-
44Pluralism, Intransitivity, IncoherenceIn Mark White (ed.), THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LAW AND ECONOMICS, Cambridge University Press. 2009.Pluralism is an appealing and now orthodox view of the sources of value. But pluralism has led to well-known difficulties for social-choice theory. Moreover, as Susan Hurley has argued, the difficulties of pluralism go even deeper. In 1954, Kenneth May suggested an intrapersonal analogue to Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. In brief, May showed that an individual's response to a plurality of values will, given certain additional assumptions, lead to intransitive preference orderings. (Daniel Kahnem…Read more
-
23Three Anarchical Fallacies: An Essay on Political AuthorityCambridge University Press. 1998.How is a legitimate state possible? Obedience, coercion and intrusion are three ideas that seem inseparable from all government and seem to render state authority presumptively illegitimate. This book exposes three fallacies inspired by these ideas and in doing so challenges assumptions shared by liberals, libertarians, cultural conservatives, moderates and Marxists. In three clear and tightly argued essays William Edmundson dispels these fallacies and shows that living in a just state remains a…Read more
-
206Consent and Its CousinsEthics 121 (2): 335-53. 2011.Consent theories of political obligation draw upon the unique powers consent exhibits in everyday dealings, but they are frustrated by the "problem of massive nonconsent." Expansions of what is counted as consent, such as tacit or hypothetical consent, have seemed untrue to the core concept of giving willing consent. David Estlund proposes a novel conception, "normative consent," to address the problem of massive nonconsent while being true to "the idiom of consent." This comment details consent…Read more
-
51Review: Rethinking Exclusionary Reasons: A Second Edition of Joseph Raz's "Practical Reason and Norms" (review)Law and Philosophy 12 (3). 1993.
-
164Legitimate authority without political obligationLaw and Philosophy 17 (1). 1998.It is commonly supposed that citizens of a reasonably just state have a prima facie duty to obey its laws. In recent years, however, a number of influential political philosophers have concluded that there is no such duty. But how can the state be a legitimate authority if there is no general duty to obey its laws? This article is an attempt to explain how we can make sense of the idea of legitimate political authority without positing the existence of a general duty to obey the law. The explana…Read more
-
26Coherentism, in philosophy generally, is of either an epistemological or a metaphysical type. The epistemological type responds to worries about foundationalism that have no serious counterpart within the philosophy of law. The metaphysical type is implausible generally, but has been put to use within the philosophy of law - by Ronald Dworkin in particular - to close up "gaps" in the law that provide an opening for purportedly worrisome exercises of judicial discretion. These remarks conclude wi…Read more
-
86Brian Leiter, Objectivity in Law and Morals (review)Philosophical Inquiry 24 (1-2): 123-126. 2002.
-
96Afterword: Proportionality and the difference death makesCriminal Justice Ethics 21 (2): 40-43. 2002.Proponents and opponents of the death penalty both typically assume that punishment, in some form or other, is justified, somehow or other, and that just punishment must in some sense be proportionate to the crime. These shared assumptions turn out to embarrass both parties. Proponents have to explain why certain prima facie proportionate punishments, such as torture, are off the table, while death remains, so to speak, on it. Opponents have to explain why their favored alternatives to capital p…Read more
-
5Death Penalties: a Review of Raoul Berger, Death Penalties (review)Duke Law Journal 1984 624-29. 1984.This is a critical review of Death Penalties by constitutional scholar Raoul Berger. It rebuts Berger's argument that the Eighth Amendment "no cruel and unusual punishments" clause validates capital punishment.
-
20Schauer on precedent in the U.s. Supreme courtGeorgia State University Law Review 24 (2): 403-13. 2007.Recent critics of the Roberts Court chide it for its lack of regard for precedent. Fred Schauer faults these critics for erroneously assuming that a rule of stare decisis formerly played a significant role in the Supreme Court's decision-making. In fact, it has long played only a rare and weak role in the Court's work. Nonetheless, according to Schauer, the critics are to be thanked for invigorating a needed debate about the importance of "stability, consistency, settlement, reliance, notice, an…Read more
-
195Political Authority, Moral Powers and the Intrinsic Value of ObedienceOxford Journal of Legal Studies 30 (1): 179-191. 2010.Three concepts—authority, obedience and obligation—are central to understanding law and political institutions. The three are also involved in the legitimation of the state: an apology for the state has to make a normative case for the state’s authority, for its right to command obedience, and for the citizen’s obligation to obey the state’s commands. Recent discussions manifest a cumulative scepticism about the apologist’s task. Getting clear about the three concepts is, of..
APA Eastern Division
Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy of Law |
Areas of Interest
Social and Political Philosophy |