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18Critical noticesInternational Journal of Philosophical Studies 5 (2). 1997.An Essay On Rights By Hillel Steiner Basil Blackwell, 1994. Pp. x + 305. ISBN 0-631-19027-9. Price 14.95 Connectionism and eliminativism: reply to Stephen Mills in Vol. 5, No. 1.
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17IX*—What is the Problem of Political Obligation?Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 91 (1): 153-170. 1991.Jonathan Wolff; IX*—What is the Problem of Political Obligation?, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 91, Issue 1, 1 June 1991, Pages 153–170, https.
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16Disputed land claims: a response to Weatherson and to Bou-Habib and OlsarettiAnalysis 66 (3): 248-255. 2006.
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15Disability among equalsIn Kimberley Brownlee & Adam Cureton (eds.), Disability and Disadvantage, Oxford University Press. 2009.
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15Returning to Hobbes: Reflections on Political PhilosophyInternational Journal of Philosophical Studies 1-7. forthcoming.My paper ‘Hobbes and the Motivations of Social Contract Theory’ was published in this journal in 1994. In this contribution I explain the background that led me to write that paper at an early stage of my career, relating the explanation to my education as a student at UCL, and, briefly, at Harvard and contrasting the methodological approaches I experienced in the two departments. The Hobbes paper itself offers a type of ‘rational reconstruction’ of Hobbes, drawing on the logic of different soci…Read more
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15Economic JusticeIn LaFollette H. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Practical Ethics, Oxford University Press. pp. 433. 2003.
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14Should it be a matter of concern that youth unemployment rates are significantly higher in some countries than they have been historically? Or that parliaments
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14Public Reflective DisequilibriumAustralasian Philosophical Review 4 (1): 45-50. 2020.ABSTRACT Avner de-Shalit has devised a methodology for coming closer to a settled view in political philosophy which he calls ‘public reflective equilibrium’, extending ideas of John Rawls and Michael Walzer. De-Shalit proposes that the philosopher should come to an understanding of views outside the academy through extended interaction with members of the public. These discussions can and do lead to changes in the philosophical theory, from the introduction of new concepts, to new framings of i…Read more
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14One important argument for the free market is that of the ‘invisible hand’ or ‘private vices, public virtues’. That is, individual profit-seeking behaviour by suppliers will lead to better quality, lower priced goods for consumers than could be achieved by other means. Where this is so the market may be to the benefit of all, including the worst off. However, reflection on a range of cases – including what is here called the Titanic Puzzle, introduced by Thomas Schelling - shows that this is not…Read more
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10The Precautionary Attitude: Asking Preliminary QuestionsHastings Center Report 44 (S5): 27-28. 2014.Innovation in basic science is often a cause for wonder and excitement. Those associated with a new development are quick to point out the anticipated benefits: a cure for cancer or dementia, an end to unsafe water or hunger. These advocates are slower to draw attention to the possible costs, which may become known only much later. It is always hard to have an accurate overview, as it is almost impossible to predict the total effects of the widespread adoption of any new technology and, especi…Read more
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10Part One. LecturesIn G. A. Cohen & Jonathan Wolff (eds.), Lectures on the History of Moral and Political Philosophy, Princeton University Press. pp. 1-244. 2013.
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9Market failure, common interests, and the Titanic puzzleIn Nils Holtug & Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (eds.), Egalitarianism: New Essays on the Nature and Value of Equality, Clarendon Press. 2006.
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9No More Benefit CheatsRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 91 103-118. 2022.The concept of the ‘benefit cheat’ plays a critical role in political rhetoric and public policy and it has been deployed to justify changes to the benefit system that have had a very negative impact on well being and justice. The authors argue that the concept is dangerous, adding to the existing burdens of poverty and exclusion and that it must be eradicated by a reorganisation of the welfare system. Dignity and a spirit of equality must be the starting point for any system of welfare that aim…Read more
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8Poverty, Social Expectations, and the FamilyIn Nicolás Brando & Gottfried Schweiger (eds.), Philosophy and Child Poverty: Reflections on the Ethics and Politics of Poor Children and Their Families, Springer. pp. 69-89. 2019.A persistent right-wing discourse on poverty insists that, in many cases, poverty is the result of domestic incompetence, improvidence, or male irresponsibility. Poverty is, on this view, to some significant degree, the result of poor management and irresponsible choices. Poverty researchers, by contrast, typically argue that there is very little evidence to support this diagnosis, and that poverty is largely simply a matter of lack of financial resources to live the type of life that is regarde…Read more
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |