-
63The Impossibility of Natural NecessityIn Alexander Carruth, Sophie Gibb & John Heil (eds.), Ontology, Modality, and Mind: Themes from the Metaphysics of E.J. Lowe, Oxford University Press. pp. 73-92. 2018.I build a case for the impossibility of natural necessity as anything other than a species of metaphysical necessity – the necessity obtaining in virtue of the essences of natural objects. Aristotelian necessitarianism about the laws of nature is clarified and defended. I contrast it with E.J. Lowe’s contingentism about the laws. I examine Lowe’s solution to the circularity/triviality problem besetting natural necessity understood as relative necessity. Lowe’s way out is subject to serious probl…Read more
-
216Temporal Parts and the Possibility of ChangePhilosophy and Phenomenological Research 69 (3): 686-708. 2004.Things change. If anything counts as a datum of metaphysics, that does. Change occurs in many ways: it can be accidental or substantial; essential or non-essential; intrinsic or extrinsic; subjective or objective. Changes can be physical, spatial, quantitative, qualitative, natural, artefactual, conceptual, linguistic. Events are arguably best defined as changes in an object or objects. All change is from something and into something, and hence is at least a two-term relation, involving a term f…Read more
-
78The Ethics of Co-operation in WrongdoingRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 54 203-227. 2004.There are a number of ways in which a person can share the guilt of another's wrongdoing. He might advise it, command it or consent to it. He might provoke it, praise it, flatter the wrongdoer, or conceal the wrong. He might stay silent when there is a clear duty to denounce the wrong or its perpetrator; or he might positively defend the wrong done. Finally, he might actively participate or cooperate in the wrongdoing. These various activities, apart from cooperation, typically occur before or a…Read more
-
94Graph structuralism and its discontents: rejoinder to ShackelAnalysis 72 (1): 94-98. 2012.Nicholas Shackel (2011) has proposed a number of arguments to save the Dipert–Bird model of physical reality from the sorts of unpalatable consequence I identified in Oderberg 2011. Some consequences, he thinks, are only apparent; others are real but palatable. In neither case does he seem to me to have deflected the concerns I raised, leaving graph structuralism on Dipert–Bird lines as problematic as ever
-
1544Moral Theory: A Non-Consequentialist ApproachWiley-Blackwell. 2000._Moral Theory_ sets out the basic system used to solve moral problems, the system that consequentialists deride as 'traditional morality'. The central concepts, principles and distinctions of traditional morality are explained and defended: rights; justice; the good; virtue; the intention/foresight distinction; the acts/omissions distinction; and, centrally, the fundamental value of human life
-
139Divine premotionInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 79 (3): 207-222. 2016.According to divine premotionism, God does not merely create and sustain the universe. He also moves all secondary causes to action as instruments without undermining their intrinsic causal efficacy. I explain and uphold the premotionist theory, which is the theory of St Thomas Aquinas and his most prominent exponents. I defend the premotionist interpretation of Aquinas in some textual detail, with particular reference to Suarez and to a recent paper by Louis Mancha. Critics, including Molinists…Read more
-
119The Metaphysical Status of the Embryo: Some Arguments RevisitedJournal of Applied Philosophy 25 (4): 263-276. 2008.abstract This paper re‐examines some well‐known and commonly accepted arguments for the non‐individuality of the embryo, due mainly to the work of John Harris. The first concerns the alleged non‐differentiation of the embryoblast from the trophoblast. The second concerns monozygotic twinning and the relevance of the primitive streak. The third concerns the totipotency of the cells of the early embryo. I argue that on a proper analysis of both the empirical facts of embryological development, and…Read more
-
6Causing actions by Paul M. Pietroski oxford university press, 2000; £30.00 (HB) ISBN: 0198250428Philosophy 78 (1): 123-145. 2003.
-
178The doctrine of double effectIn Timothy O'Connor & Constantine Sandis (eds.), A Companion to the Philosophy of Action, Wiley‐blackwell. pp. 324-330. 2010.Few moral theorists would disagree that the fundamental principle of morality – perhaps of practical rationality itself – is “ Do good and avoid evil. ” Yet along with such an uncontroversial principle comes a major question: Can you fulfi l both halves satisfactorily across your life as a moral agent? We all have opportunities to perform acts that do good with no accompanying evil, but these are not as common as we might think. We can avoid evil by doing nothing, but doing nothing implies doing…Read more
-
164The Guise of the Good thesis has received much attention since Anscombe's brief defence in her book Intention. I approach it here from a less common perspective - indirectly, via a theory explaining how it is that moral behaviour is even possible. After setting out how morality requires the employment of a fundamental test, I argue that moral behaviour involves orientation toward the good. Immoral behaviour cannot, however, involve orientation to evil as such, given the theory of evil as privati…Read more
-
678Hylemorphic dualismSocial Philosophy and Policy 22 (2): 70-99. 2005.To the extent that dualism is even taken to be a serious option in contemporary discussions of personal identity and the philosophy of mind, it is almost exclusively either Cartesian dualism or property dualism that is considered. The more traditional dualism defended by Aristotelians and Thomists, what I call hylemorphic dualism, has only received scattered attention. In this essay I set out the main lines of the hylemorphic dualist position, with particular reference to personal identity. Firs…Read more
-
33Books Briefly NotedInternational Journal of Philosophical Studies 1 (2): 393-397. 1993.Kants Theorie des reinen Geschmacksurteils By Christel Fricke Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1990 (Quellen und Studien zur Philosophie, 26). Pp. 196. ISBN 3?11?012585?4. DM98.00 The Ontology of Physical Objects By Mark Heller Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pp. iv + 162. ISBN 0?521?38544?X. £25.00. Theory of Knowledge By Keith Lehrer Routledge, 1990. Pp. xii + 212. ISBN 0?415?05407?9. £30.00 hbk. £9.99 pbk. Disciplining Foucault: Feminism, Power and the Body By Jana Sawicki Routledge, 1991. Pp. xii…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Religion |
Normative Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Mind |
Meta-Ethics |
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |