-
105In dubious battle: uncertainty and the ethics of killingPhilosophical Studies 175 (4): 859-883. 2018.How should deontologists concerned with the ethics of killing apply their moral theory when we don’t know all the facts relevant to the permissibility of our action? Though the stakes couldn’t be higher, and uncertainty is endemic where killing is concerned, few deontologists have an answer to this question. In this paper I canvass two possibilities: that we should apply a threshold standard, equivalent to the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard applied for criminal punishment; and that we shou…Read more
-
104Deontological decision theory and lesser-evil optionsSynthese (7): 1-28. 2021.Normative ethical theories owe us an account of how to evaluate decisions under risk and uncertainty. Deontologists seem at a disadvantage here: our best decision theories seem tailor-made for consequentialism. For example, decision theory enjoins us to always perform our best option; deontology is more permissive. In this paper, we discuss and defend the idea that, when some pro-tanto wrongful act is all-things considered permissible, because it is a ‘lesser evil’, it is often merely permissibl…Read more
-
103Travel, Friends, and KillingIn David Edmonds (ed.), Philosophers Take on the World, Oxford University Press Uk. pp. 25-27. 2016.Military recruitment campaigns emphasize adventure, skills and camaraderie but rarely mention the moral complexities of armed conflict. Enlisting in state armed forces poses the risk of being complicit in unjust wars and associated war crimes. For prospective recruits concerned with morality, the decision is challenging. The probability of wrongdoing alone does not settle the matter; many lawful activities increase risks of future wrongdoing. The permissibility of enlisting depends on weighing e…Read more
-
90Risky Killing and the Ethics of WarEthics 126 (1): 91-117. 2015.Killing civilians is worse than killing soldiers. Although this principle is widely affirmed, recent military practice and contemporary just war theory have undermined it. This article argues that killing an innocent person is worse the likelier it was, when you acted, that he would be innocent: riskier killings are worse than less risky killings. In war, killing innocent civilians is almost always riskier than killing innocent soldiers. So killing innocent civilians is worse than killing innoce…Read more
-
88Authorization and The Morality of WarAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 94 (2): 211-226. 2016.Why does it matter that those who fight wars be authorized by the communities on whose behalf they claim to fight? I argue that lacking authorization generates a moral cost, which counts against a war's proportionality, and that having authorization allows the transfer of reasons from the members of the community to those who fight, which makes the war more likely to be proportionate. If democratic states are better able than non-democratic states and sub-state groups to gain their community's a…Read more
-
86Complicity, Collectives, and Killing in WarLaw and Philosophy 35 (4): 365-389. 2016.Recent work on the ethics of war has struggled to simultaneously justify two central tenets of international law: the Permission to kill enemy combatants, and the Prohibition on targeting enemy noncombatants. Recently, just war theorists have turned to collectivist considerations as a way out of this problem. In this paper, I reject the argument that all and only unjust combatants are liable to be killed in virtue of their complicity in the wrongful war fought by their side, and that noncombatan…Read more
-
81War: Essays in Political Philosophy, edited by Larry May with Emily Crookston (review)Mind 120 (479): 895-901. 2011.This collection of essays on the ethics of war brings some of the most recognized names in just war theory together with some less familiar figures, to yield a rounded introduction to a flourishing debate. It is intended to offer both a comprehensive introduction to the field, and a series of original contributions — two goals that are somewhat in tension with one another; the book is more successful as an introduction than in its original contributions.
-
66On the Site of Predictive JusticeNoûs. forthcoming.Optimism about our ability to enhance societal decision‐making by leaning on Machine Learning (ML) for cheap, accurate predictions has palled in recent years, as these ‘cheap’ predictions have come at significant social cost, contributing to systematic harms suffered by already disadvantaged populations. But what precisely goes wrong when ML goes wrong? We argue that, as well as more obvious concerns about the downstream effects of ML‐based decision‐making, there can be moral grounds for the cri…Read more
-
63The Morality of Defensive War (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2014.International law and conventional morality grant that states may stand ready to defend their borders with lethal force. But what grounds the permission to kill for the sake of political sovereignty and territorial integrity? In this book leading theorists address this vexed issue, and set the terms of future debate over national defence
-
60Self-ownership and agent-centered optionsSocial Philosophy and Policy 36 (2): 36-50. 2019.I argue that agent-centered options to favor and sacrifice one’s own interests are grounded in a particular aspect of self-ownership. Because you own your interests, you are entitled to a say over how they are used. That is, whether those interests count for or against some action is, at least in part, to be determined by your choice. This is not the only plausible argument for agent-centered options. But it has some virtues that other arguments lack.
