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68Moral Agency, Commitment, and ImpartialitySocial Philosophy and Policy 13 (1): 1-26. 1996.Liberal political philosophy presupposes a moral theory according to which the ability to assess and choose conceptions of the good from a universal and impartial moral standpoint is central to the individual's moral identity. This viewpoint is standardly understood by liberals as that of a rationalhuman(nottranscendental) agent. Such an agent is able to reflect on her ends and pursuits, including those she strongly identifies with, and to understand and take into account the basic interests of …Read more
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187International aid: When giving becomes a viceSocial Philosophy and Policy 23 (1): 69-101. 2006.Peter Singer and Peter Unger argue that moral decency requires giving away all one's “surplus” for the relief or prevention of “absolute poverty,” because not doing so is analogous to refusing to save a drowning child to avoid making one's clothes muddy. I argue that there is a crucial disanalogy between the two cases and, moreover, that there are four independent moral objections to their thesis: it is monomaniacal in ignoring the variety of morally worthy ideals and elevating self-sacrificial …Read more
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53Well-Being: Happiness in a Worthwhile LifeOup Usa. 2014.This book offers a new argument for the ancient claim that well-being as the highest prudential good -- eudaimonia -- consists of happiness in a life according to virtue. Virtue is a source of happiness, but happiness also requires external goods.
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123Friendship and Commercial SocietiesPolitics, Philosophy and Economics (No. 3): 301-326. 2008.Critics of commercial societies complain that the free-market system of property rights and freedom of contract tends to commodify relationships and erode the bonds of personal and civic friendship. I argue that this thesis rests on a misunderstanding of both markets and friendship. As voluntary, reciprocal relationships, market relationships and friendship share important properties. So-called market norms, such as instrumentality and fungibility, come in varying degrees and characterize not on…Read more
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Is Virtue Only a Means to Happiness?: An Analysis of Virtue and Happiness in Ayn Rand's WritingsReason Papers 24 27-44. 1999.
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1170Self-Interest and Virtue*: NEERA K. BADHWARSocial Philosophy and Policy 14 (1): 226-263. 1997.The Aristotelian view that the moral virtues–the virtues of character informed by practical wisdom–are essential to an individual's happiness, and are thus in an individual's self-interest, has been little discussed outside of purely scholarly contexts. With a few exceptions, contemporary philosophers have tended to be suspicious of Aristotle's claims about human nature and the nature of rationality and happiness. But recent scholarship has offered an interpretation of the basic elements of Aris…Read more
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871.1 Are commercial societies unfriendly to friendship? Many critics of commercial societies, from both the left and the right, have thought so. They claim that the free-market system of property rights, freedom of contract, and other liberty rights – the “negative” right of individuals to peacefully pursue their own ends – is impersonal and dehumanizing, or even inherently divisive and adversarial. Yet (their complaint goes) the psychology and morality of markets and liberty rights pervade far t…Read more
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154Is realism really bad for you? A realistic response Neera K. Badhwar 25th november, 2007Journal of Philosophy (No. 2). 2008.Someone who is reality-oriented and in touch with important features of her life is realistic. Realism has long been regarded as a hallmark of mental health and well-being, understood as happiness in an objectively worthy life. This view has also long invited the objection that ignorance can be bliss. Another objection, of recent vintage, comes from social psychology. Taylor and Brown claim that mildly deluded people are healthier and happier than highly realistic people. I argue against both ob…Read more
Neera K. Badhwar
University of Oklahoma
George Mason University
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George Mason UniversityMercatus CenterProfessor (Part-time)
Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy, Misc |
Value Theory |
Areas of Interest
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy, Misc |
Value Theory |