April 17, 2008

Appiah’s Experiments in Ethics: Chapter 4
By Thom Brooks

First of all, it is a genuine pleasure to contribute to this forum: I only hope my comments will not lag too far behind the quality of previous posts! Now to Experiments in Ethics . . .

Chapter four is entitled “The Varieties of Moral Experience” and my discussion will follow the sections of this chapter in order in an effort to provide an outline of the argument and substantive points, before concluding with some reflections.

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Posted on April 17, 2008 at 12:16 pm in Thom Brooks's Posts, Appiah Reading Group, Experimental Ethics | 2 Comments

January 18, 2008

NEW Publishing Advice for Graduate Students
By Thom Brooks

While the topic of this post is not specific to ethics, I do hope I may be forgiven for making a brief announcement about a new essay of advice now available online that may be of use to graduate students in ethics and other subjects.

Over the years, I have offered what is now an annual ’speech’ on publishing advice aimed at graduate students and junior academics. I recorded much of my early talks in a paper, first posted on the Political Studies Association’s postgraduate website, and later on the Social Science Research Network expecting little to follow beyond, hopefully, helping a few understand publishing better. The response was extraordinary. The essay fast became the most downloaded document on the PSA postgraduate site and the paper has now been downloaded 2,119 times since December 2005. This original essay (’The Postgraduate’s Guide to Getting Published’) can be downloaded here.

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Posted on January 18, 2008 at 3:42 pm in General Announcement, Thom Brooks's Posts | Leave a Comment

December 5, 2007

Hegel’s Political Philosophy: A Systematic Reading of the Philosophy of Right
By Thom Brooks

If I may be allowed a chance to make a brief announcement, I am delighted to say that my new monograph, Hegel’s Political Philosophy: A Systematic Reading of the Philosophy of Right, is hot off the press. It is published by Edinburgh University Press and distributed in the United States by Columbia University Press.

For a taster:

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Posted on December 5, 2007 at 11:44 am in Normative Ethics, Political Philosophy, Metaphysics, General Announcement, Thom Brooks's Posts | 2 Comments

November 8, 2007

Samuel Scheffler on “Immigration and the Significance of Culture”
By Thom Brooks

In our political philosophy reading group yesterday, we read Samuel Scheffler’s new essay “Immigration and the Significance of Culture” published in Philosophy & Public Affairs 35(2) (2007). It can be downloaded here.

There was quite a lot that colleagues objected to in the essay, but a major worry concerns a summary of his views at the end of his essay. Scheffler says:

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Posted on November 8, 2007 at 11:10 am in Normative Ethics, Thom Brooks's Posts | 2 Comments

October 29, 2007

New issue on metaethics
By Thom Brooks

The latest issue of the Journal of Moral Philosophy has just been published and all articles are on the topic of ‘metaethics’. Papers were originally presented at a conference organized by Fabian Freyenhagen at King’s College, Cambridge. The issue can be found here. The contents are as follows:

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Posted on October 29, 2007 at 5:15 pm in Normative Ethics, Metaethics, General Announcement, Value Theory, Thom Brooks's Posts | 2 Comments

September 21, 2007

Kamm’s Intricate Ethics: Chapter 12
By Thom Brooks

Intuitions are curious things. In chapter 12 as elsewhere, Kamm makes extensive use of hypothetical experiments meant to test our intuitions and lead us to particular results. Indeed, few are better than Kamm at providing so many illuminating imaginative cases. For the most part, I believe her efforts succeed. However, if I had a criticism to state up front, then it would be my worry that Kamm makes our intuitions do too much. For one thing, the hypothetical experiments are aimed at philosophers engaging with her book. What evidence do we have that (a) the intuitions academic philosophers hold are representative of the general public or (b) the intuitions academic philosophers hold are justified independently? What to do about those of us (like me) with very different, more consequentialism-friendly intuitions? And so on. Indeed, these issues of highly imaginative hypothetical cases and extensive uses of intuitions have creeped into a few of the previous discussions of Intricate Ethics. I simply wish to state up front that this issue appears to creep into the discussion here, too.

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Posted on September 21, 2007 at 3:03 pm in Normative Ethics, Kamm Reading Group, Thom Brooks's Posts | 17 Comments