•  2
    In Poverty, Solidarity, and Poor-Led Social Movements, Monique Deveaux criticizes and reframes the traditional, moral (and often individualistic) response to poverty in favor of a political and collective one that centers the role of the poor and poor-led groups in the anti-poverty agenda. I have two aims in this review, a supportive one and a more critical one. On the supportive side, I examine the advances Deveaux makes by 1) expanding the category of agents of justice; 2) putting the poor at …Read more
  •  24
    A Kantian Moral Response to Poverty
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 26 (2): 255-269. 2023.
    Poverty is a global problem that is not only about material deprivation, but also a lack of agency and power. A Kantian response, with its focus on supporting the conditions of agency and empowerment, seems well suited to providing individuals with normative guidance on what their obligations are. The problem is that the guidance one finds within Kantian ethics is focused on the individual duty to aid or the duty to rescue, both of which have limited application in the context of a complex, wide…Read more
  • Individual duties in unstructured collective contexts
    In Kendy Hess, Violetta Igneski & Tracy Lynn Isaacs (eds.), Collectivity: Ontology, Ethics, and Social Justice, Rowman & Littlefield International. 2018.
  • Introduction
    In Kendy Hess, Violetta Igneski & Tracy Lynn Isaacs (eds.), Collectivity: Ontology, Ethics, and Social Justice, Rowman & Littlefield International. 2018.
  •  16
    Collectivity: Ontology, Ethics, and Social Justice (edited book)
    with Kendy Hess and Tracy Lynn Isaacs
    Rowman & Littlefield International. 2018.
    This volume explores new and urgent applications of collective action theory, such as global poverty, the race and class politics of urban geography, and culpable conduct in organizational criminal law. It draws attention to new questions about the status of corporate agents and new approaches to collective obligation and responsibility.
  • Collective Obligation: Ethics, Ontology and Applications (edited book)
    with Tracy Isaacs and Kendy Hess
    . forthcoming.
  •  1
    Rescue and the Duty to Aid
    Dissertation, University of Toronto (Canada). 2001.
    It is a commonly held view that we ought to help others when they are in peril or in need, at least when we can do so at little cost to ourselves. This means that we have a duty to aid the child drowning in the pool of water in front of us and that we also have a duty to aid hungry and needy people in distant places. I agree with this view, but I show that it does not follow that the situation of the drowning child and the situation of the needy person bind us in the same way. ;Rescue and the Du…Read more
  •  2
    Book Review (review)
    Law and Philosophy 34 (2): 233-239. 2015.
  •  59
    Distance, Determinacy and the Duty to Aid: A Reply to Kamm
    Law and Philosophy 20 (6): 605-616. 2001.
    No Abstract
  •  132
    How much are we morally required to do to aid others? After articulating some of the main contributions to this debate, I defend the position that we are sometimes morally permitted to spend our time and resources satisfying our own interests and needs rather than using them to aid others who are in desperate need. I argue that the duty to aid the needy should not always take priority over every other end we have. Whatever else we value, we most highly value the ability and opportunity to live o…Read more
  •  155
    Perfect and Imperfect Duties to Aid
    Social Theory and Practice 32 (3): 439-466. 2006.
  •  36
    A sufficiently political orthodox conception of human rights
    Journal of Global Ethics 10 (2): 167-182. 2014.
    The traditional conception of human rights, or the orthodox conception (OC), has, over the last few years, been vigorously challenged by the political conception (PC) of human rights. I have two main aims in this paper: the first is to articulate and evaluate the main points of disagreement between the OC and the PC in order to provide a clearer picture of what is at stake in the debate. The second is to argue that the OC has the resources to respond to the PC's most challenging criticism; namel…Read more
  •  40
    Equality, Sufficiency, and the State
    Dialogue 46 (2): 311-334. 2007.
    In this article, I support the liberal claim that the state's fundamental responsibility is to ensure that persons are able to interact as equals, that is, on the basis of equal freedom. That persons must be treated as responsible agents leads to an obligation on the part of the state to ensure that its citizens have the necessary conditions (and resources) for responsible agency. I further suggest that this conception of equality and the requirement for responsible agency is the right measure t…Read more