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Moral Universalism and Cultural DifferenceIn John S. Dryzek, Bonnie Honig & Anne Phillips (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Oxford University Press. 2006.This article examines the relationship between moral universalism and cultural difference. It analyses the problem of how to measure the claims of particular cultures against the demands of universal morality and discusses possible ways to resolve the tension between cultural minorities and the intrusion of the morality of Western liberalism. One prominent solution to this problem attempts to resolve it by identifying special rights to be accorded to cultural groups to enable them to hold on to …Read more
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151Social Contract Theory.Political Argument: A Reissue with a New Introduction.Rawls: `A Theory of Justice' and its Critics.Contemporary Political Philosophy: An IntroductionPhilosophical Quarterly 42 (168): 375-378. 1992.
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Are there any cultural rights?In Julia Stapleton (ed.), Group rights: perspectives since 1900, Thoemmes Press. 1995.
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8LibertyIn Robert E. Goodin, Philip Pettit & Thomas Winfried Menko Pogge (eds.), A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, Wiley-blackwell. 1996.Such is the rhetorical appeal of the idea of liberty that a variety of political philosophies claim to honour it. Republicans and Marxists, no less than libertarians and liberals, maintain that they and they alone are the true defenders of freedom. The literature of contemporary political theory is thus replete with rival analyses of the meaning of liberty, and disputes about its measurement, distribution and institutional requirements. Our aim here is to gain some understanding of the meaning a…Read more
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9Exit, Freedom and GenderIn Annamari Vitikainen & Dagmar Borchers (eds.), On Exit: Interdisciplinary perspectives on the right of exit in liberal multicultural societies, De Gruyter. pp. 34-56. 2012.
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14´Kevin Vallier' Trust in a Polarized AgeCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 26 (4): 601-607. 2023.Vallier offers a defence of liberalism that is publicly justified as an answer to political polarization. This critique argues that the philosophical solution he offers – a version of liberalism more likely to be endorsed by moderately idealized agents – may not succeed because the source of polarization lies elsewhere: in resentments arising out of changed social conditions and the alienation of parts of society unhappy with the very liberal narrative in question.
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The Dilemma of a Dutiful Daughter: Love and Freedom in the Thought of KartiniIn Debra Satz & Rob Reich (eds.), Toward a humanist justice : the political philosophy of Susan Moller Okin, Oxford University Press. 2009.
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38Libertarianism without self-ownershipSocial Philosophy and Policy 36 (2): 71-93. 2019.:Libertarianism is a political philosophy whose defenders have set its foundations in the principle of self-ownership. But self-ownership supplies an uncertain basis for such a theory as it is prone to a number of serious difficulties, some of which have been addressed by libertarians but none of which can ultimately be overcome. For libertarianism to be a plausible way of looking at the world, it must look elsewhere for its basic principles. In particular, it needs to rethink the way it underst…Read more
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35JusticitisIn Manuel Knoll, Stephen Snyder & Nurdane Şimşek (eds.), New Perspectives on Distributive Justice: Deep Disagreements, Pluralism, and the Problem of Consensus, De Gruyter. pp. 187-204. 2018.
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481Pluralism and LiberalismIn Gerald F. Gaus & Chandran Kukathas (eds.), Handbook of political theory, Sage. 2004.
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107Responsibility for past injustice: How to shift the burdenPolitics, Philosophy and Economics 2 (2): 165-190. 2003.This article considers the question of the responsibility of present generations for injustices committed by previous ones. It asks whether the descendants of victims of past injustice have claims against the descendants of the perpetrators of injustice. Two modes of argument are examined: the individual responsibility approach, according to which descendants cannot have claims against other descendants, and the collective responsibility approach, according to which descendants do have strong cl…Read more
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30Liberalism and MulticulturalismPolitical Theory 26 (5): 686-699. 1998.My business in this stateMade me a looker-on here in Vienna,Where I have seen corruption boil and bubbleTill it o'errun the stew: laws for all faults,But faults so countenanc'd that the strong statutesStand like the forfeits in a barber's shop,As much in mock as in mark.ShakespeareThe greatest liberty of subjects, dependeth on the silence of the law.Hobbes
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133Hayek and modern liberalismOxford University Press. 1989.In the history of modern liberal thought, the work of F.A. Hayek stands out as among the most significant contributions since that of J.S. Mill. In this book, Kukathas critically examines the nature and coherence of Hayek's defense of liberal principles, attempting both to identify its weaknesses and to show why it makes an important contribution to contemporary political theory. Kukathas argues that Hayek's defense of liberalism is unsuccessful because it rests on presuppositions which are phil…Read more
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82Distinguished Lecture in Public Affairs: Is Feminism Bad for Multiculturalism?Public Affairs Quarterly. forthcoming.
