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454Responsibility and the Negligence StandardOxford Journal of Legal Studies 30 (1): 1-18. 2010.The paper has dual aim: to analyse the structure of negligence, and to use it to offer an explanation of responsibility (for actions, omissions, consequences) in terms of the relations which must exist between the action (omission, etc.) and the agents powers of rational agency if the agent is responsible for the action. The discussion involves reflections on the relations between the law and the morality of negligence, the difference between negligence and strict liability, the role of excuses …Read more
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120Darwall on rational careUtilitas 18 (4): 400-414. 2006.Stephen Darwall's understanding of what kind of life is a good life, good for the person whose life it is, belongs in the same family as, among others, Scanlon's and mine. It is a family of views about well-being which descends from Aristotle, and Darwall has much of interest to say about the good life, and particularly about Aristotle's views on the subject. Many of the observations central to his position seem to me cogent, and are shared by other writers. These include three important proposi…Read more
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15The contemporary perception of the centrality of rights exemplifies both the influence of Locke and the way our moral ideas have been affected by our political principles. Locke is a key figure in the rise of" rights" to a place of preeminence in liberal culture. 2 Natural law, having been traditionally understood as the doctrine of people's duties (review)Law and Philosophy 8 3-21. 1989.
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438Facing diversity: The case of epistemic abstinencePhilosophy and Public Affairs 19 (1): 3-46. 1990.
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46Postema on Law's Autonomy and Public Practical Reasons: A Critical Comment: Joseph RazLegal Theory 4 (1): 1-20. 1998.Postema's article discusses, lucidly and probingly, a central jurisprudential idea, which he calls the autonomy thesis. In its general form it is shared by many writers who otherwise support divergent accounts of the nature of law. It is, according to Postema, a thesis that is meant to account for a core idea, that the law's “defining aim is to … unify public political judgment and coordinate social interaction.” In some form or another this core idea is probably supported by Postema himself. Ho…Read more
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626The authority of law: essays on law and moralityOxford University Press. 1979.Legitimate authority -- The claims of law -- Legal positivism and the sources of law -- Legal reasons, sources, and gaps -- The identity of legal systems -- The institutional nature of law -- Kelsen's theory of the basic norm -- Legal validity -- The functions of law -- Law and value in adjudication -- The rule of law and its virtue -- The obligation to obey the law -- Respect for law -- A right to dissent? : civil disobedience -- A right to dissent? : conscientious objection --The purity of the…Read more
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88Death in Our LifeJournal of Applied Philosophy 30 (1): 1-11. 2013.This paper examines a central aspect of the relations between duration and quality of life by considering the moral right to voluntary euthanasia, and some aspects of the moral case for a legal right to euthanasia. Would widespread acceptance of a right to voluntary euthanasia lead to widespread changes in attitudes to life and death? Many of its advocates deny that, seeing it as a narrow right enabling people to avoid ending their life in great pain or total dependence, or a vegetative state. I…Read more
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9On the authority and interpretation of Constitutions: some preliminariesIn Larry Alexander (ed.), Constitutionalism: philosophical foundations, Cambridge University Press. pp. 152--153. 1998.
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Columbia UniversityProfessor (Part-time)
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King's College LondonProfessor (Part-time)
London, London, City of, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Areas of Specialization
Meta-Ethics |
Philosophy of Law |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Value Theory, Misc |