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121Boulders and TrolleysUtilitas 23 (3): 268-287. 2011.This discussion attempts to show that the elusive solution to the trolley problem lies hidden in the solution to another perennial problem in moral philosophy: the ducking puzzle. The key to solving the ducking puzzle is an important, but overlooked, exception to our obligation not to harm others, an exception for , which, it is argued here, is also the key to solving the trolley problem
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98What is Utility?Economics and Philosophy 6 (1): 65. 1990.Social scientists could learn some useful things from philosophy. Here I shall discuss what I take to be one such thing: a better understanding of the concept of utility. There are several reasons why a better understanding may be useful. First, this concept is commonly found in the writings of social scientists, especially economists. Second, utility is the main ingredient in utilitarianism, a perspective on morality that, traditionally, has been very influential among social scientists. Third,…Read more
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96On Life, Death, and AbortionUtilitas 8 (2): 159-189. 1996.Morally speaking, is abortion murder? This is what I am calling the ‘abortion problem’. I claim that neither pro-life nor pro-choice advocates have the correct solution; that the correct solution is instead one considered correct by relatively few people. But if this solution really is correct, then why, after years of intense debate, is this solution not more widely accepted? Many, no doubt, are precluded from accepting it by religious dogma. But others, I think, fail to arrive at a correct sol…Read more
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69Workplace discrimination, good cause, and color blindnessJournal of Value Inquiry 36 (1): 75-90. 2002.
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52Capitalism with MoralityClarendon Press. 1996.A philosophical account of an economic system that avoids both the moral failings of capitalism and the inefficiencies of socialism.
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49Equal Consideration: A Theory of Moral JustificationPhilosophical Review 100 (1): 136-140. 1991.
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37Morality, Rules, and Consequences: A Critical Reader (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2000.What determines whether an action is right or wrong? Morality, Rules, and Consequences: A Critical Reader explores for students and researchers the relationship between consequentialist theory and moral rules. Most of the chapters focus on rule consequentialism or on the distinction between act and rule versions of consequentialism. Contributors, among them the leading philosophers in the discipline, suggest ways of assessing whether rule consequentialism could be a satisfactory moral theory. Th…Read more
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32What is Utility?Economics and Philosophy 6 (1): 65-94. 1990.Social scientists could learn some useful things from philosophy. Here I shall discuss what I take to be one such thing: a better understanding of the concept of utility. There are several reasons why a better understanding may be useful. First, this concept is commonly found in the writings of social scientists, especially economists. Second, utility is the main ingredient in utilitarianism, a perspective on morality that, traditionally, has been very influential among social scientists. Third,…Read more
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17Incentives, Opportunities, and Employee OwnershipRadical Philosophy Review 16 (3): 707-732. 2013.This essay challenges the belief in the superiority of capitalism as practiced today, and outlines an alternative economic system aimed at avoiding current capitalism’s main weaknesses. This alternative, built around employee ownership, is designed to result, over time, in a more equal distribution of income and wealth, while surpassing current capitalism’s main strength, its extraordinary economic productivity. It is an economic system that spreads economically beneficial incentives around more…Read more
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12Three Tests That Principles for Justifying the Invasion of Iraq Must PassPublic Affairs Quarterly 21 (4): 345-362. 2007.
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74 Values, Obligations, and Saving LivesIn Brad Hooker, Elinor Mason, Dale E. Miller, D. W. Haslett, Shelly Kagan, Sanford S. Levy, David Lyons, Phillip Montague, Tim Mulgan, Philip Pettit, Madison Powers, Jonathan Riley, William H. Shaw, Michael Smith & Alan Thomas (eds.), Morality, Rules, and Consequences: A Critical Reader, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 71-104. 2000.
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Money, Markets, Morality: No Dogs or Philosophers AllowedDVD. forthcoming.How should we evaluate the economic environment we live in? Does anyone really believe in capitalism? How good are the philosophical judgments that inform the structures and habits of our economic lives? With David Schweickart , David Haslett , and Ronald Duska.
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Money, Markets, Morality: DvdMilk Bottle ProductionsHow should we evaluate the economic environment we live in? Does anyone really believe in capitalism? How good are the philosophical judgments that inform the structures and habits of our economic lives? With David Schweickart, David Haslett, and Ronald Duska.