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1262Acquiring Universal Values through a Particular Tradition: A Perspective on Judaism and Modern PluralismEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 5 (2): 1--22. 2013.Religious traditions can be sources of values and attitudes supporting the liberal polity in ways that political theorizing and conceptions of public reason often fail to recognize. moreover, religious traditions can give support through the ways reason is crucial to their self-understanding. one understanding of Judaism is examined as an example. Also, the particularism of traditions can encourage commitment to universally valid values and ideals. reason’s role in Judaism and other religious tr…Read more
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453Emergent individuals and the resurrectionEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Religion 2 (2). 2010.We present an original emergent individuals view of human persons, on which persons are substantial biological unities that exemplify metaphysically emergent mental states. We argue that this view allows for a coherent model of identity-preserving resurrection from the dead consistent with orthodox Christian doctrine, one that improves upon alternatives accounts recently proposed by a number of authors. Our model is a variant of the “falling elevator” model advanced by Dean Zimmerman that, unlik…Read more
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332Powerful Qualities, Not Pure PowersThe Monist 94 (1): 81-102. 2011.I explore two accounts of properties within a dispositional essentialist (or causal powers) framework, the pure powers view and the powerful qualities view. I first attempt to clarify precisely what the pure powers view is, and then raise objections to it. I then present the powerful qualities view and, in order to avoid a common misconception, offer a restatement of it that I shall call the truthmaker view. I end by briefly defending the truthmaker view against objections.
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241Emergent individualsPhilosophical Quarterly 53 (213): 540-555. 2003.We explain the thesis that human mental states are ontologically emergent aspects of a fundamentally biological organism. We then explore the consequences of this thesis for the identity of a human person over time. As these consequences are not obviously independent of one's general ontology of objects and their properties, we consider four such accounts: transcendent universals, kind-Aristotelianism, immanent universals, and tropes. We suggest there are reasons for emergentists to favor the l…Read more
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193An Eastern Orthodox Conception of Theosis and Human NatureFaith and Philosophy 26 (5): 615-627. 2009.Though foreign—and perhaps shocking—to many in the west, the doctrine of theosis is central in the theology and practice of Eastern Orthodoxy. Theosis is “the ultimate goal of human existence”1 and indeed is “a way of summing up the purpose of creation”:2 That God will unite himself to all of creation with humanity at the focal point. What are human persons, that they might be united to God? That is the question I explore in this paper. In particular, I explore an account of human nature inspire…Read more
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134Dimensions of Moral Theory: An Introduction to Metaethics and Moral PsychologyWiley-Blackwell. 2002.A study of fundamental issues in metaethics and in moral psychology, surveying important approaches with an emphasis on the disputed status of moral value and the roles of cognition and sensibility. Coverage of the issues includes discussion of significant thinkers from antiquity to the present.
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99Teleology and reduction in biologyBiology and Philosophy 1 (4): 389-399. 1986.The main claim in this paper is that because organisms have teleological constitutions, the reduction of biology to physical science is not possible. It is argued that the teleology of organisms is intrinsic and not merely projected onto them. Many organic phenomena are end-oriented and reference to ends is necessary for explaining them. Accounts in terms of functions or goals are appropriate to organic parts and processes. siis is because ends as systemic requirements for survival and health ha…Read more
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84The Epistemology of Moral TraditionReview of Metaphysics 64 (1): 55-74. 2010.An explication of the Maimonidean view that tradition--even when anchored in revelation---can be a mode of access to rationally justified moral requirements. The discussion focuses on the mutually reinforcing roles of enlarging understanding on the one hand, and engagement in practice on the other. Deepened understanding of the 'reasons for the commandments' can motivate commitment to practice, which in turn can aid in deepening understanding.
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71Actuality, Possibility, and Worlds. By Alexander R. Pruss (review)American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 87 (4): 799-802. 2013.
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53Plasticity and perfection: Maimonides and Aristotle on characterReligious Studies 33 (4): 443-454. 1997.Many of the basic elements of Maimonides' moral psychology are Aristotelian, but there are some important respects in which Maimonides departs from Aristotle. One of those respect concerns the possibility of changing one's character. There is, according to Maimonides, redemptive possibility that Aristotle does not recognize. There is, according to Maimonides, a redemptive possibility that Aristotle does not recognize. This is based on the fact of revealed law. That is, if there is revealed law, …Read more
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50Criminal Justice and the Liberal PolityCriminal Justice Ethics 30 (2): 173-191. 2011.There are several reasonable conceptions of liberalism. A liberal polity can survive a measure of disagreement over just what constitutes liberalism. In part, this is because of the way a liberal order makes possible a dynamic, heterogeneous civil society and how that, in turn, can supply participants with reasons to support a liberal political order. Despite the different conceptions of justice associated with different conceptions of liberalism, there are reasons to distinguish the normative f…Read more
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49Choosing character: responsibility for virtue and viceCornell University Press. 2001.Jacobs' interpretation is developed in contrast to the overlooked work of Maimonides, who also used Aristotelian resources but argued for the possibility of ...
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46Law, reason, and morality in medieval Jewish philosophy: [Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides]Oxford University Press. 2010.Jon Jacobs emphasises their distinctive contributions, emphasises the shared rational emphasis of their approach to Torah, and draws out resonances with ...
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46Metaethics and TeleologyReview of Metaphysics 55 (1). 2001.THERE IS AN IMPORTANT RESPECT in which virtue-centered ethical realism needs to be more Aristotelian than it is typically willing to admit. This concerns the way in which teleological considerations need to be more explicitly acknowledged. Reflection on moral phenomenology, discourse, and practice supports realism and also reveals that teleological considerations cannot be entirely disowned by it. The teleology is not a grand teleology, however; it is not the view that there is a unique perfecti…Read more
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44Some tensions between autonomy and self-governanceSocial Philosophy and Policy 20 (2): 221-244. 2003.The notions of autonomy and self-governance each capture something crucial about the moral dimensions of agents and actions. These notions are central to the ways in which we conceptualize ourselves and others. The concept of autonomy is especially crucial to understanding the distinct status of moral agents. For its part, self-governance has a significant relation to the evaluation of agents as individuals with particular characters, leading particular sorts of lives, and performing particular …Read more
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42Moral Imagination, Objectivity, and Practical WisdomInternational Philosophical Quarterly 31 (1): 23-37. 1991.
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41Why Is Virtue Naturally Pleasing?Review of Metaphysics 49 (1): 21-48. 1995.A great deal is compressed into this passage; pleasure is associated in important ways with our nature; it has a crucial role in moral education; we can be pleased and displeased correctly or incorrectly, and this has a place in making character; and pleasure is something that matters all through a human life. Some of the themes are introduced and discussed at earlier places in the Ethics; some receive fuller treatment in book 10. The idea that some things are naturally pleasant and that the vir…Read more
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40Causal Powers (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2017.We use concepts of causal powers and their relatives-dispositions, capacities, and abilities-to describe the world around us, both in everyday life and in scientific practice. This volume presents new work on the nature of causal powers, and their connections with other phenomena within metaphysics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind.
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38Aristotle and MaimonidesAmerican Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1): 145-163. 2002.Maimonides uses Aristotelian philosophical idiom to articulate his moral philosophy, but there are fundamental differences between his and Aristotle’s conceptions of moral psychology and the nature of the moral agent. The Maimonidean conception of volition and its role in repentance and ethical self-correction are quite un-Aristotelian. The relation between this capacity to alter one’s character and the accessibility of ethical requirements given in the Law is explored. This relation helps expla…Read more
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38Review of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed: Science and Salvation, by Donald McCallum (review)Philosophy East and West 58 (3): 407-410. 2008.
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37Deliberation, Self-Conceptions, and Self-EnjoymentIdealistic Studies 19 (1): 1-15. 1989.It is only for persons that the question, “How shall I live?” arises, and it arises inevitably, even if in an inarticulate and unreflective manner. Persons must deliberate, decide, plan, and schedule their actions. Openness with respect to ends confronts them, and they must structure and direct their lives by determining what sort of career to trace out, even if it proves to be a career of routine or unambitious undertakings. Circumstances can constrain and compel, and the openness persons confr…Read more
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30Punishing Society: Incarceration, Coercive Corruption, and the Liberal PolityCriminal Justice Ethics 33 (3): 200-219. 2014.Criminal justice in the United States is beset with several serious problems and challenges. While the issues are not entirely unique to the U.S. and can be found to some extent in other liberal de...
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29Friendship, Self-Love and KnowledgeAmerican Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 66 (1): 21-37. 1992.
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27Some Remarks on Criminology and Moral PhilosophyCriminal Justice Ethics 38 (3): 198-220. 2019.Recent developments in philosophy and in criminology indicate that there are significant respects in which the two disciplines can be mutually informing. Many philosophers are increasingly interested in exploring empirical aspects of philosophical claims, and criminologists are finding their way past the alleged fact/value distinction and are rediscovering the moral significance of facts, especially regarding punishment and desistance. In some recent criminological studies there are implicit lin…Read more