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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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158Animal RightsCanadian Journal of Philosophy 7 (1). 1977.What do we owe to the lower animals, if anything? The issues raised by this question are among the most fascinating and fundamental in ethical theory. They provide a real watershed for the moral philosopher and, on perhaps the most widely professed view, a trenchant test of consistency in ethical practice. Among the virtues of these two challenging books is that they make painfully clear that there has been a paucity of clear and plausible argument in support of the nearly universal tendency of …Read more
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7Discussion: Must We Choose between Chandran Kukathas's 'Two Constructions of Libertarianism'?Libertarian Papers 1 22. 2009.Kukathas, in “Two Constructions of Libertarianism,” concludes that “the choice confronting libertarians is an invidious one. … The Federation of Liberty can, in principle, turn out to contain no communities of that federation which actually value or respect liberty; and even slavery might have a lawful place within it. The Union of Liberty, on the other hand, can, in principle turn out to be society ruled by a strong authority with little respect for dissenting moral traditions, including some s…Read more
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18Sterba on Liberty and WelfarismAnalyse & Kritik 37 (1-2): 203-222. 2015.James Sterba advances several arguments designed to show that libertarianism, contrary to what this author and other libertarians think, actually implies support for welfarism and even egalitarianism. This discussion shows why his arguments do not work. There is preliminary discussion of our parameters: how much is Sterba claiming we have a minimum right to in the way of welfare? It is argued that if this is set very low, a libertarian society would easily eliminate the poverty he is concerned a…Read more
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36Book Reviews : Law, Legislation and Liberty, Vol. II: The Mirage of Social Justice. BY FRIED-RICH A. HAYEK. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977, Pp. xiv + 196. $10.00 (review)Philosophy of the Social Sciences 10 (3): 325-328. 1980.
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423Pacifism: A philosophical analysisEthics 75 (4): 259-271. 1965.Of all the attitudes and theories associated with or identified as "pacifism," only the doctrine that everyone ought not to resist violence with force is of philosophical interest, And it is logically incoherent. Pacifism's popularity rests on confusions about what the doctrine really is. If we have rights, We have the right to prevent infringements upon them. We have the right to use force to protect our rights, And in the degree necessary to accomplish that end. (staff)
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Classical vs. Modern Liberalism: Advantage, Classical'In Sirkku Hellsten, Marjaana Kopperi & Olli Loukola (eds.), Taking the Liberal Challenge Seriously: Essays on Contemporary Liberalism at the Turn of the 21st Century, Ashgate. pp. 9. 1997.
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24Reply to RipsteinDialogue 29 (2): 299-. 1990.One reason for professing sympathy for such an unpopular view as libertarianism is that one acquires such worthy opponents. Arthur Ripstein's notice was a pleasure to read and, as I would expect, gives one plenty to think about. In this very brief reply, though, I can only identify some points on which I think he may have misstated my view, or on which I can offer a quick rebuttal.
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10In the Interest of the Governed: A Study in Bentham's Philosophy of Utility and Law (review)Philosophical Review 84 (3): 422. 1975.
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86Political Correctness: For and AgainstRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1994.Two prominent philosophers here engage in a forthright debate over some of the centrally disputed topics in the political correctness controversy now taking place on college campuses across the nation, including feminism, campus speech codes, the western canon, and the nature of truth. Friedman and Narveson conclude the volume with direct replies to each other's positions
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60For and Against the State: New Philosophical Readings (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield. 1996.This collection addresses the central issue of political philosophy or, in a couple of cases, issues very close to the heart of that question: Is government justified? This ancient question has never been more alive than at the present time, in the midst of continuing political and social upheaval in virtually every part of the world. Only two of the pieces collected here have been published previously. All the other contributions were, at the time of the inception of the volume, fresh from the…Read more
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103On Dworkinian EqualitySocial Philosophy and Policy 1 (1): 1. 1983.1. INTRODUCTION Professor Dworkin's writings on moral and political subjects have never failed to interest me in the past, and the two-part article “What is Equality” which is the subject of this paper, is no exception. Its wealth of relevant distinctions is bound to be useful to every serious student of the subject, whatever – or, in view of the range of opinions on these matters now current, perhaps I should say almost whatever – his ideological proclivities, and whether or not he is sympathet…Read more
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16Rights and UtilitarianismCanadian Journal of Philosophy 9 (sup1): 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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Hudson, William E. The Libertarian Illusion. Washington: CQ Press, 2008 (review)Reason Papers 30 113-120. 2008.
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2Why Care about Liberty?Philosophic Exchange 38 (1). 2008.This is the age of the welfare state. The general assumption is that something is amiss if governments do not provide benefits to its people. Since these benefits are funded by coercive taxation, this implies that those who are taxed are morally required to pay for benefits for others. This paper argues that this assumption is mistaken. Like the founders of the American republic, I argue that government should protect individual liberty, not provide benefits to the needy.
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69Moral mattersBroadview Press. 1993; 2nd editio.Chapter One Moral Issues and Moral Theory The Subject Matter of This Inquiry Until about thirty years ago, courses in ethics were devoted almost exclusively ...
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35Pornography: The Other Side F. M. Christensen New York: Praeger, 1990, x + 188 pp. US$19.95 (review)Dialogue 35 (2): 420-424. 1996.
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37The Medical Minimum: ZeroJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 36 (6): 558-571. 2011.The question is what the mandated medical minimum for all should be. The correct answer is zero. That is to say, the government should not be forcing anyone to pay for anyone. The most popular arguments within the liberal framework, presumed to be shared by all, are briefly surveyed. Health care is provided by someone to someone else, and that someone else should either be paying for it, or recognize that someone is providing it charitably to him or her. Compelling someone else to pay for it is …Read more
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1The Right to be Old and the Right to Have Young: Some Conundrums About Aging PopulationsTulane Studies in Philosophy 31 183-217. 1982.
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11Morals and MarxDialogue 22 (3): 523-534. 1983.There are fourteen original papers in this substantial volume devoted to the general problem of the relation of Marxism, or at least Marxism as found in the works of Marx, and moral theory. The questions are, in Nielsen's words, “whether there should be or even could be a Marxist moral theory and if there could be a Marxist moral theory, what sort of a moral theory it should be”. Why does he not include the question what Marx's moral theory is? For a few of these writers do think that Marx had s…Read more
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17A Theory of Reasons for Action. By David A. J. Richards. Oxford and Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1971. xiv, 370. $15.50 (review)Dialogue 12 (1): 116-120. 1973.
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Timo Airaksinen and Martin A. Bertman, eds., Hobbes: War among Nations (review)Philosophy in Review 11 3-5. 1991.
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25Kerrey and CalleyInternational Journal of Applied Philosophy 16 (2): 153-162. 2002.In the Vietnam war, Lieutenant Calley, claiming to be following orders, ordered the killing of several hundred women, children, and elderly people in the village of My Lai. In 1969, Lieutenant (later Senator) Kerrey led a small group of SEALs in the dead of night on a dangerous military venture. In course, a dozen or so innocent villagers were either shot in crossfire or killed intentionally because there seemed a real chance that they would inform the enemy, endangering themselves and the missi…Read more
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21Alan Gewirth's foundationalism and the well-being stateJournal of Value Inquiry 31 (4): 485-502. 1997.
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University of WaterlooDepartment of Philosophy
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Value Theory |