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199The Case for Open ImmigrationIn Andrew I. Cohen & Christopher Heath Wellman (eds.), Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 207-220. 2005.
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38On Sen on comparative justiceCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 16 (2): 196-204. 2013.Against scepticism from thinkers including John Rawls and Thomas Nagel about the appropriateness of justice as the concept through which global ethical concerns should be approached, Amartya Sen argues that the problem lies not with the idea of justice, but with a particular approach to thinking of justice, namely a transcendental approach. In its stead Sen is determined to offer an alternative systematic theory of justice, namely a comparative approach, as a more promising foundation for a theo…Read more
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37John Rawls: critical assessments of leading political philosophers (edited book)Routledge. 2003.This collection brings together the most important published papers on Rawls' work. In addition to a general introduction, the set includes introductions to each volume which help guide the reader through the material. The thematically organized volumes include: * Vol. 1: Foundations and Method * Vols. 2-3: Principles of Justice I and II * Vol. 4: Political Liberalism and the Law of Peoples
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55Expatriatism: The Theory and Practice of Open BordersIn Rogers Smith (ed.), Citizenship, Borders, and Human Needs, Pennsylvania University Press. pp. 324-342. 2011.
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429The mirage of global justiceSocial Philosophy and Policy 23 (1): 1-28. 2006.The political pursuit of global justice is not a worthy goal, and our aims in establishing international legal and political institutions should be more modest. The pursuit of justice in the international order is dangerous to the extent that it requires the establishment of powerful supranational agencies, or legitimizes greater and more frequent exercise of political, economic, and military power by strong states or coalitions. The primary concern in the establishment and design of all legal a…Read more
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96Handbook of political theory (edited book)SAGE. 2004.`This volume combines remarkable coverage and distinguished contributors. The inclusion of thematic, conceptual, and historical chapters will make it a valuable resource for scholars as well as students' - Professor George Klosko, Department of Politics, University of Virginia This major new Handbook provides a definitive state-of-the-art review to political theory, past and present. It offers a complete guide to all the main areas and fields of political and philosophical inquiry today by the w…Read more
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17Review of Terry Nardin, The Philosophy of Michael Oakeshott (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2002 (12). 2002.
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90Liberalism, Communitarianism, and Political CommunitySocial Philosophy and Policy 13 (1): 80. 1996.The primary concern of this essay is with the question “What is a political community?” This question is important in its own right. Arguably, the main purpose of political philosophy is to provide an account of the nature of political association and, in so doing, to describe the relations that hold between the individual and the state. The question is also important, however, because of its centrality in contemporary debate about liberalism and community
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5ImmigrationIn Hugh LaFollette (ed.), The Oxford handbook of practical ethics, Oxford University Press. 2003.
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95Equality and diversityPolitics, Philosophy and Economics 1 (2): 185-212. 2002.The foundations of human inequality lie in the fact of human diversity, or in the human tendency to differentiate from some while associating with others to form groups. The diversity which results from association and differentiation makes equality unattainable. Diversity and equality are incompatible, and attempts to promote one can only be made at the expense of the other. In these circumstances, we should abandon the ideal of equality as incapable of offering us an adequate understanding of …Read more
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17Critical Exchange on the 2010 Nobel Peace PrizeContemporary Political Theory 11 (2): 229-240. 2012.
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32Two Constructions of LibertarianismLibertarian Papers 1 11. 2009.The libertarian first principle—a belief in individual freedom—can lead to two different and not necessarily acceptable societies from the standpoint of liberty. One is the “Union of Liberty,” in which communities, associations, and intermediate bodies are held to rigorous standards of voluntariness . In the other, the “Federation of Liberty,” they are not .While in any free society individuals may voluntarily join together and waive some of their rights , hard questions arise when nonconsenting…Read more
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45Postcolonialism and political theoryContemporary Political Theory 8 (3): 363-365. 2009.Postcolonialism and Political Theory explores the intersection between the political and the postcolonial through an engagement with, critique of, and challenge to some of the prevalent, restrictive tenets and frameworks of Western political and social thought. It is a response to the call by postcolonial studies, as well as to the urgent need within world politics, to turn towards a multiplicity largely excluded from globally dominant discourses of community, subjectivity, power and prosperity …Read more
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London School of EconomicsRegular Faculty
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Law |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Philosophy of Law |
Social and Political Philosophy |