•  877
    Recent defenses of same-sex marriage and polygamy have invoked the liberal doctrines of neutrality and public reason. Such reasoning is generally sound but does not go far enough. This paper traces the full implications of political liberalism for marriage. I argue that the constraints of public reason, applied to marriage law, entail ‘minimal marriage’, the most extensive set of state-determined restrictions on marriage compatible with political liberalism. Minimal marriage sets no principl…Read more
  •  697
    Is Divorce Promise-Breaking?
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 14 (1): 23-39. 2011.
    Wedding vows seem to be promises. So they go: I promise to love, honour, and cherish .... But this poses a problem. Divorce is not widely seen as a serious moral wrong, but breaking a promise is. I first consider, and defend against preliminary objections, a ‘hard-line’ response: divorce is indeed prima facie impermissible promise-breaking. I next consider the ‘hardship’ response—the hardship of failed marriages overrides the prima facie duty to keep promises. However, this would release promiso…Read more
  •  664
    Rawls and feminism: What should feminists make of liberal neutrality?
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 1 (3): 293-309. 2004.
    the issue of liberal neutrality, a topic suggested by the work of Catharine MacKinnon. I discuss two kinds of neutrality: neutrality at the level of justifying liberalism itself, and state neutrality in political decision-making. Both kinds are contentious within liberal theory. Rawls’s argument for justice as fairness has been criticized for non-neutrality at the justificatory level, a problem noted by Rawls himself in Political Liberalism . I will defend a qualified account of neutrality at th…Read more
  •  604
    Fatherhood and child support: Do men have a right to choose?
    Journal of Applied Philosophy 22 (1). 2005.
    My primary aim is to call into question an influential notion of paternal responsibility, namely, that fathers owe support to their children due to their causal responsibility for their existence. I argue that men who impregnate women unintentionally, and despite having taken preventative measures, do not owe child support to their children as a matter of justice; their children have no right against them to support. I argue for this on the basis of plausible principles of responsibility which…Read more
  •  275
    Recognizing Care: The Case for Friendship and Polyamory
    Syracuse Law and Civic Engagement Forum 1 (1). 2014.
    This paper responds to arguments that polyamorous groups or care networks do not qualify for equal treatment with marriages. It refutes the points that polyamory is inherently hierarchical or unstable, that there are too few people in such arrangements to mount an argument for recognition, that polyamory harms children, and that there are insurmountable legal and practical hurdles to network marriage. Finally, it respond to the charge that extending recognition to polyamorists will devalue the…Read more
  •  144
    This book addresses fundamental questions about marriage in moral and political philosophy. It examines promise, commitment, care, and contract to argue that marriage is not morally transformative. It argues that marriage discriminates against other forms of caring relationships and that, legally, restrictions on entry should be minimized.
  •  125
    Justice and virtue in Kant's account of marriage
    Kantian Review 9 58-94. 2005.
    All duties are either duties of right (officia iuris), that is, duties for which external lawgiving is possible, or duties of virtue (officia virtutis s. ethica), for which external lawgiving is not possible. – Duties of virtue cannot be subject to external lawgiving simply because they have to do with an end which (or the having of which) is also a duty. No external lawgiving can bring about someone's setting an end for himself (because this is an internal act of the mind), although it may pres…Read more
  •  76
    Price gouging and the duty of easy rescue
    Economics and Philosophy 37 (3): 329-352. 2021.
    What, if anything, is wrong with price gouging? Its defenders argue that it increases supply of scarce necessities; critics argue that it is exploitative, inequitable and vicious. In this paper, I argue for its moral wrongness and legal prohibition, without relying on charges of exploitation, inequity or poor character. What is fundamentally wrong with price gouging is that it violates a duty of easy rescue. While legal enforcement of such duties is controversial, a special case can be made for …Read more
  •  75
    Review of Rebecca Kukla, Mass Hysteria: Medicine, Culture, and Mothers' Bodies (review)
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2006 (12). 2006.
    of Rebecca Kukla , , from Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
  •  73
    Marriage, Morality, and Institutional Value
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 10 (3): 243-254. 2007.
    This paper develops a Kantian account of the moral assessment of institutions. The problem I address is this: while a deontological theory may find that some legal institutions are required by justice, it is not obvious how such a theory can assess institutions not strictly required (or prohibited) by justice. As a starting-point, I consider intuitions that in some cases it is desirable to attribute non-consequentialist moral value to institutions not required by justice. I will argue that neith…Read more
  •  59
    Procreation and Parenthood
    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2012.
