frithjof Norheim, Trygve Ottersen, Bona Chitah, Richard Cookson, Norman Daniels, Frehiwot Defaye, Nir Eyal, Walter Flores, Axel Gosseries, Daniel Hausman, Samia Hurst, Lydia Kapiriri, Toby Ord, Shlomi Segall, Gita Sen, Daniel Wikler, Alicia Yamin, Tessa T. T. Edejer, Andreas Reis, Ritu Sadana, and Carla Saenz
    World Health Organization. 2015.
    This report from the WHO Consultative Group on Equity and Universal Health Coverage offers advice on how to make progress fairly towards universal health coverage.
  •  601
    In search of the deep structure of morality: an interview with Frances Kamm
    with Frances Kamm
    Imprints 9 (2): 93-117. 2006.
    An extended discussion with Frances Kamm about deontology and the methodology of ethical theorizing. (An extended and revised version appears in Alex Voorhoeve, Conversations on Ethics, OUP 2009).)
  •  160
    A mistrustful animal: Bernard Williams interviewed
    Harvard Review of Philosophy 12 (1): 81-92. 2004.
    A discussion with Bernard Williams about main themes in his work. (Note: a version of this interview appears in 'Conversations on Ethics' (OUP, 2009).)
  •  191
    Defending transitivity against zeno’s paradox
    with Ken Binmore
    Philosophy and Public Affairs 31 (3). 2003.
    This article criticises one of Stuart Rachels' and Larry Temkin's arguments against the transitivity of 'better than'. This argument invokes our intuitions about our preferences of different bundles of pleasurable or painful experiences of varying intensity and duration, which, it is argued, will typically be intransitive. This article defends the transitivity of 'better than' by showing that Rachels and Temkin are mistaken to suppose that preferences satisfying their assumptions must be intrans…Read more