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155Ideal agency and the possibility of errorEthics 118 (2): 315-323. 2008.In “Practical Reason and the Possibility of Error," Douglas Lavin claims to have discovered a paradox deep in the heart of Christine Korsgaard’s neo-Kantian project. I argue that Lavin's criticism rests on a mistaken conception of ideal agency. In particular, he falsely assumes that since it is no accident that an ideal agent lives up to sound norms, it must have been impossible for her to deviate from them.
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1572Confucianism, Buddhism, and Virtue EthicsEuropean Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 8 (1): 187-214. 2016.Are Confucian and Buddhist ethical views closer to Kantian, Consequentialist, or Virtue Ethical ones? And how can such comparisons shed light on the unique aspects of Confucian and Buddhist views? This essay (i) provides a historically grounded framework for distinguishing western views, (ii) identifies a series of questions that we can ask in order to clarify the philosophic accounts of ethical motivation embedded in the Buddhist and Confucian traditions, and (iii) then critiques Lee Ming-hue…Read more
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196Review: The Retrieval of Ethics by Talbot Brewer (review)Analysis 71 (1): 193-195. 2011.Short review of Talbot Brewer's excellent book "The Retrieval of Ethics"
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79Normativity and the Will by R. Jay Wallace (review)Ethics 117 (4): 790-794. 2007.Summary of Wallace's book. Raises an objection to Wallace's response to moral skepticism.
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476Kant and KarmaJournal of Buddhist Ethics 12. 2006.Adding to growing debate about the role of rebirth in Buddhist ethics, Dale S. Wright has recently advocated distinguishing and distancing the concept of karma from that of rebirth. In this paper, I evaluate Wright’s arguments in the light of Immanuel Kant’s views about supernatural beliefs. Although Kant is a paradigmatic Enlightenment critic of metaphysical speculation and traditional dogmas, he also offers thought-provoking practical arguments in favor of adopting supernatural (theistic) beli…Read more
Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Normative Ethics |
Moral Psychology |
Asian Philosophy |
Virtue Ethics |
Practical Reason |
Areas of Interest
Kantian Ethics |
American Pragmatism |
Ethics of Belief |
Free Will |
Death and Dying |