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Samuel Fleischacker, On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: A Philosophical Companion (review)Philosophy in Review 26 (1): 30-33. 2006.
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254Adam Smith's invisible hand argumentJournal of Business Ethics 14 (3). 1995.Adam Smith is usually thought to argue that the result of everyone pursuing their own interests will be the maximization of the interests of society. The invisible hand of the free market will transform the individual''s pursuit of gain into the general utility of society. This is the invisible hand argument.Many people, although Smith did not, draw a moral corollary from this argument, and use it to defend the moral acceptability of pursuing one''s own self-interest.
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133How to answer the de jure question about Christian beliefInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 56 (2-3): 109-129. 2004.
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183Believing by Faith: An Essay in the Epistemology and Ethics of Religious BeliefOxford University Press. 2007.Does our available evidence show that some particular religion is correct? It seems unlikely, given the great diversity of religious - and non-religious - views of the world. But if no religious beliefs can be shown true on the evidence, can it be right to make a religious commitment? Should people make 'leaps of faith'? Or would we all be better off avoiding commitments that outrun our evidence? And, if leaps of faith can be acceptable, how do we tell the difference between goodand bad ones - b…Read more
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23The main object of this thesis is to explain in a systematic fashion Francis Hutcheson's moral theory. Such an attempt will necessarily involve a discussion of the various philosophical problems which are inherent in his theory. For example, I discuss the issue of whether Hutcheson's theory of the moral sense is to be interpreted in an intuitionist or an emotivist fashion. It is argued that some aspects of his moral sense theory favour the former and some the latter interpretation, Hutcheson's t…Read more
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68Moral Motivation and the Development of Francis Hutcheson's PhilosophyJournal of the History of Ideas 57 (2): 277-295. 1996.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Moral Motivation and the Development of Francis Hutcheson’s PhilosophyJohn D. BishopHutcheson was an able philosopher, but philosophical analysis was not his only purpose in writing about morals. 1 Throughout his life his writings aimed at promoting virtue; his changing philosophical views often had to conform, if he could make them, to that rhetorical end. But a mind which understands philosophical argument cannot always control the…Read more
Waco, Texas, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |