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1Hume on the Artificial VirtuesIn Paul Russell (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of David Hume, Oxford University Press. 2016.In the Treatise, Hume offers a detailed account of what he calls the artificial virtues: of justice, of fidelity to promises, and of allegiance to political authority, among others. According to virtually everyone, Hume’s discussion of these artificial virtues—and especially of the conventions on which he argues they depend—is inspired, rich, and subtle. At the same time, also according to virtually everyone, Hume’s discussion is deeply puzzling. Indeed, many have thought the puzzles so deep as …Read more
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Rationality, Rules, and Ideals: Critical Essays on Bernard Gert’s Moral Theory (edited book)Rowman and Littlefield. 2002.
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3ContractarianismIn Hugh LaFollette & Ingmar Persson (eds.), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, Blackwell. pp. 332-353. 2013.As a general approach to moral and political thought, contractarianism has had a long and distinguished history – its roots are easily traced as far back as Plato's Republic, where Glaucon advanced it as a view of justice, and its influential representatives include Grotius, Pufendorf, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, and Kant. In various ways, to various purposes, and against the background of various assumptions, each of these philosophers offered contractarian arguments for the views they defen…Read more
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2PPE as an intellectual enterpriseIn Chris Melenovsky (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Routledge. 2022.
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Hume on Practical Morality and Inert ReasonIn Russ Shafer-Landau (ed.), Oxford Studies in Metaethics: Volume Iii, Oxford University Press. 2008.
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58Real world theory, complacency, and aspirationPhilosophical Studies 178 (7): 2365-2384. 2020.Just how realistic about human nature and real possibilities must a theory of justice, or a moral theory, more generally, be? Lines have been drawn, with some holding that idealizing away from reality is indispensable and others maintaining that utopian thinking is not just useless but irrelevant. In Utopophobia David Estlund defends the value of utopian theory. At his most modest, Estlund claims that it is a legitimate approach, not ruled out of court by anti-idealists on entirely inadequate gr…Read more
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40Do normative facts matter... To what is feasible?Social Philosophy and Policy 33 (1-2): 434-456. 2016.
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49On ‘Cooperation’Analyse & Kritik 40 (1): 107-130. 2018.The term ‘cooperation’ is widely used in social and political and biological and economic theory. Perhaps for this reason, the term takes on a variety of meanings and it is not always clear in many settings what aspect of an interaction is being described. This paper has the modest aim of sorting through some of this variety of meanings; and exploring, against that background, when and why cooperation might be of value, or be required, or constitute a virtue.
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31The Natural Philosophy of Leibniz. K. Okruhlik, J. Brown (review)Philosophy of Science 56 (1): 173-174. 1989.
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1Realism and Moral EpistemologyDissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 1986.From Plato to G. E. Moore, moral theorists commonly and confidently embraced moral realism: they simply assumed that at least some moral claims were true. Until this century, their shared assumption was relatively unproblematic. Recently, however, moral realism has come under severe attack, and along the way moral theory itself has become suspect. Against moral realism anti-realists have maintained that all moral claims are cognitively empty , or that all moral claims are false . These positions…Read more
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2Moral skepticismIn Sven Bernecker & Duncan Pritchard (eds.), Routledge Companion to Epistemology, Routledge. pp. 464. 2010.
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169Hume and Smith on sympathy, approbation, and moral judgmentSocial Philosophy and Policy 30 (1-2): 208-236. 2013.David Hume and Adam Smith are usually, and understandably, seen as developing very similar sentimentalist accounts of moral thought and practice. As similar as Hume's and Smith's accounts of moral thought are, they differ in telling ways. This essay is an attempt primarily to get clear on the important differences. They are worth identifying and exploring, in part, because of the great extent to which Hume and Smith share not just an overall approach to moral theory but also a conception of what…Read more
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2ContractarianismIn Hugh LaFollette - (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, Blackwell. pp. 247--267. 2000.
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198On Why Hume's “General Point of View” Isn't Ideal–and Shouldn't BeSocial Philosophy and Policy 11 (1): 202-228. 1994.It is tempting and not at all uncommon to find the striking—even noble—visage of an Ideal Observer staring out from the center of Hume's moral theory. When Hume claims, for instance, that virtue is “ whatever mental action or quality gives to a spectator the pleasing sentiment of approbation ,” it is only natural to think that he must have in mind not just any spectator but a spectator who is fully informed and unsullied by prejudice. And when Hume writes that “the true standard of taste and bea…Read more
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352Essays on moral realism (edited book)Cornell University Press. 1988.Introduction The Many Moral Realisms Geoffrey Sayre-McCord I. Introduction Recognizing the startling resurgence in realism, ...
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23Criminal Justice and Legal Reparations as an Alternative to Punishment 1Philosophical Issues 11 (1): 502-529. 2001.
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1Moral Theory and Explanatory Impotence In: Sayre-McCord, G. edIn Essays on Moral Realism, Cornell University Press. pp. 256--281. 1988.
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99Hume and the Bauhaus Theory of EthicsMidwest Studies in Philosophy 20 (1): 280-298. 1995.Appeals to utility permeate Hume's account of morality. He maintains, for which have this tendency to the public advantage and loss" (T. 578-79).
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13Coherence and Models for Moral TheorizingPacific Philosophical Quarterly 66 (1-2): 170-190. 1985.
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Leibniz, Materialism, and the Relational Account of Space and TimeStudia Leibnitiana 16 (n/a): 204. 1984.Leibniz' Verteidigung einer relationalen Auffassung von Raum und Zeit im Briefwechsel mit Clarke nimmt in keiner Weise Bezug auf Monaden. Infolgedessen haben einige Leibniz-Interpreten angenommen, Leibniz' relationale Auffassung von Raum und Zeit könne -wenn man sie hinreichend abstrakt versteht -von seiner außerordentlich mentalistischen Ontologie losgelöst werde. In der Tat hat der Gedanke einer Trennung der beiden Lehren etwas Bestechendes, da die relationale Auffassung plausibler erscheint a…Read more
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112Functional explanations and reasons as causesPhilosophical Perspectives 3 137-164. 1989.If we assume that a conceptual connection does hold between reasons and action, the arguments for both theses are strikingly simple. In defense of the first thesis, all that need be added is Hume's Principle: between cause and effect only a (logically) contingent relation holds. For given Hume's Principle, and the conceptual connection (which after all is not a contingent one), it follows that no causal connection holds. In defense of the second thesis, all that need be added is one assumption a…Read more
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ContractarianismIn Hugh LaFollette - (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, Blackwell. pp. 247-267. 1999.
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University of North Carolina, Chapel HillDepartment of PhilosophyMorehead-Cain Alumni Distinguished Professor
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University of EdinburghRegular Faculty (Part-time)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Meta-Ethics |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |