•  765
    Celebrity, Democracy, and Epistemic Power
    with Alfred Archer, Benjamin Matheson, and Machteld Geuskens
    Perspectives on Politics 18 (1 ). 2020.
    What, if anything, is problematic about the involvement of celebrities in democratic politics? While a number of theorists have criticized celebrity involvement in politics (Meyer 2002; Mills 1957; Postman 1987) none so far have examined this issue using the tools of social epistemology, the study of the effects of social interactions, practices and institutions on knowledge and belief acquisition. This paper will draw on these resources to investigate the issue of celebrity involvement in polit…Read more
  •  452
    Are you (relevantly) experienced? A moral argument for video games
    In Aidan Thompson, Laura D'Olimpio & Panos Paris (eds.), Educating Character Through the Arts, Routledge. forthcoming.
    Many have offered moral objections to video games, with various critics contending that they depict and promote morally dubious attitudes and behaviour. However, few have offered moral arguments in favour of video games. In this chapter, we develop one such positive moral argument. Specifically, we argue that video games offer one of the only morally acceptable methods for acquiring some ethical knowledge. Consequently, we have (defeasible) moral reasons for creating, distributing, and playing c…Read more
  •  68
    How We Fight: Ethics in War (review)
    Philosophical Quarterly 66 (264): 638-641. 2016.
  •  54
    Are Feminism and Competition Compatible?
    Hypatia 31 (1): 204-220. 2016.
    Contemporary feminist interest in the persistent underrepresentation of women in top professions suggests an implicit approval of the competition required to achieve these posts. Competition, however, seems to be in tension with feminist opposition to domination and oppression. This paper outlines the dimensions of this tension and examines three attempts to resolve the incompatibility. The first two try to separate the undesirable elements of competition from the positive by way of the competit…Read more
  •  38
    The Ethics of Humanitarian Intervention (review)
    Philosophical Quarterly. forthcoming.
  •  37
    Celebrity Politics and Democratic Elitism
    Topoi 41 (1): 33-43. 2021.
    Is there good reason to worry about celebrity involvement in democratic politics? The rise of celebrity politicians such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky has led political theorists and commentators to worry that the role of expertise in democratic politics has been undermined. According to one recent critique, celebrities possess a significant degree of epistemic power that is unconnected to appropriate expertise. This presents a problem both for deliberative and epistemic theories of demo…Read more
  •  30
    Political Disagreement and Conceptions of Violence
    Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 4 (80): 721-747. 2018.
    Reflecting on peace is intimately connected to how one conceptualizes violence. Moreover, thinking about violence is closely tied to how one conceives of socio-political life and the fundamental problems or threats that it faces. Political disagreement then, translates into disparate notions of violence and of peace. In light of this, some theorists, including Johan Galtung, advocate adoption of a singular, extended definition of violence that can accommodate this divide, paired with a correspon…Read more
  •  27
    Rehabilitating Self-Sacrifice: Care Ethics and the Politics of Resistance
    International Journal of Philosophical Studies 26 (3): 456-477. 2018.
    How should feminists view acts of self-sacrifice performed by women? According to a long-standing critique of care ethics such acts ought to be viewed with scepticism. Care ethics, it is claimed, celebrates acts of self-sacrifice on the part of carers and in doing so encourages women to choose caring for others over their own self-development. In doing so, care ethics frustrates attempts to liberate women from the oppression of patriarchy. Care ethicists have responded to this critique by noting…Read more
  •  27
    What is Violence?
    In Herjeet Marway & Heather Widdows (eds.), Women and Violence: The Agency of Victims and Perpetrators, Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 216-231. 2015.
    The aim of this chapter is to uncover a specifically political conception of violence which will capture our interest in violence as it relates to a fundamental problem for society. The chapter will first analyze (and reject) several existing definitions of violence in terms of whether they successfully describe a fundamental problem, then propose a new conception of violence that directs our attention towards problematic attitudes rather than types of actions. This new conception allows us to …Read more
  •  17
    Pacifism as Re-appropriated Violence
    In Jorg Kustermans, Tom Sauer, Dominiek Lootens & Barbara Segaert (eds.), Pacifism's Appeal: Ethos, History, Politics, . pp. 41-60. 2019.
    In this chapter, I introduce a novel conception of pacifism. This conception arises out of considering two key insights drawn from Cheyney Ryan’s work, specifically his characterization of the ‘pacifist impulse’ as a felt rejection of killing and his analysis of contemporary Western attitudes to war and methods of fighting, as reflecting a condition of alienated war. I expand on these claims and argue that considering them together reveals an important problem for pacifism. Specifically, the ali…Read more
  •  1
    Admiring Animals
    In Alfred Archer & André Grahle (eds.), The Moral Psychology of Admiration, Rowman & Littlefield International. pp. 165-178. 2019.
    How can we ground the moral status of animals, or help to guide moral interactions with them? One strategy is to appeal to empathy, which has enjoyed a central place in animal ethics and is often cited as a useful alternative or supplement to rights theories. Empathy is thought to provide the means by which we perceive animals’ moral status (via their capacity for suffering) and the motivational profile that can prompt appropriate action. However, relying on empathy has also come under criticism…Read more