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570Understanding Evil ActsHuman Studies 30 (2): 57-77. 2007.Evil acts strike us, by their very nature, as not only horrifying and reprehensible, but also as deeply puzzling. No doubt for reasons like this, evil has often been seen as mysterious, demonic and beyond our human powers of understanding. The question I examine in this paper is whether or not we can (or would want to) overcome this puzzlement in the face of evil acts. I shall argue that we ought want to (in all cases) and can (in at least most cases) come to understand why people perpetrate evi…Read more
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1631Kant on the Limits of Human EvilJournal of Philosophical Research 34 189-214. 2009.Kant has often been accused of being far too “optimistic” when it comes to the extremes of evil that humans can perpetrate upon one another. In particular, Kant’s supposed claim that humans cannot choose evil qua evil has struck many people as simply false. Another problem for Kant, or perhaps the same problem in another guise, is his supposed claim that all evil is done for the sake of self-love. While self-love might be a plausible way to explain some instances of evil, it seems to be an impla…Read more
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4216Dignity and Respect: How to Apply Kant's Formula of HumanityPhilosophical Forum 45 (1): 49-68. 2014.Kant’s Formula of Humanity (FH) is considered by many, Kant included, to be the most intuitively appealing formulation of the categorical imperative. FH tells us that to treat persons with dignity and respect we must always treat them as ends in themselves and never as mere means. One set of issues raised by FH revolves around how FH is to be justified or grounded and how it relates to the other formulations of the categorical imperative. This set of issues, though important, is not our focus he…Read more
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3829Thinking, Conscience and Acting in the Face of Mass EvilIn Andrew Schaap, Danielle Celermajer & Vrasidas Karalēs (eds.), Power, Judgement and Political Evil: In Conversation with Hannah Arendt, Ashgate. pp. 89-104. 2010.If there is one lesson that Hannah Arendt drew from her encounter with Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem it was that the moral and political dangers of thoughtlessness had been grossly underestimated. But while thoughtlessness clearly “has its perils”, (LMT 177) as the example of Eichmann illustrates, thoughtfulness has its own problems, as the example of Heidegger illustrates. In the course of her 1964 interview with Günter Gaus, Arendt recalls her distaste for “intellectual business” that arose from…Read more
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212Saying the unsayable: Wittgenstein's early ethical thoughtSorites 19 74-87. 2007.In this paper I present an account of Wittgenstein’s ethics that follows from a so-called ‘metaphysical’ reading of the Tractatus. I argue Wittgenstein forwards two distinct theses. Negatively he claims that there can be no ethical propositions. Positively he claims that the ethical good, or good in-itself, is the rewarding happy life. The happy life involves living in perfect contented harmony with the world, however it is, because how the world is, is a manifestation of God’s will. Given the n…Read more
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1152Kant's Conception of Personal AutonomyJournal of Social Philosophy 44 (3): 193-212. 2013.A strong distinction is often made between personal autonomy and moral autonomy. Personal autonomy involves governing yourself in the pursuit of your own conception of the good. Moral autonomy involves legislating the moral law for yourself. Viewed in this way personal autonomy seems at best marginal and at worst a positive hindrance to moral autonomy, since personal autonomy can conflict with moral autonomy. Given that Kantian approaches to morality are closely aligned with moral autonomy, does…Read more
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3186“All Politics Must Bend Its Knee Before Right”: Kant on the Relation of Morals to PoliticsSocial Theory and Practice 34 (2): 157-181. 2008.Kant argues that morals should not only constrain politics, but that morals and politics properly understood cannot conflict. Such an uncompromising stance on the relation of morals to politics has been branded unrealistic and even politically irresponsible. While justice can afford to be blind, politics must keep its eyes wide open. In response to this charge I argue that Kant’s position on the relation of morals to politics is both morally uncompromising and yet politically flexible, both prin…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 |