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428Evils, Wrongs and Dignity: How to Test a Theory of EvilJournal of Value Inquiry 47 (3): 235-253. 2013.Evil acts are not merely wrong; they belong to a different moral category. For example, telling a minor lie might be wrong but it is not evil, whereas the worst act of gratuitous torture that you can imagine is evil and not merely wrong. But how do wrongs and evils differ? A theory or conception of evil should, among other things, answer that question. But once a theory of evil has been developed, how do we defend or refute it? The most commonly used method for doing this in the literature has b…Read more
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454The Problems with EvilContemporary Political Theory 7 (4): 395-415. 2008.The concept of evil has been an unpopular one in many recent Western political and ethical discourses. One way to justify this neglect is by pointing to the many problemswiththe concept of evil. The standard grievances brought against the very concept of evil include: that it has no proper place in secular political and ethical discourses; that it is a demonizing term of hatred that leads to violence; that it is necessarily linked with outdated notions of body and sexuality; and that it only hin…Read more
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704The Idea of Evil, by Peter Dews. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. Pp. 264, hardcover. ISBN 978-1-4051-1704-3. £60.00/€72.00 (review)Kantian Review 14 (1): 129-136. 2009.Review of 'The Idea of Evil' by Peter Dews
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9789Kant on the radical evil of human naturePhilosophical Forum 38 (3). 2007.In ‘Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason’ Kant presents his thesis that human nature is ‘radically evil’. To be radically evil is to have a propensity toward moral frailty, impurity and even perversity. Kant claims that all humans are ‘by nature’ radically evil. By presenting counter-examples of moral saints, I argue that not all humans are morally corrupt, even if most are. Even so, the possibility of moral failure is central to what makes us human.
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178Book review : "Kant's anatomy of evil" (review)Kantian Review 16 (2): 150-156. 2011.Book review of Sharon Anderson-Gold, and Pablo Muchnik, "Kant's Anatomy of Evil", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, Pp 251, ISBN 9780521514323.
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315A Life without Affects and Passions: Kant on the Duty of ApathyParrhesia 13 96-111. 2011.An apathetic life is not the sort of life that most of us would want for ourselves or believe that we have a duty to strive for. And yet Kant argues that we have a duty of apathy, a duty to strive to be without affects (Affecten) and passions (Leidenschaften). But is Kant’s claim that there is a duty of apathy really as problematic as it sounds? In arguing that it is not, this paper investigates in detail in Kant’s accounts of affects and passions and defends Kant’s argument that we have a duty …Read more
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1796Nussbaum, Kant, and the Capabilities Approach to DignityEthical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (5): 875-892. 2014.The concept of dignity plays a foundational role in the more recent versions of Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities theory. However, despite its centrality to her theory, Nussbaum’s conception of dignity remains under-theorised. In this paper we critically examine the role that dignity plays in Nussbaum’s theory by, first, developing an account of the concept of dignity and introducing a distinction between two types of dignity, status dignity and achievement dignity. Next, drawing on this account, w…Read more
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Areas of Specialization
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Kantian Ethics |
Computer Ethics |
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence |
Value Theory |
Moral Evil |
Video Games |