-
70DesertPrinceton University Press. 1987."--Jeffrie Murphy, The Philosophical Review (forthcoming)
-
66Liberal Neutrality and the Value of AutonomySocial Philosophy and Policy 12 (1): 136-159. 1995.Many liberals believe that government should not base its decisions on any particular conception of the good life. Many believe, further, that this principle of neutrality is best defended through appeal to some normative principle about autonomy. In this essay, I shall discuss the prospects of mounting one such defense. I say only “one such defense” because neutralists can invoke the demands of autonomy in two quite different ways. They can argue, first, that because autonomy itself has such gr…Read more
-
63Punishment as Societal DefensePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 59 (2): 548-550. 1999.Phillip Montague’s point of departure is a simple but illuminating way of conceptualizing the fact that creates the need for punishment—namely, that each society contains some people who will wrongfully kill or injure others unless held in check by a system of penalties. This fact, Montague argues, in effect confronts each society with a forced choice: either allow potential criminals to inflict harm on others, or else prevent them from doing so by maintaining a system of punishment that will ha…Read more
-
58Debate: Taking OffenseJournal of Political Philosophy 28 (3): 332-342. 2020.Journal of Political Philosophy, EarlyView.
-
47Living in the Moment is for OystersAmerican Philosophical Quarterly 61 (1): 19-28. 2024.The idea that we should simply live in the moment, and should not concern ourselves about the future or the past, has long been a staple of popular philosophy. In this paper, I first attempt to clarify the doctrine and then examine the case for accepting it. My conclusions are, first, that a number of its implications seem quite unpalatable; second, that the main advantages that living in the moment are said to yield are greatly overstated; and, third, that to live by any version of the doctrine…Read more
-
43Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory (edited book)Routledge. 2012.Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory is an outstanding anthology of the most important topics, theories and debates in ethics, compiled by one of the leading experts in the field. It includes sixty-six extracts covering the central domains of ethics: why be moral? the meaning of moral language morality and objectivity consequentialism deontology virtue and character value and well-being moral psychology applications: including abortion, famine relief and consent. Included are both classica…Read more
-
42Reason at Work: Introductory Readings in PhilosophyCengage Learning. 1996.REASON AT WORK is designed for Introduction to Philosophy courses where the instructor prefers to use a collection of readings to introduce the broad divisions of the discipline. This edition includes sixty-two readings organized into the six major branches of philosophical inquiry: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion, and Philosophy of Mind.
-
42A Teacher's Life: Essays for Steven M. Cahn (edited book)Lexington Books. 2009.This is a collection of 13 essays honoring Steven Cahn, presented to him on the occasion of his 25th year as Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York. The essays address issues concerning the teaching of philosophy, the responsibilities of professors, and the good life.
-
41You're Not TryingJournal of the American Philosophical Association 7 (3): 387-397. 2021.At one point or another, most of us have been accused of not trying our hardest, and most of us have leveled similar accusations at others. The disputes that result are often intractable and raise difficult questions about effort, ability, and will. This essay addresses some of these questions by examining six representative cases in which the accusation is leveled. The questions discussed include what trying one's hardest involves, and the conditions under which complaints about lack of effort …Read more
-
41My Profession and Its DutiesThe Monist 79 (4): 471-487. 1996.Much that is written about professional ethics concerns the requirements imposed by specific roles. We are often told what professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers should do—or, alternatively, what a good doctor, lawyer, or teacher will do. In this paper, I shall try to clarify these claims as they pertain to one particular role—that of a faculty member at a college or university—by asking what special requirements the role imposes, and why faculty members are obligated to live up to…Read more
-
40Ethics, Character, and ActionSocial Philosophy and Policy 15 (1): 1. 1998.According to one long-standing tradition, the organizing question of ethics is “What are we morally obligated to do?” However, many philosophers, inspired by an even older tradition, now urge a return to the question “What kind of person is it best to be?” According to these philosophers, the proper locus of evaluation is character rather than action, and the basic evaluative concept is virtue rather than duty. Following what has become common usage, I shall refer to the first approach as “duty …Read more
-
40Causal explanation and the vocabulary of actionMind 82 (325): 22-30. 1973.It seems plausible to suppose that (a) the vocabulary of action is distinct from and irreducible to that of mere movement, And (b) the causal laws of the natural sciences are couched solely in terms of the latter vocabulary. From these two suppositions, The falsehood of determinism has sometimes been said to follow. I argue that whether this does follow depends on our conception of causal explanation; on the interpretation of this concept that seems to me the most interesting, The falsehood of d…Read more
-
38Armstrong and the interdependence of the mentalPhilosophical Quarterly 27 (July): 227-235. 1977.
-
35Political PhilosophyPhilosophical Review 108 (1): 87. 1999.This book, which was completed just before Jean Hampton’s untimely death in April 1996, is an admirable hybrid. Although it successfully achieves its stated purpose of “acquaint[ing] the student of political philosophy both with [its] questions and with the various answers to them proposed by philosophers since the ancient Greeks”, it is, at the same time, quite an original work—one that can be read with real profit by professional philosophers as well as students.
-
35Women and Moral TheoryRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1987.To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com
-
32Predicting PerformanceSocial Philosophy and Policy 5 (1): 188. 1987.Equal opportunity requires that persons be selected for desirable positions on the basis of their qualifications. To assess an applicant's qualifications, we must both predict how well he would perform if chosen, and compare his projected performance with that of his rivals. Since we lack direct access to future performance, all such predictions must be based on some past– or present-tense information about the applicants, together with some relevant supporting information. But is any and every …Read more
-
30Perfectionism and Neutrality: Essays in Liberal TheoryRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2003.Editors provide a substantive introduction to the history and theories of perfectionism and neutrality, expertly contextualizing the essays and making the collection accessible
-
28The Weight of the PastAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 101 (1): 152-164. 2023.ABSTRACT The question that this paper seeks to answer is that of whether the resistance to change that characterizes the conservative temperament has any rational basis. More precisely, my question is whether we have good grounds for accepting any version of the principle that if something exists then we need a reason to change it but don’t need a reason to keep it. The paper defends a version of this principle whose scope is restricted to familiar traditions and customs on the one hand, and agi…Read more
Houston, Texas, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Action |
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Action |
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |