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81The distribution of medical resources, withholding medical treatment, drug trials,advance directives, euthanasia and other ethical issues: The Thandi case (II)Developing World Bioethics 1 (2). 2001.In the first part of this article, we considered how Thandi, a 15-year-old girl, was treated when taken by her mother to their GP, Dr Randera. Dr Randera notified them that Thandi was pregnant, HIV positive, and had syphilis and herpes. Dr Randera also informed them that there was a substantial risk that the baby would be born HIV positive. Both Thandi and her mother wanted an abortion. However, Dr Randera, who was morally opposed to abortions, refused to provide the service and did not refer Th…Read more
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43Racism and Rationality in Hegel's Philosophy of Subjective SpiritHistory of Political Thought 13 (2): 243. 1992.The eurocentrism of Hegel's philosophy of history is well known. Hegel's reputation has not benefited from many of the claims in the Philosophy of History; such as the one that African history, having no development, has contributed nothing to world history. Because of the general lack of attention that Hegel's philosophy of subjective spirit has received, it is little known that this eurocentrism is based, in part, on the racism of the philosophy of subjective spirit. Only here does Hegel syste…Read more
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30Treaty Norms and Climate Change MitigationEthics and International Affairs 23 (3): 247-266. 2009.Treaty Norms and Climate Change MitigationDarrel MoellendorfCurrently the international community is discussing the regulatory framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. The unveiling of the new framework is scheduled to occur at the December 2009 COP in Copenhagen. The stakes are high, since any treaty will affect the development prospects of per capita poor countries and will determine the climate change–related costs borne by poor people for centuries to come. Failure to arrive at an…Read more
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26Marxism, Internationalism, and the Justice of WarScience and Society 58 (3). 1994.This paper examines the UN provisions concerning the legitimate use of force, which justified the 1991 Gulf War, and Michael Walzer's arguments, which can be read as a justification of the UN provisions. After a brief historical sketch of the approach to internationalism of Marx, Lenin, and the early Bolshevik regime, alternative internationalist criteria of Jus ad Bellum are proposed, which assume certain forms of common oppression among peoples of different states. If certain forms of common o…Read more
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101Justice and the assignment of the intergenerational costs of climate changeJournal of Social Philosophy 40 (2): 204-224. 2009.No Abstract
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1Equality of Opportunity Globalized?Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 19 (2). 2006.The principle of global equality of opportunity is an important part of the commitment to global egalitarianism. In this paper I discuss how a principle of global equality of opportunity follows from a commitment to equal respect for the autonomy of all persons, and defend the principle against some of the criticism that it has received. The particular criticisms that I address contend that a moral view based upon dignity and respect cannot take properties of persons—such as their citizenship—as…Read more
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24Consensus and Cognitivism in Habermas's Discourse EthicsSouth African Journal of Philosophy 19 (2): 65-74. 2000.Habermas asserts that his discourse ethics rests on two main commitments: 1) Moral judgements have cognitive content analogous to truth value; and 2) moral justification requires real- life discourse. Habermas elaborates on the second claim by making actual consensus a necessary condition of normative validity. I argue that Habermas's two commitments sit uneasily together. The second entails that his cognitivism is revisionist in the sense that it must reject the law of the excluded middle. More…Read more
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95Capitalist Exploitation, Self-Ownership, and EqualityPhilosophical Forum 32 (3). 2001.Traditional Marxists hold that capitalist modes of production are unjustly exploitative. In 'Self-Ownership, Freedom and Equality' G. A. Cohen argues that this ``exploitation charge'' commits traditional Marxists to the thesis that people own themselves (``self-ownership''). If so, then traditional Marxism is vulnerable to a libertarian challenge to its commitment to equality. Cohen, therefore, recommends that Marxists abandon the exploitation charge. This paper undermines Cohen's case for the a…Read more
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18Anti-Poverty, Development, and the Limits of ProgressRes Publica 22 (3): 317-325. 2016.In this paper I critically engage with Hennie Lötter’s impressive book, Poverty, Ethics and Justice. I discuss his conception of poverty, and offer an interpretation of his claim that poverty is a uniquely human scourge. I exam the various harms of poverty that Lötter discusses. I consider two reasons that he offers for why we have a moral duty to end poverty, and I argue that the reason based on what we can justify to others if we take their human dignity seriously is most compelling. Finally, …Read more
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40Two Doctrines of Jus ex BelloEthics 125 (3): 653-673. 2015.This article discusses two doctrines of jus ex bello concerning whether and how to end wars. In Section I, I defend the claim that there is a distinct morality of ending wars. Section II rebuts a challenge that the account is too permissive of war. Section III rejects a forward-looking conception of proportionality for jus ex bello. In Section IV, I allow an exception in cases in which the just cause for the war has changed. In Section V, I defend five principles governing how to end a war
Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Philosophy of Social Science |