  •  58
    Against Marriage: An Egalitarian Defence of the Marriage-Free State, by ChambersClare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. xi + 226.
  •  49
    How Does Stalking Wrong the Victim?
    Ethics 134 (1): 4-31. 2023.
    Much stalking consists in behavior which would normally be permissible; indeed, many stalking behaviors are protected liberties. How, then, does the stalker wrong the victim? I consider and reject different answers as failing to identify the essential wrong of stalking: stalking perpetuates gender oppression; it threatens or coerces, disrespects autonomy, or violates privacy. I argue that the stalker forces a personal relationship on the target and that our interest in being able to refuse such …Read more
  •  46
    Procreation and Projects
    The Philosophers' Magazine 75 89-94. 2016.
    A short essay for a general readership on the morality of procreation
  •  45
    Why can’t we be (legally-recognized) friends?
    Forum for European Philosophy Blog. 2015.
    The legal benefits of same-sex marriage should be expanded to other relationships, argues Elizabeth Brake.
  •  42
    Rebuilding after Disaster
    Social Theory and Practice 45 (2): 179-204. 2019.
    Liberal egalitarians face unappreciated challenges in explaining why the state should assist citizens in disaster recovery and why the state should ever assist in rebuilding in high-risk areas. Addressing these challenges and justifying state-funded disaster recovery assistance requires invoking the most politically salient aspect of disasters: their tendency to increase social inequality. A liberal egalitarian principle of equal opportunity justifies assistance in recovery, at least for disadva…Read more
  •  35
    After Marriage: Rethinking Marital Relationships (edited book)
    Oxford University Press USA. 2016.
    In this collection, liberal and feminist philosophers debate whether marriage reform ought to stop with same-sex marriage. Some authors argue for abolishing marriage or for new legal forms such as polygamy or temporary marriage. Others argue that the liberal values justifying same-sex marriage do not entail further reform
  •  26
    The Uses and Abuses of Sociality: A Reply To Kimberley Brownlee
    Criminal Law and Philosophy 17 (2): 463-474. 2023.
  •  26
    Rebuilding after Disaster
    Social Theory and Practice 45 (2): 179-204. 2019.
    Liberal egalitarians face unappreciated challenges in explaining why the state should assist citizens in disaster recovery and why the state should ever assist in rebuilding in high-risk areas. Addressing these challenges and justifying state-funded disaster recovery assistance requires invoking the most politically salient aspect of disasters: their tendency to increase social inequality. A liberal egalitarian principle of equal opportunity justifies assistance in recovery, at least for disadva…Read more
  •  18
    Philosophical Foundations of Children's and Family Law (edited book)
    with Lucinda Ferguson
    Oxford University Press. 2018.
    What defines family law? Is it an area of law with clean boundaries and unified distinguishing characteristics, or an untidy grouping of disparate rules and doctrines? What values or principles should guide it – and how could it be improved? Indeed, even the scope of family law is contested. Whilst some law schools and textbooks separate family law from children’s law, this is invariably effected without asking what might be gained or lost from treating them together or separately. Should f…Read more
  •  16
    Is "Loving More" Better? The Values of Polyamory
    In Raja Halwani, Jacob Held, Natasha McKeever & Alan Soble (eds.), The Philosophy of Sex: Contemporary Readings, 8th edition, Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 121-137. 2022.
    This essay addresses various moral objections to polyamory and argues that none succeeds. Brake also argues that in some respects polyamory can be superior to monogamy given that polyamorists often endorse ideals such as radical honesty, non-possessiveness, and rejection of jealousy. Moreover, Brake argues that the effects of polyamory in a society in which it is widespread can be very beneficial.
  •  8
    Much of the bioethical literature on parenthood does not address a fact about parenthood which deserves more attention: parental rights and obligations are attached to socially constructed institutional roles. Both the content of these roles, and the way in which they determine who a child’s parents will be, issue from social and legal institutions of parenthood, and this makes a difference to accounts of the moral basis of parenthood. I will argue that this poses a problem for the causal acco…Read more
  •  1
    Jeffrey A. Gauthier, Hegel and Feminist Social Criticism (review)
    Philosophy in Review 18 (6): 421-422. 1998.