-
785Darwinian skepticism about moral realismPhilosophical Issues 18 (1): 186-206. 2008.No Abstract
-
113The Right to an Adequate Standard of Living: Justice, Autonomy, and the Basic NeedsSocial Philosophy and Policy 9 (1): 231. 1992.Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads as follows: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.” I shall refer to the right postulated here as “the right to an adequate standard of living” or “The Right.”
-
171A Skeptical Challenge to Moral Non-Naturalism and a Defense of Constructivist NaturalismPhilosophical Studies 126 (2): 269-283. 2005.
-
158NormativityAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 89 (1): 180-183. 2011.This Article does not have an abstract
-
25The Idea of Democracy (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 1993.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?
-
184Morality, normativity, and societyOxford University Press. 1995.Moral claims not only purport to be true, they also purport to guide our choices. This book presents a new theory of normative judgment, the "standard-based theory," which offers a schematic account of the truth conditions of normative propositions of all kinds, including moral propositions and propositions about reasons. The heart of Copp 's approach to moral propositions is a theory of the circumstances under which corresponding moral standards qualify as justified, the " society -centered the…Read more
-
78Realist-Expressivism: A Neglected Option for Moral RealismSocial Philosophy and Policy 18 (2): 1-43. 2001.Moral realismandantirealist-expressivismare of course incompatible positions. They disagree fundamentally about the nature of moral states of mind, the existence of moral states of affairs and properties, and the nature and role of moral discourse. The central realist view is that a person who has or expresses a moral thought is thereby in, or thereby expresses, acognitivestate of mind; she has or expresses abeliefthat represents a moral state of affairs in a way that might be accurate or inaccu…Read more
-
110. Peter Singer, One World: The Ethics of Globalization Peter Singer, One World: The Ethics of Globalization (pp. 634-638) (review)Ethics 114 (3). 2004.
-
24Consequentialist Rights: L. W. Sumner's The Moral Foundation of RightsDialogue 28 (1): 131-. 1989.It is commonplace to criticize utilitarianism on the ground that it does not take moral rights seriously; that it cannot account for the rights we have, and for their role in constraining our pursuit of the overall good. Wayne Sumner does not directly address this criticism in The Moral Foundation of Rights. Instead he attempts to show that consequentialism can defeat nihilism about rights: the view that there are no moral rights at all.
-
500'Ought' implies 'can' and the derivation of the Principle of Alternate PossibilitiesAnalysis 68 (1): 67-75. 2008.No Abstract
-
130The "possibility" of a categorical imperative: Kant's groundwork, part IIIPhilosophical Perspectives 6 261-284. 1992.
-
35Morality, Reason, and Management Science: The Rationale of Cost-Benefit AnalysisSocial Philosophy and Policy 2 (2): 128. 1985.The Problem Economic efficiency is naturally thought to be a virtue of social policies and decisions, and cost-benefit 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 mutua…Read more
-
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?
-
35Goldman on the goals of democracy (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 64 (1). 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
-
55Reasonable Acceptability and Democratic Legitimacy: Estlund’s Qualified Acceptability RequirementEthics 121 (2): 239-269. 2011.
-
468Defending the principle of alternate possibilities: Blameworthiness and moral responsibilityNoûs 31 (4): 441-456. 1997.According to the principle of alternate possibilities (PAP), a person is morally responsible for an action only if he could have done otherwise. PAP underlies a familiar argument for the incompatibility of moral responsibility with determinism. I argue that Harry Frankfurt's famous argument against PAP is unsuccessful if PAP is interpreted as a principle about blameworthiness. My argument turns on the maxim that "ought implies can" as well as a "finely-nuanced" view of the object of blame. To re…Read more
-
40The right to an adequate standard of living: Justice, autonomy, and the basic needs*: David CoppSocial Philosophy and Policy 9 (1): 231-261. 1992.Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads as follows: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.” I shall refer to the right postulated here as “the right to an adequate standard of living” or “The Right.”
-
249Belief, reason, and motivation: Michael Smith's "the moral problem"Ethics 108 (1): 33-54. 1997.
-
65Normativity and the very idea of moral epistemologySouthern Journal of Philosophy 29 (S1): 189-210. 1991.
-
140The normativity of self-grounded reasonSocial Philosophy and Policy 22 (2): 165-203. 2005.In this essay, I propose a standard of practical rationality and a grounding for the standard that rests on the idea of autonomous agency. This grounding is intended to explain the “normativity” of the standard. The basic idea is this: To be autonomous is to be self-governing. To be rational is at least in part to be self-governing; it is to do well in governing oneself. I argue that a person's values are aspects of her identity—of her “self-esteem identity”—in a way that most of her ends are no…Read more
-
312Toward a pluralist and teleological theory of normativityPhilosophical Issues 19 (1): 21-37. 2009.No Abstract
-
27International Justice and the Basic Needs PrincipleProtoSociology 26 150-166. 2009.According to the basic needs principle, a state in favorable circumstances must enable its members to meet their basic needs throughout a normal life-span. Applied to the international situation, I argue, this principle implies that a global state would have a duty (ceteris paribus) to enable subordinate states to meet their members‘ needs. In the absence of a global state, existing states have a duty (ceteris paribus) to work to create a system of institutions that would enable each state to me…Read more
-
University of California, DavisDepartment of Philosophy
Davis, California, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |