Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

Martin Heidegger On Günther Anders And Technology: On Ray Kurzweil, Fritz Lang, And Transhumanism, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

No abstract provided.

Guantánamo Bodies: Law, Media, And Biopower, Cary H. Federman, Dave Holmes

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The idea of the Guantánamo detainee as a Muselmann, the lowest order of concentration camp inmates, contains within it important implications for the new understanding of sovereignty in the era of Guantánamo, in an age of exception. The purpose of this article is to explain the status of those who are detained at Guantánamo Bay. Stated broadly, in assessing that status, we will emphasize the connection between the altered meaning of sovereignty that has accompanied the placing of prisoners in an American penal colony in Cuba and the biopolitical status of the prisoners who reside there. More particularly, we …

The Morality Of Special Relationships, Joshu Davis

XULAneXUS

This essay originated as a senior thesis paper, attempting to address the problem various normative ethical theories had when put in the realm of “special relationships.” Special relationships are the relationships people have with family and close friends, which often have special duties or rights associated with them. Furthermore, the duties and rights associated with special relationships are often very different and more complex than those associated with strangers. The focus of the thesis was to see whether or not the various normative ethical theories within philosophy could be applied to special relationships without compromising the unique aspects of special …

Giving Foot The Boot: Right Or Wrong?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The article examines philosopher Philippa Foot’s famous conundrum – The Trolley Problem.

Business Ethics And (Or As) Political Philosophy, Jeffrey Moriarty, Wayne Norman, Joseph Heath

Philosophy Faculty Publications

There is considerable overlap between the interests of business ethicists and those of political philosophers. Questions about the moral justifiability of the capitalist system, the basis of property rights, and the problem of inequality in the distribution of income have been of central importance in both fields. However, political philosophers have developed, especially over the past four decades, a set of tools and concepts for addressing these questions that are in many ways quite distinctive. Most business ethicists, on the other hand, consider their field to be primarily a domain of applied ethics, and so adopt methods and conceptual frameworks …

Rawls, Self-Respect, And The Opportunity For Meaningful Work, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In his late work The Law of Peoples, John Rawls identifies the opportunity for meaningful work as a social basis of self-respect. This constitutes a significant shift in his account of self-respect, one that has been so far overlooked. In this paper I examine this shift. I begin by clarifying Rawls’s account of self-respect in A Theory of Justice (hereafter, Theory), then consider some post-Theory developments in it. After exploring the nature of Rawls’s commitment to the opportunity for meaningful work, I ask why he thinks it is a social basis of self-respect. I extract a partial …

Deserving Jobs, Deserving Wages, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This chapter applies recent work on desert to two sets of issues in business ethics. The first set of issues concerns who ought to be hired, fired, promoted, and demoted. Call these issues of “job justice.” The second set of issues concerns how much workers, including managers, ought to be paid. Call these issues of “wage justice.” I focus on job and wage justice because considerations of desert play an important, though sometimes tacit, role in discussions of these issues.

Mcmahon On Workplace Democracy, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This paper offers a sympathetic critique of Christopher McMahon’s Authority and Democracy: A General Theory of Government and Management. Although I find fault with some of his arguments, my goal is not to show that these arguments are irreparable, but to highlight issues that deserve further consideration. After defining some terms, first, I raise an objection to McMahon’s rejection of the moral unity of management (MUM) thesis. Second, I draw attention to his “moralization” of the workplace, and examine the role it plays in his arguments about the relative strengths of the different kinds of authority. Third, I raise …

Center For Professional Ethics, Fall 2006, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Director's Corner: A New Beginning by Robert P. Lawry
• The Global is Finally Local: Some Notes on Ethics, A Conversation with Bill Deal, Inamori Professor
• Are You Ready to Take Free Exercise Rights Seriously? Alan Brownstein Explains Why You Should
• Religious Lawyering: Professor Russell Pearce Keeps His Faith
• Author David Callahan Asks: What Does Our "Cheating Culture' Say About Us?
• Academic Integrity: Students Speak

Ross On Desert And Punishment, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

W. D. Ross thinks it is good, other things equal, that people get what they deserve. But he denies that “the principle of punishing the vicious, for the sake of doing so, is that on which the state should proceed in its bestowal of punishments.” Ross offers two main arguments for this denial: what I call the “scope argument” and the “state's purpose argument.” I argue that both fail. In doing so, I illuminate Ross's distinctive views about desert and the state.

