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10Are Capabilities Compatible with Political Liberalism? A Third WayCroatian Journal of Philosophy 21 (2): 237-250. 2021.This article explores the relationship between capabilities and political liberalism. There are two views about how they might be compatible: Sen claims capabilities should be seen as a revision of primary goods while Nussbaum argues capabilities should form part of an overlapping consensus. It is argued they are both right—and incorrect. Whereas Sen identifies where compatibility might best be found, it is Nussbaum’s conception of capabilities that is able to overcome Rawls’s objections to Sen’…Read more
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35Capabilities, Political Liberalism and Private LawArchiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie 104 (4): 556-569. 2018.This article argues political liberalism can and should be revised to improve its relevance to the private law. This approach is not a rejection of political liberalism, but instead a restatement consistent with the fundamental tenets of Rawls’s theory of justice. The first part begins with a brief summary of Rawls’s political liberalism. The second part discusses the strategies used to demonstrate the relevance of Rawls’s theory to the private law. The third part examines how Rawls’s theory can…Read more
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10Global Justice and StakeholdingInternational Journal of Applied Philosophy 34 (1): 105-122. 2020.The orthodox position in global justice is to consider questions about international distributive justice from a perspective of what duties, if any, affluent states have towards people in severe poverty. The debate has focused on whether positive or negative duties are most relevant and how they should be applied. This article challenges this orthodoxy by defending stakeholder theory as a promising new approach overcoming limitations in current debates through promotion of the virtue of stakehol…Read more
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48More than RecognitionThe Owl of Minerva 51 (1): 59-86. 2020.Hegel’s project of reconciliation is central to his Philosophy of Right. This article argues that scholars have understood this project in one of two ways, as a form of rational reconciliation or a kind of endorsement. Each is incomplete and their inability to capture the kind of reconciliation Hegel has in mind is made apparent when we consider the kind of problem that the rabble creates for modern society, which reconciliation is meant to address. The article concludes that more than mutual re…Read more
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7James Connelly, Metaphysics, Method and Politics: The Political Philosophy of R. G. Collingwood , pp. 336. ISBN 0 907845 312 (review)Hegel Bulletin 28 (1-2): 198-200. 2007.
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34Capabilities, Political Liberalism and Private LawArchiv Fuer Rechts Und Sozialphilosphie 104 (4): 556-569. 2019.This article argues political liberalism can and should be revised to improve its relevance to the private law. This approach is not a rejection of political liberalism, but instead a restatement consistent with the fundamental tenets of Rawls's theory of justice. The first part begins with a brief summary of Rawls's political liberalism. The second part discusses the strategies used to demonstrate the relevance of Rawls's theory to the private law. The third part examines how Rawls's theory can…Read more
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13Stephen Houlgate, The Opening of Hegel's Logic: From Being to Infinity , pp. xix + 456. ISBN 1-55753-257-5 , 1-55753-256-7 (review)Hegel Bulletin 28 (1-2): 195-197. 2007.
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34Plato, Hegel, and DemocracyHegel Bulletin 27 (1-2): 24-50. 2006.Nearly every major philosophy, from Plato to Hegel and beyond, has argued that democracy is an inferior form of government, at best. Yet, virtually every contemporary political philosophy working today endorses democracy in one variety or another. Should we conclude then that the traditional canon is meaningless for helping us theorise about a just state? In this paper, I will take up the criticisms and positive proposals of two such canonical figures in political philosophy: Plato and Hegel. At…Read more
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38Reply to Redding, Rosen and WoodHegel Bulletin 33 (2): 23-35. 2012.Hegel'sPhilosophy of Rightis more than a major work of political and legal philosophy; it is a battleground for two different interpretive approaches. MyHegel's Political Philosophy: A Systematic Reading of the Philosophy of Rightargues that these approaches are mistaken about their differences and that one approach offers a more compelling interpretation ofHegel's Philosophy of Rightthan the other. I will briefly outline my defence of the systematic reading of thePhilosophy of Rightbefore reply…Read more
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19Moral FrankensteinsAmerican Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 3 (4): 28-30. 2012.Moral enhancement techniques modifying brain processes to produce improved moral conduct present us with new challenges for how we grapple with the ethical questions raised. John Shook (2012) argues that we should greet these developments with some measure of skepticism and cynicism regarding their success and desirability. This commentary considers further Shook’s scepticism. It is argued that the issue of “moral enhancement” raises questions about which view(s) may benefit and the problems thi…Read more
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32Opening the Tomb of New Philosophical Accounts of DeathJournal of Value Inquiry 52 (2): 149-151. 2018.Many efforts are directed towards philosophical accounts of life from life’s meaning to how it should be led. Often overlooked are no less important issues concerning the end of life. Questions like what is death?, is immortality desirable?, is death ‘bad’ for the person who dies?, can the dead be harmed or punished? and what, if any, obligations do we have towards the dead? – these are but a few key concerns deserving greater attention. This special issue brings together three contributions th…Read more
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22Vote Buying and Tax-cut PromisesTheoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory 63 (146): 20-35. 2016.Both vote buying and tax-cut promises are attempts to manipulate voters through cash incentives in order to win elections, but only vote buying is illegal. Should we extend the ban on vote buying to tax-cut promises? This article will argue for three conclusions. The first is that tax-cut promises should be understood as a form of vote buying. The second is that campaign promises are a form of vote buying. The third conclusion is that campaign promises, including tax-cut promises, should not be …Read more
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73Book ReviewsRichard L. Lippke, Rethinking Imprisonment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Pp. 278. $95.00Ethics 118 (3): 562-564. 2008.This is a review of Richard Lippke - "Rethinking Imprisonment".
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1Book Reviews Ian Shapiro, The State of Democratic Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003. Pp. xi+183. $19.95 (review)Ethics 116 (2): 442-444. 2006.Thom Brooks reviews Shaprio on democratic theory
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156Is eating meat ethical?Think 16 (47): 9-13. 2017.Eating meat can be ethical, but only when it does not violate rights. This requires that the ways in which meat is produced and prepared for human consumption satisfies certain standards. While many current practices may fall short of this standard, this does not justify the position that eating meat cannot be ethical under any circumstances and there should be no principled objection to its possibility.
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20The Legacy of John Rawls (edited book)Continuum International Publishing Group. 2005.This book fills the void, making a substantial contribution not only to work on Rawls's thought but to contemporary debates in ethics and justice as well.
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79Unlocking Morality from Criminal LawJournal of Moral Philosophy 14 (3): 339-352. 2017.This review article critically examines R. A. Duff and Stuart P. Green’s wide-ranging Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Law. The book captures well a crucial debate at the heart of its topic: is morality a key for understanding criminal law? I first consider legal moralism arguments answering this question in the affirmative and argue they should be rejected. I next consider alternatives to argue that philosophers of criminal law should look beyond legal moralism for more compelling theories…Read more
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43Not just war: Eisikovits on A Theory of TrucesJournal of Global Ethics 13 (1): 4-5. 2017.More work has gone into thinking about the philosophical justifications for starting a just war than bringing political violence to an end. The papers in this special section explore themes in Nir Eisikovits’s groundbreaking book A Theory of Truces and why truces deserve greater philosophical attention. This introduction briefly raises these issues and provides an overview of the papers.
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72Hegel, Nietzsche, and Philosophy: Thinking Freedom (review)Philosophy 79 (1): 149-153. 2004.This is a book review of Will Dudley, "Hegel, Nietzsche, and Philosophy"
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44Thom Brooks book review of "German Idealism and the Concept of Punishment," by Jean‐Christophe Merle, trans. Joseph J. Kominkiewicz with Jean‐Christophe Merle and Frances Brown. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, xv + 207 pp. ISBN 978 0 521 88684 0 hb (review)European Journal of Philosophy 20 (1): 179-182. 2012.Thom Brooks book review
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27T.H. Green's Theory of PunishmentHistory of Political Thought 24 (4): 685-702. 2003.Green agrees with Kant on the abstract character of moral law as categorical imperatives and that intentional dispositions are central to a moral justification of punishment. The central problem with Kant's account is that we are unable to know these dispositions beyond a reasonable estimate. Green offers a practical alternative, positing moral law as an ideal to be achieved, but not immediately enforceable through positive law. Moral and positive law are bridged by Green's theory of the common …Read more
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73Hiding from humanity: Disgust, shame, and the lawJournal of Applied Philosophy 24 (3). 2007.This is a book review of Martha C. Nussbaum - "Hiding from Humanity".
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75Philosophy Unbound: The Idea of Global PhilosophyMetaphilosophy 44 (3): 254-266. 2013.The future of philosophy is moving towards “global philosophy.” The idea of global philosophy is the view that different philosophical approaches may engage more substantially with each other to solve philosophical problems. Most solutions attempt to use only those available resources located within one philosophical tradition. A more promising approach might be to expand the range of available resources to better assist our ability to offer more compelling solutions. This search for new horizon…Read more
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24Better Luck Next TimeJournal of Indian Philosophy and Religion 10 1-25. 2005.Comparative analysis of Socrates and key figures in Mahayana Buddhism on surprising similarities on epistemology, their relevance for ethics and their divergence.
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76What is global about global justice? Toward a global philosophyIn New waves in global justice, Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 228-244. 2014.Global justice as a field must confront a central problem: how global is global justice? A defining feature about the burgeoning literature in global justice is its operation within a bounded, philosophical tradition. Global justice research is too often a product of one tradition in self-isolation from others that nonetheless claims to speak for what is best for all. This criticism applies to various philosophical traditions whether so-called “analytic,” “Continental” or others. The problem is …Read more
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81I want to raise the question of why we should give the Preface this special treatment. What do we hope to learn from such an extended examination of the Preface that will help further the study of Hegel's work beyond its present state? My comments will be limited to a few central issues, such as the relationship between the Phenomenology and the system, the Phenomenology as an introduction to the system, and the Phenomenology as a ladder, in order to best address what is of value in the Phenomen…Read more
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74After Fukushima Daiichi: New Global Institutions for Improved Nuclear Power PolicyEthics, Policy and Environment 15 (1). 2012.This comment argues for the importance of global institutions to regulate nuclear power. Nuclear power presents challenges across national borders irrespective of whether plants are maintained safely. There are international agreements in place on the disposal of nuclear waste, an issue of great concern in terms of environmental and health effects for any nuclear power policy. However, there remains a pressing need for an international agreement to ensure the safe maintenance of nuclear faciliti…Read more
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