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10Review Essay on Matt King, Simply ResponsibleThe Journal of Ethics 1-8. forthcoming.This review essay discusses Matt King’s recent book Simply Responsible, in which he defends a unifying account of responsibility that spans not only moral responsibility, but also prudential and epistemic responsibility, among other forms. The first half of the essay summarizes the three key elements of King’s account--his treatment of basic responsibility, basic blame, and basic desert--while the second half takes a more critical look at each element.
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49Living in the Moment is for OystersAmerican Philosophical Quarterly 61 (1): 19-28. 2024.The idea that we should simply live in the moment, and should not concern ourselves about the future or the past, has long been a staple of popular philosophy. In this paper, I first attempt to clarify the doctrine and then examine the case for accepting it. My conclusions are, first, that a number of its implications seem quite unpalatable; second, that the main advantages that living in the moment are said to yield are greatly overstated; and, third, that to live by any version of the doctrine…Read more
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10A Wild West of the MindOxford University Press. 2021.This book addresses two main topics—first, the morality of thought and, second, what’s involved in having a free mind. It connects these topics by arguing that to have a free mind, a person must be willing to follow his thoughts wherever they lead, and that this just isn’t possible if the person thinks that some thoughts are morally off limits. The book therefore defends the unpopular position that it is not morally wrong to have even the nastiest of attitudes, the most biased of beliefs, or the…Read more
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Why we are moral equalsIn Uwe Steinhoff (ed.), Do All Persons Have Equal Moral Worth?: On 'Basic Equality' and Equal Respect and Concern, Oxford University Press. 2014.
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514Too Much MoralityPublic Affairs Quarterly 37 (2): 125-137. 2023.This paper is a critical discussion of the recent tendency to moralize various aspects of life that were previously viewed as private and discretionary. The paper takes as its starting point six recently unearthed moral prohibitions, and it examines the prospects for defending each as an extension of some familiar moral requirement. Its conclusion is not only that none of the extended prohibitions are defensible, but also that each impedes morality's function by limiting the ability of those who…Read more
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16DesertPrinceton University Press. 1987.The description for this book, Desert, will be forthcoming.
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14Correction to: How Wild the West? Reply to Coates and SwensonThe Journal of Ethics 27 (2): 149-149. 2023.
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28The Weight of the PastAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 101 (1): 152-164. 2023.ABSTRACT The question that this paper seeks to answer is that of whether the resistance to change that characterizes the conservative temperament has any rational basis. More precisely, my question is whether we have good grounds for accepting any version of the principle that if something exists then we need a reason to change it but don’t need a reason to keep it. The paper defends a version of this principle whose scope is restricted to familiar traditions and customs on the one hand, and agi…Read more
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42A Teacher's Life: Essays for Steven M. Cahn (edited book)Lexington Books. 2009.This is a collection of 13 essays honoring Steven Cahn, presented to him on the occasion of his 25th year as Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York. The essays address issues concerning the teaching of philosophy, the responsibilities of professors, and the good life.
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242A Wild West of the MindAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 97 (3): 483-496. 2019.abstractThis paper addresses the relation between morality and private thought. It is widely agreed that government and society have no business trying to control our thoughts—that, as long as we d...
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36Women and Moral TheoryRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1987.To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com
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41You're Not TryingJournal of the American Philosophical Association 7 (3): 387-397. 2021.At one point or another, most of us have been accused of not trying our hardest, and most of us have leveled similar accusations at others. The disputes that result are often intractable and raise difficult questions about effort, ability, and will. This essay addresses some of these questions by examining six representative cases in which the accusation is leveled. The questions discussed include what trying one's hardest involves, and the conditions under which complaints about lack of effort …Read more
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58Debate: Taking OffenseJournal of Political Philosophy 28 (3): 332-342. 2020.Journal of Political Philosophy, EarlyView.
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108The Ethics of Social Punishment: The Enforcement of Morality in Everyday LifeCambridge University Press. 2020.How do we punish others socially, and should we do so? In her 2018 Descartes Lectures for Tilburg University, Linda Radzik explores the informal methods ordinary people use to enforce moral norms, such as telling people off, boycotting businesses, and publicly shaming wrongdoers on social media. Over three lectures, Radzik develops an account of what social punishment is, why it is sometimes permissible, and when it must be withheld. She argues that the proper aim of social punishment is to put …Read more
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21Punishment as Societal DefensePhilosophical and Phenomenological Research 59 (2): 548-550. 1999.
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10Me, You, Us: EssaysOup Usa. 2017.Me, You, Us addresses a range of issues in moral and political philosophy and moral psychology, but are unified by their starkly individualistic view of the moral subject. They challenge recent tendencies to conceptualize normative issues in terms of relationships, collectivities, and social meanings.
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260Utilitarianism: And the 1868 Speech on Capital Punishment (edited book)Hackett Publishing Company. 2001.This expanded edition of John Stuart Mill's _Utilitarianism_ includes the text of his 1868 speech to the British House of Commons defending the use of capital punishment in cases of aggravated murder. The speech is significant both because its topic remains timely and because its arguments illustrate the applicability of the principle of utility to questions of large-scale social policy.
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21The Utilitarianism (edited book)Hackett Publishing Company. 2001.This expanded edition of John Stuart Mill's _Utilitarianism_ includes the text of his 1868 speech to the British House of Commons defending the use of capital punishment in cases of aggravated murder. The speech is significant both because its topic remains timely and because its arguments illustrate the applicability of the principle of utility to questions of large-scale social policy.
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15Social and Political Philosophy: Contemporary ReadingsCengage Learning. 1999.[TofC cont.] Social ideals: Justice, A utilitarian theory of justice / J.S. Mill, Egalitarianism with changed motivation / G. Cohen; Equality, Multidimensional equality / M. Walzer, Equality of capacity / A. Sen; Liberty, rights, property, and self-ownership, A defense of the primacy of liberty rights / L. Lomasky, Atomism and the primacy of rights / C. Taylor -- Social institutions: Education, Educating about familial values / W. Galston, For vouchers and parental choice / M. Friedman; Family, …Read more
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7Effort and imaginationIn Serena Olsaretti (ed.), Desert and justice, Oxford University Press. pp. 205--217. 2003.Serena Olsaretti brings together new essays by leading moral and political philosophers on the nature of desert and justice, their relations with each other and with other values.
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17Health Care and the 'Deserving Poor'Hastings Center Report 13 (1): 9-12. 1983.The idea that some poor persons "deserve" to be helped while others do not has long been influential in the USA. In the nineteenth century, "paupers" were relegated to poorhouse and subjected to onerous conditions for relief, while the blind, the deaf-mute, and others were helped in much less humiliating ways. A similar distinction underlay the categories of the comprehensive social Security Act of 1935; and its continuation has motivated various attempts to revise the welfare system by redrawin…Read more
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39Armstrong and the interdependence of the mentalPhilosophical Quarterly 27 (July): 227-235. 1977.
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Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Action |
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Action |
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |