•  26
    Mark Bevir's The Logic of the History of Ideas has received considerable attention recently. This article highlights a new problem with his weak intentionalism. Bevir's weak intentionalism holds that on occasion the meanings readers ascribe to texts may trump the meanings the authors express in texts. The article uses the example of Hegel's theory of punishment. The received wisdom is that Hegel is a pure retributivist. Yet, this strays far from his text and stated views. We might think we shoul…Read more
  •  18
    Rousseau and Law
    Routledge. 2005.
    Jean-Jacques Rousseau stands as one of the most influential figures in the history of philosophy. His masterpiece-The Social Contract-has had a profound effect on legal and political theorists ever since its appearance. Rousseau and Law presents for the first time in one collection the most important contemporary work exploring his many contributions to legal theory. These essays deal with a variety of issues, such as social contract theories, democratic rights, fundamental law, natural law and …Read more
  •  112
    Beyond retribution
    Think 13 (38): 47-50. 2014.
    Retribution enjoys an unwarranted appeal from the public and its politicians. This is because it is impractical and perhaps even incoherent. This does not mean that we should reject the importance of morality for criminal justice nor should we reject the link between desert and proportionality. Nevertheless, we can reject the way retribution has understood these ideas in defense of a more plausible and compelling alternative
  •  9
    Hegel's Philosophy of Right (edited book)
    Wiley-Blackwell. 2011.
    Hegel's Philosophy of Right presents a collection of new essays by leading international philosophers and Hegel scholars that analyze and explore Hegel's key contributions in the areas of ethics, politics, and the law. •The most comprehensive collection on Hegel's Philosophy of Right available •Features new essays by leading international Hegel interpreters divided in sections of ethics, politics, and law •Presents significant new research on Hegel's Philosophy of Right that will set a new stand…Read more
  •  40
    Punishment and Moral Sentiments
    Review of Metaphysics 66 (2): 281-293. 2012.
    What is the relationship between our moral sentiments and the justification of punishment? One position is that our moral sentiments provide for punishment’s justification. This article’s focus is on Adam Smith’s theory of punishment and the role that moral sentiments play in this theory. The author argues that commentators have been mistaken to view Smith’s position as essentially retributivist. Instead, Smith defends a unified theory where punishment serves retributivist, deterrent, and rehabi…Read more
  •  73
    Cosmopolitanism and distributing responsibilities
    Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 5 (3): 92-97. 2002.
    David Miller raises a number of interesting concerns with both weak and strong variants of cosmopolitanism. As an alternative, he defends a connection theory to address remedial responsibilities amongst states. This connection theory is problematic as it endorses a position where states that are causally and morally responsible for deprivation and suffering in other states may not be held remedially responsible for their actions. In addition, there is no international mechanism to ensure either …Read more
  •  250
    Equality and Democracy
    Ethical Perspectives 14 (1): 3-12. 2007.
    In a recent article, Thomas Christiano defends the intrinsic justice of democracy grounded in the principle of equal consideration of interests. Each citizen is entitled to a single vote, equal in weight to all other citizens. The problem with this picture is that all citizens must meet a threshold of minimal competence. My argument is that Christiano is wrong to claim a minimum threshold of competency is fully consistent with the principle of equality. While standards of minimal competency may…Read more
  •  30
    No rubber stamp: Hegel's constitutional monarch
    History of Political Thought 28 (1): 91-119. 2007.
    Perhaps one of the most controversial aspects of Hegel's Philosophy of Right for contemporary interpreters is its discussion of the constitutional monarch. This is true despite the general agreement amongst virtually all interpreters that Hegel's monarch is no more powerful than modern constitutional monarchs and is an institution worthy of little attention or concern. In this article, I will examine whether or not it matters who is the monarch and what domestic and foreign powers he has. I argu…Read more
  •  163
    Punishment
    Routledge. 2012.
    Punishment is a topic of increasing importance for citizens and policy makers. Why should we punish criminals? Which theory of punishment is most compelling? Is the death penalty ever justified? These questions and many others are addressed in this highly engaging guide. Punishment is a critical introduction to the philosophy of punishment offering a new and refreshing approach that will benefit readers of all backgrounds and interests. This is the first critical guide to examine all leading con…Read more
  •  6
    Editorial
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 9 (2): 145-146. 2012.
  •  27
    Saving the Greatest Number
    Logique Et Analyse 45 (177-178): 55-59. 2002.
    Imagine there are three boats equidistant from one another. You are alone in the first boat. The other two boats are sinking fast: one boat has one person (A), the other has two persons (B&C). There is only enough time to allow saving either A or B&C before their boats sink, drowning whoever is onboard. Will we always combine claims of those wishing to be saved and rescue B&C? Otsuka says that the 'Kamm-Scanlon' contractualist framework that does not aggregating various claims for rescue combine…Read more
  • Editorial
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 3 (3): 263. 2006.
  •  22
    James Seth on Natural Law and Legal Theory
    Collingwood and British Idealism Studies 18 (2): 115-132. 2012.
