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24Scepticism and concept possessionSouthern Journal of Philosophy 12 (2): 215-223. 1974.This is an attempt to clarify the ways in which traditional empiricist theories of mind lend support to sceptical doubts about physical objects. I argue that a crucial role is played by the assumption that having a concept consists of being able to recognize instances of that concept. I further argue that this view of concept possession is false so that any sceptical view based on empiricist assumptions about the mind is unwarranted
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21Is Terrorism, or War, Ever Justified? Comment on Nathanson’s Terrorism and the Ethics of WarSocial Philosophy Today 28 177-185. 2012.Nathanson asks how we can properly understand terrorism such that it is (a) always unjustified, and (b) does not thereby preclude justified warfare. By means of a novel ruleutilitarian argument bolstering the inviolability of noncombatants, he hopes to have crafted such an understanding. While praising Nathanson’s rigor and originality, this paper questions the moral-theoretic completeness of his procedure, and then raises challenges from two directions: (1) an argument for the justifiability of…Read more
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19Rationality, by Harold I. Brown (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 51 (2): 448-451. 1991.
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18Rationality, by Harold I. Brown (review)Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 51 (2): 448-451. 1991.
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18Reviews (review)Metaphilosophy 8 (2‐3): 201-214. 2007.The Owl of Minerva: Philosophers on Philosophy. Edited by Charles J. Bontempo and S. Jack Odell Harry M. Bracken. Berkeley. Jonathan Bennett. Kant's Dialectic.
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13Book ReviewsGeorge Kateb,. Patriotism and Other Mistakes.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. Pp. xxxv+422. $35.00 (review)Ethics 117 (4): 769-773. 2007.
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12What Is and What Ought to Be Done (review)International Philosophical Quarterly 22 (3): 211-212. 1982.
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12The ideal of rationality: a defense, within reasonOpen Court. 1994.The Ideal of Rationality presents an evaluation of all the main varieties of rationalism, in clear and jargon-free language. Different notions of rationality - such as means-end, conception, hedonism, and the evil-avoidance view - are examined and rejected, in favor of the theory that to act rationally is to 'act for the best', a theory Nathanson characterizes as "critical pluralism". Among present-day thinkers whose ideas are scrutinized are Richard Brandt, Bernard Gert, Gilbert Harman, John Ke…Read more
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11Universal Human Rights: Moral Order in a Divided World (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2005.Universal Human Rights brings new clarity to the important and highly contested concept of universal human rights. This collection of essays explores the foundations of universal human rights in four sections devoted to their nature, application, enforcement, and limits, concluding that shared rights help to constitute a universal human community, which supports local customs and separate state sovereignty. The eleven contributors to this volume demonstrate from their very different perspectives…Read more
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9‘Partiality’, by Keller, Simon: Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. vii-x + 163, $35 (US dollars) [hardback] (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 92 (3): 593-596. 2014.
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5Does It Matter if the Death Penalty Is Arbitrarily Administered?In A. John Simmons, Marshall Cohen, Joshua Cohen & Charles R. Beitz (eds.), Punishment: A Philosophy and Public Affairs Reader, Princeton University Press. pp. 308-324. 1994.
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5Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy (edited book)Hackett Publishing Company. 2004.Stephen Nathanson's clear-sighted abridgment of _Principles of Political Economy_, Mill's first major work in moral and political philosophy, provides a challenging, sometimes surprising account of Mill's views on many important topics: socialism, population, the status of women, the cultural bases of economic productivity, the causes and possible cures of poverty, the nature of property rights, taxation, and the legitimate functions of government. Nathanson cuts through the dated and less relev…Read more
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1Gilbert Harman, "The nature of morality: an introduction to ethics" (review)Metaphilosophy 11 (n/a): 96. 1980.
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The Plight of the Siamese Twin: Mind, Body, and Value in John Barth's "Petition"Analecta Husserliana 28 (n/a): 461. 1990.
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James C. S. Wernham, "James's Will-to-Believe Doctrine: A Heretical View" (review)Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 24 (3): 423. 1988.
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Nihilism, Reason, and Death: Reflections on John Barth's "Floating Opera"Analecta Husserliana 12 (n/a): 137. 1982.
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |