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298Public goods and the paying publicJournal of Business Ethics 14 (2). 1995.This paper proposes a way to undercut anarchist objections to taxation without endorsing an authoritarian justification of government coercion. The argument involves public goods, as understood by economists and others. But I do not analyse options of autonomous prisoners and the like; for, however useful otherwise, these abstractions underestimate the real-world task of sorting out the prerogatives of and limits on ownership. Proceeding more contextually, I come to recommend a shareholder adden…Read more
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550In Lieu of a Sovereignty Shield, Multinational Corporations Should Be Responsible for the Harm They CauseJournal of Business Ethics 124 (4): 609-621. 2014.Some progress has been made in recent decades to articulate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and, more recently, to associate CSR with international enforcement of human rights. This progress continues to be hampered, however, by the ability of a multinational corporation (MNC) that violates human rights not only to shift liability from itself to a nation-state but even to win compensation from that nation-state for loss of profits due to restrictions on its business activities. In the proc…Read more
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261Review of Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political, edited by Seyla Benhabib (review)Teaching Philosophy 22 (1): 99-101. 1999.
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853Business Ethics Should Study Illicit Businesses: To Advance Respect for Human RightsJournal of Business Ethics 103 (4): 497-509. 2011.Business ethics should include illicit businesses as targets of investigation. For, though such businesses violate human rights they have been largely ignored by business ethicists. It is time to surmount this indifference in view of recent international efforts to define illicit businesses for regulatory purposes. Standing in the way, however, is a meta-ethical question as to whether any business can be declared unqualifiedly immoral. In support of an affirmative answer I address a number of co…Read more
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444The President of Good & Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush, by Peter Singer (review)Teaching Philosophy 27 (4): 388-391. 2004.
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152Trade Barriers to the Public Good: Free Trade and Environmental Protection, by Alex Michalos (review)Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology 15 (3): 235-237. 2011.
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160Review of Mark L. Greenberg and Lance Schacterle (eds.) Literature and Technology (review)Dialogue (Misc) 13 (5): 235-237. 1993.
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197Give Peace a Chance: A Mantra for Business StrategyJournal of Business Ethics 20 (1). 1999.The journalistic device of applying military imagery to describe business strategies is appropriate insofar as businesses implicitly base their strategies on a military model whose origins lie in Social Darwinism. What this involves is an unexamined understanding that any means may be adopted to achieve corporate objectives. Recent workforce reductions are manifestations of this understanding; but so are practices associated with mergers and acquisitions and with government-effectuated takings. …Read more
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213Violence and Democracy, by John Keane (review)Teaching Philosophy 28 (4): 376-378. 2005.John Keane’s book is an important intervention in the debate on the persistent proliferation of violence and its role in political life, especially in democracies
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302Comments on Phillip Cole's Philosophies Of Exclusion (review)Social Philosophy Today 18 185-189. 2002.This year's book award committee reviewed thirty nominated books. We identified seven finalists, each well worth our special attention: Milton Fisk's impressive Towards a Healthy Society, Gary Francione's feisty Introduction to Animal Rights, Timothy Gaffaney's engaging Freedom for the Poor, David Ingram's historically insightful Group Rights, Rachel Roth's poignant Making Women Pay, Karen Warren's finely articulated Ecofeminist Philosophy, and the eventual winning entry, Phillip Cole's Philosop…Read more
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483Appropriating Resources: Land Claims, Law, and Illicit BusinessJournal of Business Ethics 106 (4): 453-466. 2012.Business ethicists should examine ethical issues that impinge on the perimeters of their specialized studies (Byrne 2011 ). This article addresses one peripheral issue that cries out for such consideration: the international resource privilege (IRP). After explaining briefly what the IRP involves I argue that it is unethical and should not be supported in international law. My argument is based on others’ findings as to the consequences of current IRP transactions and of their ethically indefens…Read more
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173Review of Thinking Like an Engineer: Studies in the Ethics of a Profession, by Michael Davis (review)Teaching Philosophy 23 (3): 306-309. 2000.
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206Reviewing academic books: are there ethical issues?Journal of Information Ethics 11 (1): 57-65. 2002.The process of deciding which books academics submit should be published favors authors who are associated with the most prestigious universities and other research institutions. Some feel this bias could be minimized if the review of academic books were carried out as anonymously as is the review of articles for journal publication. Not likely to happen soon, however, because both academic and publishing industries promote the hierarchy of perceived excellence that permeates the process of pu…Read more
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206Obituary of an American philosopher born in Latvia. Family fled Russians, migrated to Milwaukee. John became first non-identical twin to receive a kidney transplant, wrote about new technology.
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Indiana University Purdue University, IndianapolisDepartment of Philosophy
Philanthropic StudiesRetired faculty
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Professional Ethics |
Business Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Just War Theory |