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111Kant and the possibility of moral motivationSouthern Journal of Philosophy 23 (3): 377-398. 1985.This paper is divided into three major sections. In section 1, I explain why it is that kant's theory of moral motivation is crucial in developing a certain sort of moral theory in opposition to both the ethical empiricist and the rationalist--A theory of moral reasons I characterize as a "rationalist internalism." in section 2, I present some of the detail of kant's theory of moral motivation, And in particular, The reasons why kant was led to a special a priori feeling which he calls respect (…Read more
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635Motive and Rightness in Kant's Ethical SystemIn Kant's Metaphysics of morals: interpetative essays, Oxford University Press. 2002.Some contemporary intepreters of Kant maintain that on Kant's view fulfilling duties of virtue require doing so from the motive of duty. I argue that there are interpretive and doctinal reasons for rejecting this interpretation. However, I argue that for Kant motives can be deontically relevant; one's motives can affect the deontic status of actions.
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138Morphological Rationalism and the Psychology of Moral JudgmentEthical Theory and Moral Practice 10 (3): 279-295. 2007.According to rationalism regarding the psychology of moral judgment, people’s moral judgments are generally the result of a process of reasoning that relies on moral principles or rules. By contrast, intuitionist models of moral judgment hold that people generally come to have moral judgments about particular cases on the basis of gut-level, emotion-driven intuition, and do so without reliance on reasoning and hence without reliance on moral principles. In recent years the intuitionist model has…Read more
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90Introspection and the phenomenology of free will: Problems and prospectsJournal of Consciousness Studies 18 (1): 180-205. 2011.Inspired and informed by the work of Russ Hurlburt and Eric Schwitzgebel in their 'Describing Inner Experience', we do two things in this commentary. First, we discuss the degree of reliability that introspective methods might be expected to deliver across a range of types of experience. Second, we explore the phenomenology of agency as it bears on the topic of free will. We pose a number of poten-tial problems for attempts to use introspective methods to answer var-ious questions about the phen…Read more
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107Troubles for Michael Smith's metaethical rationalismPhilosophical Papers 25 (3): 203-231. 1996.
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5Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, Volume 6 (edited book)Oxford University Press UK. 2011.Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics is an annual forum for new work in normative ethical theory. Leading philosophers present original contributions to our understanding of a wide range of moral issues and positions, from analysis of competing approaches to normative ethics to questions of how we should act and live well. OSNE will be an essential resource for scholars and students working in moral philosophy.
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76Analytical moral functionalism meets moral twin earthIn Ian Ravenscroft (ed.), Minds, Ethics, and Conditionals: Themes from the Philosophy of Frank Jackson, Oxford University Press. pp. 221--236. 2009.
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1702The Phenomenology of Kantian Respect for PersonsIn Richard Dean & Oliver Sensen (eds.), Respect: philosophical essays, Oxford University Press. pp. 77-98. 2021.Emotions can be understood generally from two different perspectives: (i) a third-person perspective that specifies their distinctive functional role within our overall cognitive economy and (ii) a first-person perspective that attempts to capture their distinctive phenomenal character, the subjective quality of experiencing them. One emotion that is of central importance in many ethical systems is respect (in the sense of respect for persons or so-called recognition-respect). However, discussio…Read more
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Moral contractualism is a type of view in ethics that attempts to justify morality, or at least a part of it, by appealing to some sort of rational or reasonable agreement among individuals. 1 In What We Owe to Each Other, TM Scanlon defends a contractualist account of that part of morality that concerns our obligations toIn Philip Stratton-Lake (ed.), On What We Owe to Each Other, Blackwell. pp. 90. 2004.
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748New Wave Moral Realism Meets Moral Twin EarthJournal of Philosophical Research 16 447-465. 1991.There have been times in the history of ethical theory, especially in this century, when moral realism was down, but it was never out. The appeal of this doctrine for many moral philosophers is apparently so strong that there are always supporters in its corner who seek to resuscitate the view. The attraction is obvious: moral realism purports to provide a precious philosophical good, viz., objectivity and all that this involves, including right answers to (most) moral questions, and the possibi…Read more
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150This paper contains an overview of the essays contained in the Mind and morals anthology plus a critical discussion of certain themes raised in many of these essays concerning the bearing of recent work in cognitive science on the traditional project of moral theory. Specifically, I argue for the following claims: (1) authors like Virginia Held, who appear to be antagonistic toward the methodological naturalism of Owen Flanagan, Andy Clark, Paul Churchland, and others, are really in fundamental …Read more
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119Metaphysical Naturalism, Semantic Normativity, and Meta-Semantic IrrealismPhilosophical Issues 4. 1993.
