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28Review: Trenton Merricks, Propositions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. 321 + xiii pages; $42.68/hardcover (review)Philosophical Forum 47 (1): 107-109. 2016.
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26Extraordinary Evil or Common Malevolence? Evaluating the Jewish HolocaustJournal of Applied Philosophy 3 (2): 167-181. 1986.This essay considers and rejects the hypothesis of Fackenheim, Wiesel and others that the Jewish Holocaust contains some qualitatively or quantitatively distinct moral evil. The Holocaust was not qualitatively distinct because the intentions and vices of the mass murderer are qualitatively indistinguishable from the intentions and vices of the common murderer. The Holocaust was not quantitatively distinct either because the sum of the evils of the Holocaust is quantitatively indistinguishable fr…Read more
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26Case Studies: Can a Healthy Subject Volunteer to Be Injured in Research?Hastings Center Report 16 (4): 31. 1986.
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22The "historical" vs the "problems" approach to introduction to philosophyMetaphilosophy 5 (2). 1974.
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21Fame as a Value ConceptPhilosophy Research Archives 12 541-551. 1986.This essay distinguishes personal from generic fame and accurate from inaccurate fame, and claims that only accurate personal fame could possess intrinsic value. Nevertheless, three common arguments why accurate personal fame might possess intrinsic value are shown to be unsound. After rejecting two Aristotelian arguments to the effect that no sort of fame possesses value, the author suggests that fame is valueless if one assumes a modern axiology in which the good life consists of self-regulati…Read more
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21Nuclear Weapons and the Future of Humanity: The Fundamental QuestionsRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1986.The excellent quality and depth of the various essays make [the book] an invaluable resource....It is likely to become essential reading in its field.—CHOICE
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20Disarmament revisited: A reply to Kavka and HardinPhilosophy and Public Affairs 12 (3): 261-265. 1983.
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20Modes of Individuation in ArtPhilosophy Research Archives 14 567-580. 1988.Philosophers have developed various systems of individuation for handling questions of identity regarding works of art. But even a casual survey of different arts reveals that questions of individuation in one art form are markedly different from questions of individuation in another. Though distinctively philosophical concepts can go a short way in clarifying these issues, it is hardly likely that any single philosophical system can do justice to them all.
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19The Auteur Theory in the Age of the Mini-SeriesIn Noël Carroll, Laura T. Di Summa & Shawn Loht (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures, Springer. pp. 543-549. 2019.Dominant in mid-century, the auteur theory of cinema elevated the director of a film to a position of artistic eminence. The theory was eroded by theoretical attacks and by the rise of big-budget computer-driven action films. This chapter explores the further decline in the auteur theory wrought by the contemporary rise of the television mini-series. Various twenty-first-century mini-series have been critically acclaimed, but in most cases, these mini-series have multiple directors. There remain…Read more
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18Moral Principles and Nuclear WeaponsRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1984.To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com
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15Divine Omniscience and Human PrivacyPhilosophy Research Archives 10 383-391. 1984.This paper argues that there is a conflict between divine omniscience and the human right to privacy. The right to privacy derives from the right to moral autonomy, which human persons possess even against a divine being. It follows that if God exists and persists in knowing all things, his knowledge is a non-justifiable violation of a human right. On the other hand, if God exists and restricts his knowing in deference to human privacy, it follows that he cannot fulfill the traditional function …Read more
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15The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, Volume 1 (review)Metaphilosophy 15 (3-4): 282-288. 1984.
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15A Puzzle for Scholars [why must immortal souls pervade all space?]Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies 18. 2014.
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15Empirical disconfirmation and ethical counter-exampleJournal of Value Inquiry 10 (1): 30-34. 1976.
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15Fame as a Value ConceptPhilosophy Research Archives 12 541-551. 1986.This essay distinguishes personal from generic fame and accurate from inaccurate fame, and claims that only accurate personal fame could possess intrinsic value. Nevertheless, three common arguments why accurate personal fame might possess intrinsic value are shown to be unsound. After rejecting two Aristotelian arguments to the effect that no sort of fame possesses value, the author suggests that fame is valueless if one assumes a modern axiology in which the good life consists of self-regulati…Read more
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14Baruch College and the Graduate Center, CUNYIn Peter Singer (ed.), Ethics, Oxford University Press. 1994.
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12The Morality of Defensive War edited by Cécile Fabre & Seth Lazar 2014 Oxford, Oxford University Press272 pp., £35.00 (review)Journal of Applied Philosophy 32 (1): 111-113. 2015.
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12Ethics and Native American reburials: a philosopher's view of two decades of NAGPRAIn Chris Scarre & Geoffrey Scarre (eds.), The Ethics of Archaeology: Philosophical Perspectives on Archaeological Practice, Cambridge University Press. pp. 146. 2006.
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12Out on a Nuclear LimbDialogue 26 (2): 341-. 1987.Nuclear War, edited by Fox and Groarke, is one of five recent anthologies containing new essays by philosophers on the subject of nuclear war. The Blake and Pole volumes, containing essays mainly by British philosophers, are distinguished by unrelenting and comprehensive opposition to British and American policy, and by the fame of the contributors, which include Anthony Kenny, Michael Dummett, and Bernard Williams. The Chicago volume contains a number of excellent papers by philosophers and the…Read more
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11The American Debate on Nuclear Weapons PolicyAnalyse & Kritik 9 (1-2): 7-46. 1987.Criticism of nuclear weapons policies often misses the target through ignorance of the policies that are actually in effect. This essay recounts the development of American nuclear weapons policies, together with a history of the criticisms of these policies presented by nuclear strategists and moral philosophers.