    This article argues that James Seth provides illuminating contributions to our understanding of law and, more specifically, the natural law tradition. Seth defends a unique perspective through his emphasis on personalism that helps identify a distinctive and compelling account of natural law and legal moralism. The next section surveys standard positions in the natural law tradition. This is followed with an examination of Seth's approach and the article concludes with analysis of its wider impo…Read more
  •  22
    This is a book review of Bradley Herling - "The German Gita"
  •  47
    Choosing Correct Punishments
    Archives de Philosophie du Droit 47 365-369. 2003.
    One of the most controversial aspects of legal philosophy concerns the justification of specific punishments for particular criminal violations. Surprisingly, there has not been any attempt to arrive systematically at any conclusive formula for deriving correct punishments. This article aspires to fulfil this urgent need. I shall examine (1) retributive, (2) consequentialist, (3) reformative, and (4) deterrent punishments in an attempt to derive general equations. It is my wish that by contribut…Read more
  •  73
    In Defence of Punishment and the Unified Theory of Punishment: A Reply
    Criminal Law and Philosophy 10 (3): 629-638. 2016.
    My book, Punishment, has three aims: to provide the most comprehensive and updated examination of the philosophy of punishment available, to advance a new theory—the unified theory of punishment—as a compelling alternative to available theories and to consider the relation of theory to practice. In his recent review article, Mark Tunick raises several concerns with my analysis. I address each of these concerns and argue they rest largely on misinterpretations which I restate and clarify here.
  •  153
    Punishing states that cause global poverty
    William Mitchell Law Review 33 (2): 519-32. 2007.
    The problem of global poverty has reached terrifying proportions. Since the end of the Cold War, ordinary deaths from starvation and preventable diseases amount to approximately 250 million people, most of them children. Thomas Pogge argues that wealthy states have a responsibility to help those in severe poverty. This responsibility arises from the foreseeable and avoidable harm the current global institutional order has perpetrated on poor states. Pogge demands that wealthy states eradicate gl…Read more
  •  14
    Better Luck Next Time
    Journal of Indian Philosophy and Religion 10 (1): 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.
  •  27
    The Oxford Handbook of Global Justice (edited book)
    Oxford University Press. 2020.
    Global justice is an exciting area of refreshing, innovative new ideas for a changing world facing significant challenges. Not only does work in this area often force us to rethink about ethics and political philosophy more generally, but its insights contain seeds of hope for addressing some of the greatest global problems facing humanity today. The Oxford Handbook of Global Justice has been selective in bringing together some of the most pressing topics and issues in global justice as understo…Read more
  •  168
    A defence of jury nullification
    Res Publica 10 (4): 401-423. 2004.
    In both Great Britain and the United States there has been a growing debate about the modern acceptability of jury nullification. Properly understood, juries do not have any constitutional right to ignore the law, but they do have the power to do so nevertheless. Juries that nullify may be motivated by a variety of concerns: too harsh sentences, improper government action, racism, etc. In this article, I shall attempt to defend jury nullification on a number of grounds. First, I discuss the use …Read more
  •  10
    What did the British Idealists do for Us?
    In New Waves in Ethics, Palgrave-macmillan. pp. 28--47. 2011.
    Perhaps one of the most underappreciated philosophical movements is British Idealism. This movement arose during the latter half of the nineteenth century and began to wane after the outbreak of the First World War. British Idealism has produced a number of important figures, such as Bernard Bosanquet, R. G. Collingwood, F. H. Bradley and T. H. Green, as well as other important, but less well known, figures, such as J. S. Mackenzie, John Henry Muirhead and James Seth. It has also given us a numb…Read more
  • Editorial
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 8 (4): 493-493. 2011.
    Thom Brooks editorial, founding editor
  •  30
    Hegel: Philosophy of Politics
    Oxford Bibliographies Online. 2010.
    G. W. F. Hegel is widely considered to be one of the most important philosophers in the history of philosophy. This entry focuses on his contributions to political philosophy, with particular attention paid to his seminal work: the Philosophy of Right. A particular focus will be placed on Hegel’s theories of freedom, contract and property, punishment, morality, family, civil society, law, and the state.
  •  48
    The Fall Paradox
    Philosophy and Theology 19 (1-2): 3-5. 2007.
    In the Garden of Eden, the serpent convinces Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of Conscience, which she does and shares with Adam. Adam and Eve act in contravention to God’s orders against eating fruit from the tree. Traditional interpretations have suggested that this event—commonly referred to as “the Fall”—is an event where the serpent lied to Eve and that it was entirely negative. Instead, I argue that the serpent was correct to say, in fact, that in eating thisfruit we would become closer to G…Read more
  • Editorial
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 6 (1): 3. 2009.
  •  106
    In this journal, Michael Clark defends a "A Non-Retributive Kantian Approach to Punishment". I argue that both Kant's and Rawls's theories of punishment are retributivist to some extent. It may then be slightly misleading to say that by following the views of Kant and Rawls, in particular, as Clark does, we can develop a nonretributivist theory of punishment. This matter is further complicated by the fact Clark nowhere addresses Rawls's views on punishment: Rawls endorses a mixed theory combinin…Read more