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21Thomas Hobbes and the science of moral virtueCambridge University Press. 1994.In Leviathan Thomas Hobbes defines moral philosophy as 'the science of Virtue and Vice', yet few modern readers take this description seriously. Moreover, it is typically assumed that Hobbes' ethical views are unrelated to his views of science. Influential modern interpreters have portrayed Hobbes as either an amoralist, or a moral contractarian, or a rule egoist, or a divine command theorist. David Boonin-Vail challenges all these assumptions and presents a new, and very unorthodox, interpretat…Read more
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211How to argue against active euthanasiaJournal of Applied Philosophy 17 (2). 2000.Most arguments against active euthanasia, as do most arguments in applied ethics generally, take place within the framework of what can broadly be referred to as a modern, as opposed to an ancient, approach to moral theory. In this paper, I argue that this fact works to the disadvantage of opponents of active euthanasia, and that if there is a successful argument against active euthanasia, it will be of the latter sort. In Part I, I attempt to clarify thedistinction between modern and ancient ap…Read more
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Book Reviews-Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living ThingsBioethics 13 (1): 81-83. 1999.
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104Robbing PETA to Spay Paul: Do Animal Rights Include Reproductive Rights?Between the Species 13 (3): 1. 2003.
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73Competition and capitalismCritical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 2 (2-3): 183-188. 1988.
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37The Limits of Kindness, written by Caspar HareJournal of Moral Philosophy 14 (2): 244-247. 2017.
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143Animal, vegetable, or woman?: A feminist critique of ethical vegetarianismEnvironmental Ethics 24 (4): 429-432. 2002.
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339Same-sex marriage and the argument from public disagreementJournal of Social Philosophy 30 (2). 1999.
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40Hobbes and the Paradoxes of Political Origins (review)Philosophical Review 108 (1): 146-151. 1999.Each of these two volumes grew out of what was originially intended to be a single chapter in a larger study of seventeenth-century liberalism. Although there is a strong degree of stylistic and methodological continuity between the two, neither book presupposes any familiarity with the other. I will therefore consider them separately.
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85Abortion and the Ways We Value Human Life (review)Social Theory and Practice 26 (2): 347-352. 2000.
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105The Non-Identity Problem and the Ethics of Future PeopleOxford University Press. 2014.David Boonin presents a new account of the non-identity problem: a puzzle about our obligations to people who do not yet exist. He provides a critical survey of solutions to the problem that have been proposed, and concludes by developing an unorthodox alternative solution, one that differs fundamentally from virtually every other approach.
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86Reductio ad Absurdum Objections and the DisāIntegration Argument against Merely Instrumental SexJournal of Social Philosophy 44 (3): 233-249. 2013.
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26Animal, Vegetable, or Woman?: A Feminist Critique of Ethical Vegetarianism (review)Environmental Ethics 24 (4): 429-432. 2002.
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93Should Race Matter?: Unusual Answers to the Usual QuestionsCambridge University Press. 1970.In this book, philosopher David Boonin attempts to answer the moral questions raised by five important and widely contested racial practices: slave reparations, affirmative action, hate speech restrictions, hate crime laws and racial profiling. Arguing from premises that virtually everyone on both sides of the debates over these issues already accepts, Boonin arrives at an unusual and unorthodox set of conclusions, one that is neither liberal nor conservative, color conscious nor color blind. De…Read more
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31Hobbes and the Paradoxes of Political Origins.John Locke and the Origins of Private Property: Philosophical Explorations of Individualism, Community, and EqualityPhilosophical Review 108 (1): 146. 1999.Each of these two volumes grew out of what was originially intended to be a single chapter in a larger study of seventeenth-century liberalism. Although there is a strong degree of stylistic and methodological continuity between the two, neither book presupposes any familiarity with the other. I will therefore consider them separately.
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166A Defense of AbortionCambridge University Press. 2002.David Boonin has written the most thorough and detailed case for the moral permissibility of abortion yet published. Critically examining a wide range of arguments that attempt to prove that every human fetus has a right to life, he shows that each of these arguments fails on its own terms. He then explains how even if the fetus does have a right to life, abortion can still be shown to be morally permissible on the critique of abortion's own terms. Finally he considers several pro-life arguments…Read more
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84The Problem of PunishmentCambridge University Press. 2008.In this book, David Boonin examines the problem of punishment, and particularly the problem of explaining why it is morally permissible for the state to treat those who break the law in ways that would be wrong to treat those who do not? Boonin argues that there is no satisfactory solution to this problem and that the practice of legal punishment should therefore be abolished. Providing a detailed account of the nature of punishment and the problems that it generates, he offers a comprehensive a…Read more
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106Rights, Duties and the Body: Law and Ethics of the Maternal-Fetal ConflictPhilosophical Review 113 (4): 582-584. 2004.Suppose a woman chooses to carry a pregnancy to term. What duties should she be understood to have with respect to the fetus? If she is informed that a vaginal delivery will pose significant risks to its life or health, for example, is she obligated to submit to a caesarean section procedure on its behalf?