•  17
    Nagel and intelligent design
    Think 9 (26): 37-42. 2010.
    Thomas Nagel has recently discussed whether intelligent design theory is scientific and should be taught in public schools alongside the theory of evolution. Nagel writes: I do not regard divine intervention as a possibility, even though I have no other candidates. Yet I recognize that this is because of an aspect of my overall worldview that does not rest on empirical grounds or any other kind of rational grounds…. [S]omeone who can offer serious scientific reasons to doubt the adequacy of [ET]…Read more
  •  35
    In this paper, I argue for the modest claim that people's apparent indifference to animal pain may not be predicated upon speciesism. I defend that claim by developing an analogy between current attitudes toward at least some non‐human animal pain — that which pigs endure while having their tails ‘docked’— and our culture's indifference to the pain that male human infants experience while being circumcised. And I conclude that to convince more of their philosophical and social critics, ‘animal l…Read more
  •  59
    Race, class, and ontology
    Think 9 (24): 85-89. 2010.
    Many who write on race consider it an ‘illusion’. Others argue that race is real, even if socially constructed, because the notion of race, and the categorizing of people in terms of race, has greatly affected their lives. This paper criticizes a reason that is often given for thinking that race is an illusion: the fact that there is no biological basis of race. I defend two primary claims. First, while there is no biological basis for membership in a socio-economic class, by which I mean one's …Read more
  •  14
    Nagel and intelligent design
    Think 9 (26): 187-205. 2010.
    Thomas Nagel has recently discussed whether intelligent design theory is scientific and should be taught in public schools alongside the theory of evolution . Nagel writes: I do not regard divine intervention as a possibility, even though I have no other candidates. Yet I recognize that this is because of an aspect of my overall worldview that does not rest on empirical grounds or any other kind of rational grounds…. [S]omeone who can offer serious scientific reasons to doubt the adequacy of [ET…Read more
  •  134
    Abortion, potential, and value
    Utilitas 20 (2): 169-186. 2008.
    This article challenges an important argument in the abortion debate, according to which at least early abortions are acceptable because they do not terminate the actual existence of something of moral significance (i.e., a ‘person’), but rather prevent a potentially significant entity from becoming actual, which happens whenever one uses contraceptives.This article argues that insofar as we see something as morally significant or valuable, we tend to think it wrong to deliberately terminate its…Read more
  •  493
    Same-Sex Marriage and Equality
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 14 (5): 589-595. 2011.
    Some argue that same-sex marriage is not an equal rights issue because, where same-sex marriage is illegal, heterosexuals and homosexuals have the exact same right to marry—i.e., the right to marry one adult of the opposite sex. I dispute this argument by pointing out that while societies that prohibit same-sex marriage equally permit individual heterosexuals and homosexuals to marry one adult of the opposite sex, same-sex couples in such societies are denied an important right that opposite-sex…Read more
  •  108
    Illegal Immigration: A Case for Residency
    Public Affairs Quarterly 23 (4): 309-323. 2009.
    This paper argues that illegal migrant laborers who are currently in the United States should be granted permanent residency if they have contributed to its economy for a certain period of time, which I will not attempt to specify, and if they have not committed any serious crimes in the country . My argument is theoretical and tentative. For some of my points would benefit from empirical support, but there are no definitive statistics on the relevant issues. The aim, accordingly, is to create a…Read more
  •  4
    Feminism and Rape
    Public Affairs Quarterly 29 (4): 419-433. 2015.
    Rape is an important topic in feminist philosophy and the real world. This paper argues that three influential feminists understate the gravity and brutality of rape. They are Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, and Rae Langton. I also propose an alternative analysis of rape that captures its appalling nature. Dworkin and MacKinnon construe rape as something that actors in pornography, with notoriously poor acting skills, can portray as pleasurable. Langton construes rape as a kind of sex …Read more
  •  52
    Morality and Privilege
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 5 (1): 118-135. 2008.
    This paper discusses, from a moral psychology perspective, the putative fact that many people's socio-economic status makes it difficult for them to live what their philosophical thinking suggests is a fully moral life—an under-appreciated fact, or better phenomenon, that I call 'culturo-socio-divergence'. Section 1 explicates my distinction between 'culture' and 'society' . Section 2 highlights some ways in which the culture and society in America can be seen as divergent, and section 3 discuss…Read more
  •  146
    This article criticizes Mathias Risse and Richard Zeckhauser's recent utilitarian defense of racial profiling. I use a novel thought-experiment to argue that even if a negative phenomenon could be reduced by profiling members of certain groups who happen to be disproportionately associated with it, the practice can be implausible. Specifically, I explore the possibility that in a given society, platinum blondes have a higher per capita incidence of a serious sexually transmitted disease, D. And …Read more