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5Rights and UtilitarianismCanadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 5 (n/a): 137-160. 1979.Few questions about utilitarianism have been more vexed than that of its relation to rights. It is commonplace to hold that there are nonutilitarian rights, rights not founded on considerations of utility. And it is even thought that the very notion of rights is inherently incapable of being significantly employed within the utilitarian framework. In the present paper, I wish to consider both of these matters. I propose to give reasons—mostly not really new—for rejecting the stronger, conceptual…Read more
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10Future people and usIn Richard I. Sikora & Brian M. Barry (eds.), Obligations to Future Generations, White Horse Press. pp. 38--60. 1978.
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48The "Invisible Hand"Journal of Business Ethics 46 (3). 2003.The argument of the "Invisible Hand" is that the system of free enterprise benefits society in general even though it is not the aim of any particular economic agent to do that. This article proposes an analysis of why this is so. The key is that the morality of the market forbids only force and fraud; it does not require people to do good to others. Nevertheless, when all transactions are voluntary to both parties, that is exactly what we can expect to happen. This is both because the sum of th…Read more
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29MinarchismEtica E Politica 5 (2): 1-14. 2003.This essay addresses the on-going controversy between supporters of minimal government, or minarchists, and supporters of no government, or anarchists. Both lay claim to the Libertarian principle, which holds that the only justification for the use of force is to deal with aggressive force initiated by someone else. Both agree that force is justified in dealing with aggressors. The only question is, who wields it, and how? The essay explains, briefly, the role of private property in all this. Pr…Read more
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63Property rights: Original acquisition and Lockean provisosPublic Affairs Quarterly 13 (3): 205-227. 1999.
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Timo Airaksinen and Martin A. Bertman, eds., Hobbes: War among Nations Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 11 (1): 3-5. 1991.
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1Jerry Z. Muller, ed., Conservatism—An Anthology of Social and Political Thought from David Hume to the Present Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 17 (6): 432-433. 1997.
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53Aesthetics, Charity, Utility, and Distributive JusticeThe Monist 56 (4): 527-551. 1972.As I sit down to begin this essay, the strains of “Tristan und Isolde” are still ringing in my ears; meanwhile, another dozen or so Pakistanian refugees have died for lack of sufficient food, shelter, or medical attention, probably, during the time it will have taken to compose this paragraph. The Isolde in that performance commanded, probably, a fee of four or five thousand dollars; each member of the audience paid, on the average, perhaps ten dollars to see the performance. This works out, pro…Read more
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17Professor Filice’s Defense of Pacifism: A CommentJournal of Philosophical Research 17 483-491. 1992.
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347We Don’t Owe Them a Thing!The Monist 86 (3): 419-433. 2003.The discovery that people far away are in bad shape seems to generate a sense of guilt on the part of many articulate people in our part of the world, even though they are no worse off now that we’ve heard about them than they had been before. I will take it as given that we are certainly responsible for evils we inflict on others, no matter where, and that we owe those people compensation. Not all similarly agree that it is not in general our duty to make other people better off, and therefore …Read more
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D. Weinstein, Equal Freedom and Utility-Herbert Spencer's Liberal Utilitarianism Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 19 (4): 295-297. 1999.
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1John Christman, The Myth of Property , pp. ix + 184, + Notes, Bibliography, Index (review)Reason Papers 21 77-81. 1996.
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17Liberal-Conservative: The Real Controversy (review)Journal of Value Inquiry 34 (2/3): 167-188. 2000.
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1O obronie poprzez odstraszanie jądroweEtyka 25 271-285. 1990.At the present time and for the foreseeable future, likely, there is no defence, strictly speaking, against nuclear weapons. Nations facing a threat of attack involving nuclear weapons, therefore, have only three alternatives: resort to deterrence, try to get by with conventional defences, or surrender. It is discussable which of these is the most prudent option for any given nation, but I argue that we cannot accept any view entailing that the first is not a right. What we can do, however, is t…Read more
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42Utilitarianism and moral normsJournal of Value Inquiry 4 (4): 273-286. 1970.An outline of a utilitarian account of the justification of particular moral rules and principles. a distinction between 'cardinal' and 'ordinal' utilitarianism is suggested, and a method for distinguishing prima-facie legitimate from prima-facie illegitimate desires proposed. moral rules mostly have the function of identifying the latter and proscribing the corresponding actions
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1Drugs and ResponsibilityIn S. Luper-Foy C. Brown (ed.), Drugs, Morality, and the Law, Garland. pp. 3--24. 1994.
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24Comment on Levy's ‘Forced to be free? Increasing patient autonomy by constraining it’Journal of Medical Ethics 40 (5): 302-303. 2014.The general thrust of Neil Levy's paper is that a certain amount of paternalism should be viewed as compatible with liberalism.1 I am not quite convinced that what he is defending is properly paternalism. In addition, I am not entirely sure what his proposal is. Here are a few comments about several points in the paper.1. A possibly small question is worth raising when Levy says, ‘That is, the state may not interfere with individuals’ actions, even to promote their own conception of the good. Th…Read more
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44Reiman on Labor, Value, and the Difference PrincipleThe Journal of Ethics 18 (1): 47-74. 2014.In As Free and as Just as Possible: The Theory of Marxian Liberalism, Jeffrey Reiman proposes to develop a theory of “Marxian Liberalism.” ‘Liberalism’ here is defined by the principle that “sane adult human beings should be free in the sense of free from coercion that would block their ability to act on the choices they make.” While the idea of coercion could use some glossing, it is not obvious that poverty, unemployment, racism, and sexism are as such coercive. In this book, it is, very broad…Read more
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32God by design?In Neil A. Manson (ed.), God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science, Routledge. pp. 80--88. 2003.
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51Morality and utilityJohns Hopkins University Press. 1967.This book is a general account of utilitarianism. It claims to provide a justification of the theses in Mill's On Liberty in utilitarian terms. There are several innovations relative to prevailing utilitarian literature of the day.
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29ResponseInternational Journal of Applied Philosophy 25 (2): 259-272. 2011.Gibbard accuses me of having an “extreme” view of property rights, even though he agrees that liberty is a good thing. But is it good enough to justify excluding handouts to the poor? He thinks not. I argue that the “social contract” idea of justice, which he in general shares, would underwrite the sort of strong property rights I plump for—noting that voluntary assistance to the poor (or anyone) is, after all, not only perfectly acceptable but much to be commended. I believe I agree entirely wi…Read more
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Letting people be people and the right to propertyIn James P. Sterba (ed.), Social and Political Philosophy: Contemporary Perspectives, Routledge. pp. 115. 2001.
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University of WaterlooDepartment of Philosophy
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Value Theory |