Ahistoricism And Oppresssion, Kenton Machina

Faculty Publications - Philosophy

Many theories of moral accountability, whether libertarian or compatibilist, may be characterized as time-slice theories in that they do not allow the agent’s personal history to be relevant to moral accountability, instead making accountability rest solely on the state of things during one slice out of the agent’s life story. The point of this paper is to draw attention to the personal background irrelevance embedded in such theories, and to argue that any theory of accountability embracing such irrelevance supports injustice. My argument rests on an analysis of some generally accepted epistemic conditions on accountability, claiming that whether these conditions …

Center For Professional Ethics, Winter 2005, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Incomplete draft of issue:

Table of Contents:

• The Race at Case: One Leg of a Long Marathon
• Truth and Trust in a Time of Continuing Change: A Talk by Caroline Whitbeck
• Religious Lawyering: Professor Russell Pearce Keeps His Faith
• News and Notes

Book Review, David Dolinko

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Epistemological Argument Against Desert, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Most contemporary political philosophers deny that justice requires giving people what they deserve. According to a familiar anti-desert argument, the influence of genes and environment on people's actions and traits undermines all desert-claims. According to a less familiar – but more plausible – argument, the influence of genes and environment on people's actions and traits undermines some desert-claims (or all desert-claims to an extent). But, it says, we do not know which ones (or to what extent). This article examines this ‘epistemological’ argument against desert. It gives reason to believe that it fails, emphasizing the importance of justice relative to …

On The Relevance Of Political Philosophy To Business Ethics, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The central problems of political philosophy (e.g., legitimate authority, distributive justice) mirror the central problems of business ethics. The question naturally arises: should political theories be applied to problems in business ethics? If a version of egalitarianism is the correct theory of justice for states, for example, does it follow that it is the correct theory of justice for businesses? If states should be democratically governed by their citizens, should businesses be democratically managed by their employees? Most theorists who have considered these questions, including John Rawls in Political Liberalism, and Robert Phillips and Joshua Margolis in a 1999 article, …

Adr Ethics, Scott R. Peppet

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Center For Professional Ethics, Spring 2004, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Bonhoefer and King: Legacies and Lessons
• An Extraordinary Man: Case Celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.
• It's About Ethics: An Interview with Robert P. Lawry
• Current Ethical Controversies in Internal Research: A Talk by Ruth Maklin
• Director's Corner: Civic Duty, Civic Courage by Robert P. Lawry
• News and Notes

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 4, Issue 3, 2003, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Creating an Environment That Promotes Responsible Research Conduct by Dr. Caroline A. Whitbeck
• Director's Corner: Lying and Justification by Robert P. Lawry
• Leadership in the Global Perspective, Dr. Kazuo Inamori Speaks
• Ethnopsychiatry & American Immigration, Dr. Atwood Gaines Explores and Explains

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2003, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• "Waiting for the Courage to Die": The Role of Live Theatre in Medical Education by Fran Heller
• Building Bridges with Jonathan Sadowksy: A Reprint from the CWRU Observer
• Using Children in Research, Dr. Eric Kodish Explores and Explains
• A Glance at Professor Philip C. Bobbit: The Ends and Means of Stimulating Discussion
• Industry-Sponsored Research -- What's Wrong? Professor Andrew Trew Talks About IRBs, Ethics and Patients
• Director's Corner: The Aftermath of War by Robert P. Lawry
• Spring, 2003 News, Notes, and Future Events

Against The Asymmetry Of Desert, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The concept of desert has traditionally played a central role in theories of both distributive and retributive justice. But while desert continues to play a central role in most contemporary theories of retributive justice, it plays little or no role in most contemporary theories of distributive justice. This asymmetric treatment of desert is prima facie strange. If people should have the punishment they deserve, shouldn’t they also have the social benefits they deserve? I first offer an intuitive argument against the asymmetry, then consider and reject four potential justifications of it. I do not claim that the asymmetry cannot be …

