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44On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of SocietyPrinceton University Press. 1995.This book completes A. John Simmons's exploration and development of Lockean moral and political philosophy, a project begun in The Lockean Theory of Rights. Here Simmons discusses the Lockean view of the nature of, grounds for, and limits on political relations between persons. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. T…Read more
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40Boundaries of AuthorityOxford University Press USA. 2016.Modern states claim rights of jurisdiction and control over particular geographical areas and their associated natural resources. Boundaries of Authority explores the possible moral bases for such territorial claims by states, in the process arguing that many of these territorial claims in fact lack any moral justification. The book maintains throughout that the requirement of states' justified authority over persons has normative priority over, and as a result severely restricts, the kinds of t…Read more
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36Civil Disobedience and the Duty to Obey the LawIn R. G. Frey & Christopher Heath Wellman (eds.), A Companion to Applied Ethics, Blackwell. 2005.This chapter contains sections titled: Definitions Justification and the Duty to Obey.
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35The Limits of Lockean Rights in PropertyPhilosophical and Phenomenological Research 58 (4): 997-999. 1995.
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33Locke on the Death PenaltyPhilosophy 69 (270): 471-. 1994.Brian Calvert has offered us a clear and careful analysis of Locke′s views on punishment and capital punishment. 1 The primary goal of his paper–that of correcting the misperception of Locke as a wholehearted proponent of capital punishment for a wide range of offences–must be allowed to be both laudable and largely achieved in his discussion. But Calvert′s analysis also encourages, I think, a number of serious misunderstandings of Locke′s true position
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32Review of A. John Simmons: Moral Principles and Political Obligations (review)Ethics 91 (2): 309-312. 1981.
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30Political obligation and authorityIn Robert L. Simon (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy, Blackwell. 2002.The prelims comprise: The Basic Concepts The Philosophical Problem Brief History Socrates and the Three Strategies Particularity and Natural Duty Accounts Associative Accounts Transactional Accounts Pluralist and Anarchist Responses Bibliography.
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30Consent and Fairness in Planning Land UseBusiness and Professional Ethics Journal 6 (2): 5-19. 1987.
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26Democracy’s Discontent: America in Search of a Public PhilosophyPhilosophical Review 107 (1): 133. 1998.As its subtitle indicates, Democracy’s Discontent is a study of the political philosophies that have guided America’s public life. The “search” Michael Sandel describes has, in his view, temporarily come to a disappointing resolution in America’s acceptance of a liberal “public philosophy” that “cannot secure the liberty it promises” and has left Americans “discontented” with their “loss of self-government and the erosion of community”. This theme is unlikely to surprise readers familiar with Sa…Read more
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25Boundaries of Authority: An introductionPolitics, Philosophy and Economics 18 (4). 2019.This is the Introduction to the symposium on A. John Simmons, Boundaries of Authority (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016). The Symposium contains articles by David Miller, Cara Nine, and Anna Stilz, and a response by the author.
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25Democracy’s Discontent (review)Philosophical Review 107 (1): 133-135. 1998.As its subtitle indicates, Democracy’s Discontent is a study of the political philosophies that have guided America’s public life. The “search” Michael Sandel describes has, in his view, temporarily come to a disappointing resolution in America’s acceptance of a liberal “public philosophy” that “cannot secure the liberty it promises” and has left Americans “discontented” with their “loss of self-government and the erosion of community”. This theme is unlikely to surprise readers familiar with Sa…Read more
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24Punishment: A Philosophy and Public Affairs Reader (edited book)Princeton University Press. 1994.The problem of justifying legal punishment has been at the heart of legal and social philosophy from the very earliest recorded philosophical texts. However, despite several hundred years of debate, philosophers have not reached agreement about how legal punishment can be morally justified. That is the central issue addressed by the contributors to this volume. All of the essays collected here have been published in the highly respected journal Philosophy & Public Affairs. Taken together, they o…Read more
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19Locke on the Social ContractIn Matthew Stuart (ed.), A Companion to Locke, Wiley. 2015.John Locke's name is invariably included on lists of the modern fathers of social contract thought. This chapter begins with a brief discussion on the basics of social contract thought and the specific ways in which Locke's political philosophy participates in the social contract tradition. In Locke's day, and for well over a century before Locke, social contract theories almost always involved historical claims as well, with the precise relationship between the historical and normative wings of…Read more
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18Reasonable Expectations and Obligations: A Reply to PostowSouthern Journal of Philosophy 19 (1): 123-127. 1981.
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18An Essay on the Modern StatePhilosophical Review 109 (2): 271. 2000.Contemporary political philosophers routinely assume that some form of the modern, territorial state must be justified and that in a justified state most of the claims that modern states make will be vindicated. The principal question for them is what form the state must take in order to achieve this justification. How minimal or extensive must the state be, how responsive to groups within its territories and to people without must it be, and so on. Christopher Morris’s An Essay on the Modern St…Read more
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17Part 1. nonconsensual relationsIn On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of Society, Princeton University Press. pp. 11-56. 1995.
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14Locke and the Right to PunishIn A. John Simmons, Marshall Cohen, Joshua Cohen & Charles R. Beitz (eds.), Punishment: A Philosophy and Public Affairs Reader, Princeton University Press. pp. 219-258. 1994.
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14Domestic Attitudes Towards International Jurisdiction over Human Rights ViolationsHuman Rights Review 18 (3): 321-345. 2017.Building on research regarding the influence of national identity salience on attitudes towards international institutions and the impact of nationalism on foreign policy preferences, in a case study of America, I explore the role of chauvinistic nationalism to understand its impact on attitudes towards international jurisdiction of punishment for alleged human rights violations by members of the American military. Using binomial regression of survey responses from the 2014 Cooperative Congressi…Read more
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12Part 4. consent and the edge of anarchyIn On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of Society, Princeton University Press. pp. 193-270. 1995.
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11AbbreviationsIn On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of Society, Princeton University Press. 1995.
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9Intersectional Structural Stigma, Community Priorities, and Opportunities for Transgender Health Equity: Findings from TRANSforming the CarolinasJournal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 50 (3): 443-455. 2022.In this manuscript, “Intersectional Structural Stigma, Community Priorities, and Opportunities for Transgender Health Equity,” Poteat and Simmons outline the legal and policy barriers that impede efforts to end the HIV epidemic among transgender people in the South. They present qualitative and quantitative data from a community engaged research study conducted with transgender adults and other key stakeholders as well as finding from an analysis of policies impacting transgender people in both …Read more
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy of Law |
Value Theory |
Areas of Interest
History of Western Philosophy |