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61Uncertain rights against defenseSocial Philosophy and Policy 32 (2): 129-145. 2016.:In this essay, I defend a theory of liability to defensive force. The theory contains two elements. The first is a dual Lockean-inspired condition. The second aims to make this first condition consistent with problems arising from uncertainty. Drawing on recent work by Michael Zimmerman, I argue that the rights-based condition should be made sensitive to the evidence available to defenders.
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40The Ethics of Preventive War, Deen Chatterjee (ed.) (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. 2013.
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165In defense of the ivory tower: Why philosophers should stay out of politicsPhilosophical Psychology 28 (7): 1045-1063. 2015.Many political theorists, philosophers, social scientists, and other academics engage in political activism. And many think this is how things ought to be. In this essay, I challenge the ideal of the politically engaged academic. I argue that, quite to the contrary, political theorists, philosophers, and other political thinkers have a prima facie duty to refrain from political activism. This argument is based on a commonsense moral principle, a claim about the point of political thought, and fi…Read more
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1937Assessing Law's Claim to AuthorityOxford Journal of Legal Studies 31 (3): 481-501. 2011.The idea that law claims authority (LCA) has recently been forcefully criticized by a number of authors. These authors present a new and intriguing objection, arguing that law cannot be said to claim authority if such a claim is not justified. That is, these authors argue that the view that law does not have authority viciously conflicts with the view that law claims authority. I will call this the normative critique of LCA. In this article, I assess the normative critique of LCA, focusing predo…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Law |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
PhilPapers Editorships
Political Obligation |