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2003, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• America's Role in The World: Understanding Muslims and Islam
• One Year Later: Remembering September 11, 2001
• Conversations in Bioethics: CWRU President, Dr. Edard Hundert
• A Different Kind of Close Up: Looking at Cinematic Justice
• Winter 2003 News, Notes, and Future Events
• Director's Corner: What Are We Going To Do About It? by Robert P. Lawry

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 3, Issue 4, [2002], Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Theater and the Law: Periaktos Productions Unites Them Again
• Word of Mouth: A Workshop in Communication Ethics
• Quotable Quotes
• June 26, 2002, Cleveland Bar Association: A Panel Discussion on Ethics, Clarence Darrow and the Law
• From the Impeach Justice Douglas! Performance: Perspectives on Mr. Justice Douglas and the Constitution
• The CWRU Law-Medicine Center presents: Gaps and Inequity in America's Health Care System
• Director's Corner: Hard Questions for Dark Times by Robert P. Lawry

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 3, Issue 3, [2002], Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• The Costs of Tragedy: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Theories of Justice, Ethicist Martha Nussbaum Speaks at CWRU
• Quotable Quotes
• Director's Corner: Tragic Questions and Moral Vigilance by Robert P. Lawry
• Volume 3, Number 3: Ethics Fellows News and Notes

Desert And Distributive Justice In A Theory Of Justice, Jeffrey Moriarty

Philosophy Faculty Publications

This paper proceeds as follows. First, I present the standard interpretation of Rawls’s account of desert. I then show how this interpretation is inadequate, bringing to light certain subtleties of the account that give it entirely new meaning. Next, I examine the criticisms of Nozick and Sher and show how, due to misconceptions of Rawls’s account of desert, they fail. Finally, I offer a criticism of Rawls’s theory of justice based on the correct interpretation of his account of desert.

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 3, Issue 2, [2002], Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Continuing the Discussion: September 11, 2001
• The "9/11" Forums
• Director's Corner: Looking Outward by Robert P. Lawry
• Drama Discussion: Teaching Ethics Through Theater by Dariene Rebello Rao and Marvin Rosenberg
• Volume 3, Number 2: News, Notes, and Future Events

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 3, Issue 1, [2001], Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Helping Others to Help Yourself: The Value of Community Service
• Director's Corner: One Tough Guy by Robert P. Lawry
• We Do! We Can't? A Discussion of Same Sex Marriage
• Tom Anderson, Ethics Fellow: Teacher for All Seasons
• Volume 3, Number 1: News, Notes, and Future Events

Trends. Rat Psychology During The United States Presidential Election, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article examines the ethics of the alleged use of subliminal perception - the word"Rats" superimposed on an attack on Vice President Gore's health care plans - by representatives of the Bush campaign in the 2000 presidential election.

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 2, Issue 4, 2000, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Two Branches of the Ethics Family Tree: Edward Lawry named visiting Ethics Fellow
• Ethical Responsibilities in Higher Education: Experiential Learning as a Model for Reform
• When Push Come to Shove: Forced Treatment in the Community Setting
• Director's Corner: Surviving Survivor by Robert P. Lawry
• Summer 2000: News, Notes, and Future Events

Center For Professional Ethics, Volume 2, Issue 3, 2000, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Continuing The Observer Debate: A Panel Discussion on Law, Religion, and Homosexuality
• Thinking about Ethics: Quotable Quotes
• Kimberly Adams-Davis: From Cowboy Nurse to Primary Healthcare Advocate
• Three Judges Weigh In: The Art of Judging: How Do Judges Judge?
• Director's Corner: The Seven Deadly Sins Revisited by Robert P. Lawry
• Spring 2000: News, Notes, and Events

Psychological Pathways To Minimizing Human Rights Violations Against Children, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies several psychological pathways that governments and human rights organizations can employ to minimize human rights violations against children.