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194The moral and political status of childrenPhilosophical Quarterly 54 (216): 490-492. 2004.The book contains original essays by distinguished moral and political philosophers on the topic of the moral and political status of children. It covers the themes of children's rights, parental rights and duties, the family and justice, and civic education
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162Informed consent: Autonomy and self-ownershipJournal of Applied Philosophy 25 (1). 2008.Using the example of an unconsented mouth swab I criticise the view that an action of this kind taken in itself is wrongful in respect of its being a violation of autonomy. This is so much inasmuch as autonomy merits respect only with regard to ‘critical life choices’. I consider the view that such an action is nevertheless harmful or risks serious harm. I also respond to two possible suggestions: that the action is of a kind that violates autonomy; and, that the class of such actions violates a…Read more
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204Child Abuse: parental rights and the interests of the childJournal of Applied Philosophy 7 (2): 183-194. 1990.I criticise the ‘liberal’view of the proper relationship between the family and State, namely that, although the interests of the child should be paramount, parents are entitled to rights of both privacy and autonomy which should be abrogated only when the child suffers a specifiable harm. I argue that the right to bear children is not absolute, and that it only grounds a right to rear upon an objectionable proprietarian picture of the child as owned by its producer. If natural parents have any …Read more
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1Michael Freeden, Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual ApproachRadical Philosophy. forthcoming.
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284Children's rightsStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2008.Children are young human beings. Some children are very young human beings. As human beings children evidently have a certain moral status. There are things that should not be done to them for the simple reason that they are human. At the same time children are different from adult human beings and it seems reasonable to think that there are things children may not do that adults are permitted to do. In the majority of jurisdictions, for instance, children are not allowed to vote, to marry, to b…Read more
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Review of Liberating Cyperspace: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and the Internet (review)Ends and Means 4 (1). 1999.
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16How Should We Teach Sex?Journal of Philosophy of Education 32 (3): 437-450. 1998.In the face of differences about how sex should be taught to young persons, and consistent with a liberal principle of neutrality, educationalists can adopt one of two strategies. The ‘retreat to basics’ consists in teaching only a basic agreed code of sexual conduct, or a set of agreed principles of sexual morality. The ‘conjunctive–disjunctive’ strategy consists in teaching the facts of sexual activity together with the various possible evaluations of these facts. Both strategies are beset wit…Read more
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17Liao, S. Matthew. The Right to Be Loved.New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Pp. 272. $45.00Ethics 127 (1): 294-298. 2016.
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61Political ReasonabilityCanadian Journal of Philosophy 35 (1). 2005.According to Stephen Macedo, ‘[liberal], democratic politics is not only about individual rights and limited government, it is also about justification … political justification … understood politically.’ ‘Political justification,’ he asserts, ‘is a core liberal goal.’ Gerald Gaus, similarly, writes that the ‘idea of public justification is at the heart of a contractual liberalism.’ Very many other contemporary political philosophers believe that the politics of a liberal polity must be justifia…Read more
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29From Pluralist to Patriotic Politics, Putting Practice FirstContemporary Political Theory 3 (2): 212-213. 2004.
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15Whose body is it anyway|[quest]| Justice and the integrity of the personContemporary Political Theory 9 (3): 345. 2010.
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85Inequality Re-examinedPhilosophical Quarterly 45 (181): 553. 1995.This book develops some of the most important themes of Sen's works over the last decade. He argues in a rich and subtle approach that we should be concerned with people's capabilities rather than their resources or welfare
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58“A Nod's as Good as a Wink”: Consent, Convention, and Reasonable BeliefLegal Theory 3 (3): 273. 1997.Consider the following examples of behavior by Smith: 1. Smith, seated at her restaurant table, gives an order to the waiter; 2. Smith gets into a cab and names a destination; 3. Smith agrees to Jones's suggestion that they go back to Jones's apartment for a few drinks; 4. Smith casts her vote in some election. In each of these instances what can Smith be understood as consenting to? Is she consenting to pay the bill for whatever meal she orders; pay the fare for the journey to her named destina…Read more
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45The morality of embryo use - by Louis M. GueninJournal of Applied Philosophy 26 (2): 212-214. 2009.No Abstract
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5A Brief Tribute to Stephen MillsInternational Journal of Philosophical Studies 9 (4): 499-500. 2001.
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51Rights, Moral Values and Natural Facts: a reply to Mary Midgley on the problem of child-abuseJournal of Applied Philosophy 9 (1): 99-104. 1992.Mary Midgley asserts that my argument concerning the problem of child-abuse was inappropriately framed in the language of rights, and neglected certain pertinent natural facts. I defend the view that the use of rights-talk was both apposite and did not misrepresent the moral problem in question. I assess the status and character of the natural facts Midgley adduces in criticism of my case, concluding that they do not obviously establish the conclusions she believes they do. Finally I briefly res…Read more
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70Choosing Tomorrow's Children: The Ethics of Selective Reproduction – By Stephen WilkinsonJournal of Applied Philosophy 28 (1): 101-104. 2011.
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Queen's University, BelfastSchool of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and PoliticsRetired faculty