-
58Anton's Game: Deontological Decision Theory for an Iterated Decision ProblemUtilitas 29 (1): 88-109. 2017.How should deontologists approach decision-making under uncertainty, for an iterated decision problem? In this paper I explore the shortcomings of a simple expected value approach, using a novel example to raise questions about attitudes to risk, the moral significance of tiny probabilities, the independent moral reasons against imposing risks, the morality of sunk costs, and the role of agent-relativity in iterated decision problems.
-
55The Oxford Handbook of Ethics of War (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2018.Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest, among both philosophers, legal scholars, and military experts, on the ethics of war. Due in part due to post 9/11 events, this resurgence is also due to a growing theoretical sophistication among scholars in this area. Recently there has been very influential work published on the justificaton of killing in self-defense and war, and the topic of the ethics of war is now more important than ever as a discrete field. The 28 commissioned chapters in …Read more
-
53Sparing CiviliansOxford University Press UK. 2015.Killing civilians is worse than killing soldiers. If any moral principle commands near universal assent, this one does. Few moral principles have been more widely and more viscerally affirmed. And yet, in recent years it has faced a rising tide of dissent. Political and military leaders seeking to slip the constraints of the laws of war have cavilled and qualified. Their complaints have been unwittingly aided by philosophers who, rebuilding just war theory from its foundations, have concluded th…Read more
-
50Attention, moral skill, and algorithmic recommendationPhilosophical Studies 1-26. forthcoming.Recommender systems are artificial intelligence technologies, deployed by online platforms, that model our individual preferences and direct our attention to content we’re likely to engage with. As the digital world has become increasingly saturated with information, we’ve become ever more reliant on these tools to efficiently allocate our attention. And our reliance on algorithmic recommendation may, in turn, reshape us as moral agents. While recommender systems could in principle enhance our m…Read more
-
49Necessity in Self‐Defense and WarPhilosophy and Public Affairs 40 (1): 3-44. 2012.The necessity constraint is at the heart of the ethics of both self-defense and war, and yet we know little about it. This article seeks to remedy that defect. It proceeds in two stages: first, an analysis of the concept of necessity in self-defense; second, an application of this analysis to war, looking at both its implications for just war theory and its application in the laws of war.
-
45Deontological decision theory and lesser-evil optionsSynthese 198 (7): 6889-6916. 2019.Normative ethical theories owe us an account of how to evaluate decisions under risk and uncertainty. Deontologists seem at a disadvantage here: our best decision theories seem tailor-made for consequentialism. For example, decision theory enjoins us to always perform our best option; deontology is more permissive. In this paper, we discuss and defend the idea that, when some pro-tanto wrongful act is all-things considered permissible, because it is a ‘lesser evil’, it is often merely permissibl…Read more
-
38Response: Limiting Defensive RightsJournal of Applied Philosophy 34 (1): 19-23. 2017.Arthur Ripstein’s article draws on more resources than I can deploy in this response to it. I will restate what I take to be the central claims of the article, then present a reply. Ripstein does not strictly argue for his view of proportionality in defensive force. Instead he paints a picture of a moral system that one might adopt, and indicates the role of the proportionality constraint therein. So after outlining how I understand that picture, I will draw an alternative one. I’ll then suggest…Read more
-
26Strengthening Moral DistinctionLaw and Philosophy 37 (3): 327-349. 2018.The authors in this symposium on Sparing Civilians gave me much to think about; their criticisms have helped me to strengthen the argument for moral distinction, and enhance the moral protection of civilians in war. In this response I address their objections thematically, focusing in turn on each chapter of the book.
-
19IntroductionEthics 127 (3): 576-578. 2017.We need a moral theory for decision-making with imperfect information; that is, decision-making under what decision theorists call both risk, when we can assign probabilities, and uncertainty, when we cannot. And yet contemporary philosophy has, for the most part, offered a division of labor: ethicists work out what we morally ought to do if we knew all the facts; decision theorists, working quite separately, focus on what we rationally ought to do, given our doubt. In this symposium, we start t…Read more
University of Oxford
DPhil, 2009
Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Areas of Specialization
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Applied Ethics |
Areas of Interest
1 more
Normative Ethics |
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy of Probability |
Epistemology |
Decision Theory |