•  24
    The two faces of personhood: Hobbes, corporate agency and the personality of the state
    European Journal of Political Theory 20 (1): 5-26. 2021.
    There is an important but underappreciated ambiguity in Hobbes’ concept of personhood. In one sense, persons are representatives or actors. In the other sense, persons are representees or characters. An estate agent is a person in the first sense; her client is a person in the second. This ambiguity is crucial for understanding Hobbes’ claim that the state is a person. Most scholars follow the first sense of ‘person’, which suggests that the state is a kind of actor – in modern terms, a ‘corpora…Read more
  •  22
    Leviathan on a Leash: A Theory of State Responsibility
    Princeton University Press. 2020.
    New perspectives on the role of collective responsibility in modern politics States are commonly blamed for wars, called on to apologize, held liable for debts and reparations, bound by treaties, and punished with sanctions. But what does it mean to hold a state responsible as opposed to a government, a nation, or an individual leader? Under what circumstances should we assign responsibility to states rather than individuals? Leviathan on a Leash demystifies the phenomenon of state responsibilit…Read more
  •  36
    A Political Theory of Treaty Repudiation
    Journal of Political Philosophy 28 (1): 3-26. 2019.
    Journal of Political Philosophy, EarlyView.
  •  60
    The two faces of personhood: Hobbes, corporate agency and the personality of the state
    European Journal of Political Theory 20 (1): 5-26. 2021.
    There is an important but underappreciated ambiguity in Hobbes’ concept of personhood. In one sense, persons are representatives or actors. In the other sense, persons are representees or characters. An estate agent is a person in the first sense; her client is a person in the second. This ambiguity is crucial for understanding Hobbes’ claim that the state is a person. Most scholars follow the first sense of ‘person’, which suggests that the state is a kind of actor – in modern terms, a ‘corpora…Read more