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121Duress, deception, and the validity of a promiseMind 116 (462): 293-315. 2007.An invalid promise is one whose breach does not wrong the promisee. I describe two different accounts of why duress and deception invalidate promises. According to the fault account duress and deception invalidate a promise just when it was wrong for the promisee to induce the promisor to promise in that way. According to the injury account, duress and deception invalidate a promise just when by inducing the promise in that way the promisee wrongs the promisor. I demonstrate that the injury acco…Read more
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54Tolerance as CivilityPhilosophers' Imprint 15. 2015.The question of toleration, of whether we should express disapproval at wrongdoing, is distinguished from the question of accommodation, of whether we should interfere with such wrongdoing. Liberal doctrines of accommodation invoke the value of autonomy. A doctrine of toleration is proposed that is based instead on the value of civility, on the value of suppressing the public expression of disapproval. Civility is of value within various relationships, a point illustrated by an examination of fr…Read more
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932Promises and Conflicting ObligationsJournal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 11 (1): 93-108. 2016.This paper addresses two questions. First can a binding promise conflict with other binding promises and thereby generate conflicting obligations? Second can binding promises conflict with other non-promissory obligations, so that we are obliged to keep so-called ‘wicked promises’? The answer to both questions is ‘yes’. The discussion examines both ‘natural right’ and ‘social practice’ approaches to promissory obligation and I conclude that neither can explain why we should be unable to make bin…Read more
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University of ChicagoRegular Faculty
London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Areas of Interest
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |