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5Rawls and the Contract Theory of Civil DisobedienceCanadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 3 (n/a): 1-48. 1977.Since its appearance in 1971, John Rawls’ A Theory of justice has attracted much critical attention. Most of this attention has inevitably centred on the two principles of justice for institutions and on their derivation from the original position. This paper will examine a part of the system which has not yet received such close scrutiny — Rawls’ theory of political obligation in general and civil disobedience in particular. My main aim is to understand this theory, since there are crucial resp…Read more
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147Utility and CapabilityUtilitas 18 (1): 1-19. 2006.When Amartya Sen defends his capability theory of well-being he contrasts it with the utility theory advocated by the classical utilitarians, including John Stuart Mill. Yet a closer examination of the two theories reveals that they are much more similar than they appear. Each theory can be interpreted in either a subjective or an objective way. When both are interpreted subjectively the differences between them are slight, and likewise for the objective interpretations. Finally, whatever differ…Read more
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42Ishani Maitra and Mary Kate McGowan (eds.), Speech and Harm: Controversies over Free Speech (review)Social Theory and Practice 39 (4): 710-718. 2013.
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7Does Medical Ethics Have Its Own Theory? (review)Hastings Center Report 12 (4): 38-39. 2012.Book reviewed in this article: A Theory of Medical Ethics. By Robert M. Veatch.
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87Two Theories of the Good: L. W. SUMNERSocial Philosophy and Policy 9 (2): 1-14. 1992.Suppose that the ultimate point of ethics is to make the world a better place. If it is, we must face the question: better in what respect? If the good is prior to the right — that is, if the rationale for all requirements of the right is that they serve to further the good in one way or another — then what is this good? Is there a single fundamental value capable of underlying and unifying all of our moral categories? If so, how might it defeat the claims of rival candidates for this role? If n…Read more
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47Toward a Credible View of AbortionCanadian Journal of Philosophy 4 (1). 1974.As little as a decade ago most moral philosophers still believed that the exercise of their craft did not include defending positions on actual moral problems. More recently they have come to their senses, one happy result being a spate of articles in the last few years on the subject of abortion. These discussions have contributed much toward an understanding of the abortion issue, but for the most part they have not attempted a full analysis of the morality of abortion. Such an analysis is too…Read more
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92Positive SexismSocial Philosophy and Policy 5 (1): 204. 1987.No one who cares about equal opportunity can derive much comfort from the present occupational distribution of working women. In the various industrial societies of the West, women comprise between one quarter and one-half of the national labor force. However, they tend to clustered in employment sectors – especially clerical, sales, and service J occupations – which rank relatively low in remuneration, status, autonomy, and other perquisites. Meanwhile, the more prestigious and rewarding manage…Read more
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18Book Review:Persons, Rights, and the Moral Community. Loren E. Lomasky (review)Ethics 99 (3): 640-. 1989.
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14Consequences of UtilitarianismDialogue 7 (4): 639-642. 1969.This is a book built round an argument. Several variants of the argument are offered, and I shall consider but one of them. It is directed against the following act utilitarian principle:AU: An act is right if and only if it would have best consequences The argument may be freely rendered as follows. Suppose that we have an agent, Smith, in a society, S, such that the following conditions are satisfied:C1: Smith accepts AU and attempts always to act in accordance with itC2: Smith is rational: he…Read more
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933The moral foundation of rightsOxford University Press. 1987.What does it mean for someone to have a moral right to something? What kinds of creatures can have rights, and which rights can they have? While rights are indispensable to our moral and political thinking, they are also mysterious and controversial; as long as these controversies remain unsolved, rights will remain vulnerable to skepticism. Here, Sumner constructs both a coherent concept of a moral right and a workable substantive theory of rights to provide the moral foundation necessary to di…Read more
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12Reply to Hurka and CoppDialogue 28 (1): 149-. 1989.I am deeply indebted to Tom Hurka and David Copp for the careful attention they have given to some of the central motifs in The Moral Foundation of Rights. By doing their job so well they have simplified mine considerably. Their exposition of my views is a model of fairness and accuracy; I need therefore waste no time disclaiming attributions or complaining about misrepresentation. Furthermore, they have shown admirable resolve in choosing to ignore the book's relatively peripheral concerns, eve…Read more
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157Welfare, Happiness, and PleasureUtilitas 4 (2): 199-223. 1992.Time and philosophical fashion have not been kind to hedonism. After flourishing for three centuries or so in its native empiricist habitat, it has latterly all but disappeared from the scene. Does it now merit even passing attention, for other than nostalgic purposes? Like endangered species, discredited ideas do sometimes manage to make a comeback. Is hedonism due for a revival of this sort? Perhaps it is overly optimistic to think that it could ever flourish again in its original form; the ev…Read more
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38Is Virtue Its Own Reward?: L. W. SUMNERSocial Philosophy and Policy 15 (1): 18-36. 1998.If I lead a life of virtue, that may well be good for you. But will it also be good for me? The idea that it will—or even must—is an ancient one, and its appeal runs deep. For if this idea is correct then we can provide everyone with a good reason—arguably the best reason—for being virtuous. However, for all the effort which has been invested in defending the idea, by some of the best minds in the history of philosophy, it remains unproven. Worse, in this skeptical age hardly anyone really belie…Read more
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9Deliberating on DeathDialogue 23 (3): 503-508. 1984.As a distinct academic subdiscipline medical ethics is only about fifteen years old, but during that brief lifespan it has managed to generate a literature so vast that only specialists and speedreaders can now hope to keep up with more than a small fraction of it. When a literature has achieved this density new contributions must bear the burden of showing that they advance the existing state of the art. Eike-Henner W. Kluge's book joins a well-established continuing debate on the morality of e…Read more
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33Positive Sexism*: L. W. SUMINERSocial Philosophy and Policy 5 (1): 204-222. 1987.No one who cares about equal opportunity can derive much comfort from the present occupational distribution of working women. In the various industrial societies of the West, women comprise between one quarter and one-half of the national labor force. However, they tend to clustered in employment sectors – especially clerical, sales, and service J occupations – which rank relatively low in remuneration, status, autonomy, and other perquisites. Meanwhile, the more prestigious and rewarding manage…Read more
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3Sumner on Abortion: Moral Theory and Moral Standing: A Reply to Woods and SolesDialogue 24 (4): 691-700. 1985.I am grateful to John Woods and David Soles for the careful attention they have given to some of the central arguments of Abortion and Moral Theory, though I wish that they had revealed fewer respects in which those arguments were seriously underdeveloped. In what follows I will try to supply some of the needed further development. I address the main points at issue in what I conceive to be their order of ascending importance.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Philosophy of Law |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Philosophy of Law |
Social and Political Philosophy |