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21Rationality and Moral AuthorityOxford Studies in Metaethics 10. 2015.According to the Rationality Doctrine, whether morality is normative depends on the existence of a link of an important kind between morality and rationality. The RD is intuitively appealing and has a historical pedigree. Versions have been endorsed by philosophers who otherwise disagree fundamentally. A version of it has been used in arguing against the chapter’s account of the normativity of morality on the basis that, allegedly, it fails to establish the right kind of link between morality an…Read more
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20The Wrong Answer to an Improper Question?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37 (sup1): 97-130. 2007.A person who sees that she morally ought to do something might wonder whether it would make sense for her to do it. Perhaps Aurelia is on a crowded bus, standing next to an old man whose wallet is almost falling out of his pocket. She says, “I see that the morally right thing would be to warn this man to take care of his wallet. But why should I do the right thing? In fact, why shouldn't I steal his wallet? It would be wrong of me to do this, but so what? No one is looking. I won't get caught. W…Read more
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183. Capitalism versus Democracy: The Marketing of Votes and the Marketing of Political PowerIn John Douglas Bishop (ed.), Ethics and Capitalism, University of Toronto Press. pp. 81-101. 2000.
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18The Iterated-Utilitarianism of J. S. MillCanadian Journal of Philosophy 9 (sup1): 75-98. 1979.The interpretation of the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill has been a matter of controversy at least since J.O. Urmson published his well known paper over twenty-five years ago. Urmson attributed to Mill a form of “rule-utilitarianism”, contrasting his reading with the “received view” on which Mill held a form of “act-utilitarianism”. Since then, the interpretive problem has typically been seen to be that of determining which of these two types of theory should be attributed to Mill, or, at le…Read more
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17Experiments, Intuitions, and Methodology in Moral and Political Theory 1Oxford Studies in Metaethics 7 1-36. 2012.Moral and political philosophers commonly appeal to moral “intuitions” at crucial points in their reasoning. This chapter considers recent challenges to this practice—here referred to as “the Method”—based in empirical studies of moral intuitions. It contends that such studies do not justify radical or revisionary conclusions about the Method. A method is aimed at achieving certain goals. The key issue is the nature of the goals in relation to which the Method is to be evaluated. This chapter ar…Read more
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14Moral Differences: Truth, Justice and Conscience in a World of ConflictPhilosophical Review 103 (4): 723. 1994.
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13Morality, Reason, and Management Science: The Rationale of Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Philosophy and Policy 2 (2): 128-151. 1985.The ProblemEconomic efficiency is naturally thought to be a virtue of social policies and decisions, and cost-benefit (CB) analysis is commonly regarded as a technique for measuring economic efficiency. It is not surprising, then, that CB analysis is so widely used in social policy analysis. However, there is a great deal of controversy about CB analysis, including controversy about its underlying philosophical rationale. The rationales that have been proposed fall into three basic, though not m…Read more
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11Review of David Copp: Nuclear Weapons, Deterrence, and Disarmament (review)Ethics 98 (3): 610-612. 1988.
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10Normativity and the Very Idea of Moral EpistemologySouthern Journal of Philosophy 29 (S1): 189-210. 1991.
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9Goldman on the Goals of DemocracyPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 64 (1): 207-214. 2002.As practiced by Alvin Goldman, social epistemology addresses the epistemic consequences and requirements of social practices and institutions. Since political institutions have epistemic consequences and requirements, social epistemology has a great deal to offer to political philosophy. Goldman’s work in this area is rich and interesting, and, in his recent book, Knowledge in a Social World, he has much to say that deserves the attention of political philosophers. I highly recommend, for exampl…Read more
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8Comment on Lorenzo Sacconi, Marco Faillo and Stefania Ottone. Contractarian Compliance, Welfarist Justice, and Conformist UtilityAnalyse & Kritik 33 (1): 311-324. 2011.This comment addresses two issues that arise in Sacconi/faillo/ottone's essay. The first is the problem of compliance as it arises in social contract theory. The second is the problem of avoiding an incoherence that arises in the formulation of welfarist principles of distributive justice if these principles are taken to be concerned with the distribution of welfare without restriction. Sacconi, Faillo, and Ottone define an interesting class of principles that govern only the distribution of 'ma…Read more
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8Moral Reasoning and Truth: An Essay in Philosophy and JurisprudencePhilosophical Review 87 (3): 460. 1978.
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5Do We Have Any Justified Moral Beliefs?Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 77 (3): 811-819. 2008.
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5Introduction: Deterrence and DisarmamentCanadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 12 (n/a): 1-22. 1986.
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5The Iterated-Utilitarianism of J.S. MillCanadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 5 (n/a): 75-98. 1979.The interpretation of the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill has been a matter of controversy at least since J.O. Urmson published his well known paper over twenty-five years ago. Urmson attributed to Mill a form of “rule-utilitarianism”, contrasting his reading with the “received view” on which Mill held a form of “act-utilitarianism”. Since then, the interpretive problem has typically been seen to be that of determining which of these two types of theory should be attributed to Mill, or, at le…Read more
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4Diskussion/Discussion. Morality and Society - The True and the NastyAnalyse & Kritik 20 (1): 123-140. 1998.This paper is a reply to Anton Leist’s criticisms of the view I develop in my book, Morality, Normativity, and Society. Leist claims that my “standard-based” account of the truth conditions of moral propositions is incoherent. I argue that he is mistaken about this. Leist claims that my “society-centered” account of the justification of moral standards has “nasty” implications. In the course of answering this worry, I develop the idea of a “moral necessity”. My theory implies that although moral…Read more
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2The Idea of DemocracyEthics 105 (2): 425-426. 1995.In the wake of the recent expansion of democratic forms of government around the world, political theorists have begun to rethink the nature and justification of this form of government. The essays in this book address a variety of foundational questions about democracy: How effective is it? How stable can it be in a pluralist society? Does it deserve its current popularity? Can it successfully guide a socialist society?
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University of California, DavisDepartment of Philosophy
Davis, California, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |