•  155
    An Anatomy of Moral Responsibility
    Mind 121 (483): 601-634. 2012.
    This paper examines the structure of moral responsibility for outcomes. A central feature of the analysis is a condition that we term the ‘avoidance potential’, which gives precision to the idea that moral responsibility implies a reasonable demand that an agent should have acted otherwise. We show how our theory can allocate moral responsibility to individuals in complex collective action problems, an issue that sometimes goes by the name of ‘the problem of many hands’. We also show how it allo…Read more
  •  153
    Degrees of Causation
    with Matthew Braham and Martin van Hees
    Erkenntnis 71 (3). 2009.
    The primary aim of this paper is to analyze the concept of degrees of causal contribution for actual events and examine the way in which it can be formally defined. This should go some way to filling out a gap in the legal and philosophical literature on causation. By adopting the conception of a cause as a necessary element of a sufficient set (the so-called NESS test) we show that the concept of degrees of causation can be given clear and even empirical meaning. We then apply a game theoretica…Read more
  •  130
    The Formula of Universal Law: A Reconstruction
    Erkenntnis 80 (2): 243-260. 2015.
    This paper provides a methodologically original construction of Kant’s “Formula of Universal Law” . A formal structure consisting of possible worlds and games—a “game frame”—is used to implement Kant’s concept of a maxim and to define the two tests FUL comprises: the “contradiction in conception” and “contradiction in the will” tests. The paper makes two contributions. Firstly, the model provides a formal account of the variables that are built into FUL: agents, maxims, intentions, actions, and …Read more
  •  114
    An Anatomy of Moral Responsibility
    with Martin van Hees
    Mind 121 (483). 2012.
    This paper examines the structure of moral responsibility for outcomes. A central feature of the analysis is a condition that we term the 'avoidance potential', which gives precision to the idea that moral responsibility implies a reasonable demand that an agent should have acted otherwise. We show how our theory can allocate moral responsibility to individuals in complex collective action problems, an issue that sometimes goes by the name of 'the problem of many hands'. We also show how it allo…Read more
  •  89
    The Impossibility of Pure Libertarianism
    Journal of Philosophy 111 (8): 420-436. 2014.
  •  68
    Measuring specific freedom
    Economics and Philosophy 22 (3): 317-333. 2006.
    This paper is about the measurement of specific freedoms freedom functionbeing free to performconditional probability of success.negative freedom is membership of powerful coalitions.”
  •  60
    Responsibility voids
    with Martin VanHees
    Philosophical Quarterly 61 (242): 6-15. 2011.
    We present evidence for the existence of ‘responsibility voids’ in committee decision-making, that is, the existence of situations where no member of a committee can individually be held morally responsible for the outcome. We analyse three types of reasons (causal, normative and epistemic) for the emergence of responsibility voids, and show that each of them can occur in committees. But the conditions for these voids are so restrictive as to reduce the philosophical or institutional significanc…Read more
  •  54
    SOCREAL 2010: 2nd International Workshop on Philosophy and Ethics of Social Reality. Sapporo, Japan, 2010-03-27/28. Session 3: Responsibility and Collective Agency.
  •  46
    Responsibility voids
    with Martin van Hees
    Philosophical Quarterly 61 (242). 2011.
    We present evidence for the existence of `responsibility voids' in committee decision-making, that is, the existence of situations where no member of a committee can individually be held morally responsible for the outcome. We analyse three types of reasons (causal, normative and epistemic) for the emergence of responsibility voids, and show that each of them can occur in committees. But the conditions for these voids are so restrictive as to reduce the philosophical or institutional significanc…Read more
  •  29
    Kantian Kantian Optimization
    Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics 13 (2). 2020.
  •  25
    Degrees of Causation
    Erkenntnis 71 (3): 323-344. 2009.
    The primary aim of this paper is to analyze the concept of degrees of causal contribution for actual events and examine the way in which it can be formally defined. This should go some way to filling out a gap in the legal and philosophical literature on causation. By adopting the conception of a cause as a necessary element of a sufficient set (the so-called NESS test) we show that the concept of degrees of causation can be given clear and even empirical meaning. We then apply a game theoretica…Read more
  •  1
    Adam Smith's Concept of Welfare
    Acta Philosophica Fennica 83 187-206. 2007.