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19The Not-So-Prolife LeviathanAmerican Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 94 (4): 597-610. 2020.In an article that appeared in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Kody Cooper argued that “to be a Hobbesian is to be prolife.” In this essay, I will provide an argument that rebuts Cooper’s prolife interpretation of Hobbes. First, I will argue that Cooper has, without argument, committed an equivocation between a person’s personal identity and his or her organism. Resolving this ambiguity would allow for an interpretation of Hobbes that can consistently reject the notion that the life o…Read more
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120Frank the Foole, Upon a House of CardsIn J. Edward Hackett (ed.), House of Cards and Philosophy: Underwood's Republic, Wiley. pp. 115-127. 2015.
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58Public Reason and the Hobbesian DilemmaHobbes Studies 20 (1): 63-92. 2007.Hobbesian accounts of public reason are forced to face a tension that is presented for any theorist that toes the Hobbesian line. This tension has been referred to as the “Hobbesian Dilemma.” On one horn, we are afraid that we might create a monster with our authorization of an absolute sovereign. On the other horn, we are afraid that if we do not hand over unlimited power to the sovereign we will not be freed from the conflict that is endemic to our reliance upon private pluralistic standards. …Read more
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A Defense of Senate ObstructionismIn Emily Crookston, David Killoren & Jonathan Trerise (eds.), Ethics in Politics: The Rights and Obligations of Individual Political Agents, Routledge. 2017.
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48Hobbesian Right to HealthcareJournal of Applied Philosophy 34 (1): 99-113. 2015.Over the last few years we have had a debate regarding the role of government in providing healthcare. There has been a question as to whether or not the state's proper role requires protection of its subjects from the calamities associated with a lack of healthcare. In this article, I will argue that straightforward Hobbesian principles require the state to provide healthcare. It might seem odd that such a positive right can be justified by a philosopher who famously conceives of individuals as…Read more
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6Cat Urine, Medicinal Fried Chicken, and SmokingIn Robert Arp & Kevin S. Decker (eds.), The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy: Respect My Philosophah!, Wiley. 2013.
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91A prima facie defense of Hobbesian absolutismPacific Philosophical Quarterly 90 (4): 419-449. 2009.Hobbes advocates 'thin absolutism'; a system of authority that merely ensures respect of the core concepts of sovereignty – hierarchy and normative closure. This new interpretation of Hobbes's absolutism shows that the concerns regarding sovereign tyranny are not fatal to his account of political authority. With thin absolutism, the sovereign is neither necessarily ineffective nor inherently dangerous. This, then, leaves Hobbesian absolutism in the position of being a 'reasonable contender'– a s…Read more
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18Hobbesian Applied Ethics and Public Policy (edited book)Routledge. 2017.Most philosophers and political scientists readily admit that Thomas Hobbes is a significant figure in the history of political thought. His theory was, arguably, one of the first to provide a justification for political legitimacy from the perspective of each individual subject. What has been largely missing in the literature, however, is the application of Hobbesian theory to a variety of current issues in both public policy and applied ethics. The essays in this volume, written by some of the…Read more
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79Brian Barry, why social justice matters (cambridge: Polity press, 2005), pp. VII + 311Utilitas 19 (4): 522-524. 2007.
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40Hobbesian Justification for Animal RightsEnvironmental Philosophy 8 (2): 23-46. 2011.Hobbes’s political and ethical theories are rarely viewed as places by which those who protect the weak seek refuge. It would seem odd, then, to suggest that such a theory might be able to protect the weakest among us—non-human animals. In this paper, however, I will defend the possibility of a Hobbesian justification for animal rights. The Hobbesian response to the problem of compliance allows contractarianism to extend (at least some) normative protection to animals. Such protection, as I will…Read more
Duluth, Minnesota, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |