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8The Revolution in Ethical Theory. By George C. Kerner. Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. vi, 254. $4.40Dialogue 5 (4): 649-652. 1967.
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8Morality and Utility. By Jan Narveson. Baltimore; The Johns Hopkins Press; Toronto: Copp Clark Pub. Co. 1967. Pp. ix, 293. $7.50 (review)Dialogue 7 (2): 302-305. 1968.
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22The Carnivore Strikes BackDialogue 23 (4): 661-668. 1984.Since philosophers began thinking seriously about the moral status of non-human animals, many of the practices we once took for granted have come to be condemned as unjustifiable, among them our reliance on animals as a food source. While the arguments which have been adduced in support of moral vegetarianism invoke quite different moral frameworks, they begin with a common concern for the welfare of animals. In the real world of practising vegetarians, this concern tends to be subordinated to c…Read more
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19Catching Up With CastañedaDialogue 14 (4): 671-685. 1975.Remember the fifties? That was, among other things, when it was outré for moral philosophers acutally to use moral discourse and de rigueur to theorize about its use. It was when we all read Stevenson and Hare and learned to believe that moral judgments had no truth values and were used to express emotion or to issue imperatives. It was when we came to realize that all previous moral philosophy rested on the mistake of supposing that moral judgments were propositions. How remote it all seems now…Read more
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18Negativities: The Limits of Life. By Joseph Margolis. Columbus. Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company. 1975. Pp. vii, 166 (review)Dialogue 16 (2): 348-352. 1977.
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6Ethics: Report of the Consultative Group on Ethics. Ottawa: The Canada Council, 1977. vi + 34 pages. $2.00 (review)Dialogue 17 (3): 575-581. 1978.
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22Philosophical Perspectives on Bioethics (edited book)University of Toronto Press. 1996.How are we to understand the role of bioethics in the health care system, government, and academe? This collection of original essays raises these and other questions about the nature of bioethics as a discipline.
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24Freedom of Commercial Expression (review)Canadian Journal of Philosophy 35 (4): 623-640. 2005.At a 1990 conference on freedom of expression Roger Shiner presented a paper arguing that commercial expression does not merit constitutional protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Thirteen years on he has defended the same thesis at much greater length in this meticulously researched, beautifully written, and exhaustively argued book. When I heard Shiner’s original paper I had no settled view on the issue he was addressing, though I was impressed by his treatment of it. S…Read more
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22A Matter of Life and DeathPhilosophy Now 30 (2): 4-4. 2000."What do we mean by 'identity'?" Since this term itself can be a rather elusive, amorphous, and even vaporous one, we need to have heuristic markings for it. The second is "What is the moral content of one's identities?"-because we all have multiple positions in terms of constructing our identities; there's no such thing as having one identity or of there being one essential identity that fundamentally defines who we actually are. And third, "What are the political consequences of our various id…Read more
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34Critical Notice of Alan Donagan, The Theory of Morality (review)Canadian Journal of Philosophy 9 (1): 185-194. 1979.
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10The Hateful and the Obscene: Studies in the Limits of Free ExpressionUniversity of Toronto Press. 2004.
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109Animal welfare and animal rightsJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 13 (2): 159-175. 1988.Animal liberationists tend to divide into two mutually antagonistic camps: animal welfarists, who share a utilitarian moral outlook, and animal rightists, who presuppose a structure of basic rights. However, the gap between these groups tends to be exaggerated by their allegiance to oversimplified versions of their favored moral frameworks. For their part, animal rightists should acknowledge that rights, however basic, are also defeasible by appeals to consequences. Contrariwise, animal welfaris…Read more
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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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223Utility 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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62Ishani 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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4Does 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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131Two 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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45Toward 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
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 |