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108Contrastivism, relevance contextualism, and meta-skepticism (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 77 (3): 802-810. 2008.No Abstract
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13Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, Volume 2 (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2012.OSNE is an annual forum for new work in normative ethical theory. Leading philosophers advance our understanding of a wide range of moral issues and positions, from analysis of competing normative theories to questions of how we should act and live well. OSNE will be an essential resource for scholars and students working in moral philosophy
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70From Moral Realism to Moral Relativism in One Easy StepCritica 28 (83): 3-39. 1996.In recent years, defenses of moral realism have embraced what we call new wave moral semantics', which construes the semantic workings of moral terms like good' and right' as akin to the semantic workings of natural-kind terms in science and also takes inspiration from functionalist themes in the philosophy of mind. This sort of semantic view which we find in the metaethical views of David Brink, Richard Boyd, Peter Railton, is the crucial semantical underpinning of a naturalistic brand of moral…Read more
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Moral Knowledge? New Readings in Moral EpistemologyPhilosophical Quarterly 49 (195): 252-254. 1999.
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20Experimental EthicsIn Hugh LaFollette (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Blackwell. 2013.
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343Moral Theory: An IntroductionRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2001.Moral Theory explores some of the most historically important and currently debated moral theories about the nature of the right and good. After introducing students in the first chapter to some of the main aims and methods of evaluating a moral theory, the remaining chapters are devoted to an examination of various moral theories including the divine command theory, moral relativism, natural law theory, Kant's moral theory, moral pluralism, virtue ethics, and moral particularism
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1720The Practical and Philosophical Significance of Kant's Universality Formulations of the Categorical ImperativeIn B. Sharon Byrd & Jan C. Joerdan (eds.), Philosophica Practica Universalis: Festschrift for Joachim Hruschka, Jahrbuch fur Recht und Ethik (Annual Review of Law and Ethics), Duncker Und Humblot. 2005.This article begins with the claim that the Formula of Universal Law, interpreted as a test of the deontic status of actions, can't be made to work. If not, then one might wonder whether what other work it might do in the overall economy of Kant's ethics. I defend what I call the "formal constraint" interpretation of FUL, explaining how it can figure in a defense of the Formula of Humanity, and its psychological significance in moral thinking
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264What does moral phenomenology tell us about moral objectivity?Social Philosophy and Policy 25 (1): 267-300. 2008.Moral phenomenology is concerned with the elements of one's moral experiences that are generally available to introspection. Some philosophers argue that one's moral experiences, such as experiencing oneself as being morally obligated to perform some action on some occasion, contain elements that (1) are available to introspection and (2) carry ontological objectivist purportargument from phenomenological introspection.neutrality thesisthe phenomenological data regarding one's moral experiences …Read more
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180Kant's Metaphysics of morals: interpetative essays (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2002.This is the only book devoted entirely to The Metaphysics of Morals. Seventeen essays by leading contemporary Kant scholars cover such topics as Kant's views on rights, punishment, contract, practical reasoning, revolution, freedom, virtue, legislation, happiness, moral judgement, love, respect, duties to oneself, and motivation.
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11Morphological Rationalism and the Psychology of Moral JudgmentEthical Theory and Moral Practice 10 (3): 279-295. 2007.According to rationalism regarding the psychology of moral judgment, people’s moral judgments are generally the result of a process of reasoning that relies on moral principles or rules. By contrast, intuitionist models of moral judgment hold that people generally come to have moral judgments about particular cases on the basis of gut-level, emotion-driven intuition, and do so without reliance on reasoning and hence without reliance on moral principles. In recent years the intuitionist model has…Read more
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54Rationality and the Good: Critical Essays on the Ethics and Epistemology of Robert Audi (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2007.For over thirty years, Robert Audi has produced important work in ethics, epistemology, and the theory of action. This volume features thirteen new critical essays on Audi by a distinguished group of authors: Fred Adams, William Alston, Laurence BonJour, Roger Crisp, Elizabeth Fricker, Bernard Gert, Thomas Hurka, Hugh McCann, Al Mele, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Raimo Tuomela, Candace Vogler, and Timothy Williamson. Audi's introductory essay provides a thematic overview interconnecting his views i…Read more
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Areas of Interest
Meta-Ethics |
Epistemology |
Normative Ethics |