ETHICS

I have specialized interests in several topics in ethics, but I have not tried to develop a systematic theory of moral philosophy. I have published on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s early concept of the transcendence of ethics, and of ethics and aesthetics as one, on efforts to articulate a sociobiological reduction of ethics, on Aristotle’s refutation of the universal good, and Aristotle’s theory of friendship as a motivation for morality, on several aspects of Kant’s moral philosophy, and on technical problems of deontic logic in formalizing moral obligation relations. I have also recently written on the abortion controversy, and on the opposition of deontology and consequentialism. I have recently guest edited a special issue of The Journal of Value Inquiry on ‘Aristotle’s Theory of Value.’ My text on Journalistic Ethics: Moral Responsibility in the Media, Prentice Hall, is intended for classroom use by philosophy, journalism, and media studies and communication arts students, and anyone interested in the ethical dimensions of news gathering and reporting. I am currently writing a short work of applied ethics, titled Dialogues on the Ethics of Capital Punishment, to be published in the Rowman & Littlefield series of 'New Dialogues in Philosophy' which I edit.

Listed here are publications specifically about ethics:

BOOKS

Journalistic Ethics: Moral Responsibility in the Media (Prentice Hall, 2007) (xv + 300 pp.).

The Philosophy of Schopenhauer (Acumen Books, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005) (xiv + 305 pp.).

Six Philosophical Appetizers (McGraw-Hill, 2001) (x + 165 pp.).

Pathways in Philosophy: An Introductory Guide With Readings (Oxford University Press, 2004) (xv + 555 pp.).

"Introduction", The Journal of Value Inquiry, special issue on 'Aristotle's Theory of Value', guest edited by Dale Jacquette, 35, 2001, 303-308.

"Aristotle on the Value of Friendship as a Motivation for Morality", The Journal of Value Inquiry, special issue on 'Aristotle's Theory of Value', guest edited by Dale Jacquette, 35, 2001, 371-389.

"Schopenhauer on the Ethics of Suicide", Continental Philosophy Review, 33, 2000, 43-58.

"Aristotle's Refutation of the Universal Good", The Journal of Value Inquiry, 32, 1998, 301-324.

"Wittgenstein on the Transcendence of Ethics", Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 75, 1997, 304-324.

"Obligations Under Causal Constraints", Synthese, 99, 1994, 307-310.

"Moral Dilemmas, Disjunctive Obligations, and Kant's Principle that 'Ought' Implies 'Can'", Synthese, 88, 1991, 43-55.

"Democracy and the Perils of Informed Consent", Contemporary Philosophy, 13, 1991, 13-18.

forthcoming

"Marx and Engels on the Downfall of Capitalism", Critical Review.

"Satan Lord of Darkness in South Park Cosmology", South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today, edited by Robert Arp (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007), 250-262.

"Zombie Gladiators", The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless, edited by Richard Green and K. Silem Mohammad, (Chicago and LaSalle: Open Court Press, 2006), 105-118.

"Schopenhauer on Death", The Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer, edited by Christopher Janaway (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 293-317.

"Desire", "Intention", "Responsibility", "Wittgenstein, Ludwig", Ethics (Magill Ready Reference), edited by John K. Roth (Pasadena: Salem Press, 1994), 3 vols., 221-222; 444-445; 742-746; 936-937.

"Categorical Moral Maxims in Kant's Categorical Imperative", Akten des Siebenten Internationalen Kant-Kongresses, edited by Gerhard Funke (Bonn: Bouvier Verlag, 1991), Vol. II.1, 313-322.

"Moral Value and the Sociobiological Reduction", Inquiries Into Values: The Inaugural Session of the International Society for Value Inquiry, Problems in Contemporary Philosophy, XI, edited by Sander H. Lee (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellon Press, 1988), 685-694.

forthcoming

"Justification in Ethics", Social and Political Justice, edited by John-Stewart Gordon (Rowman & Littlefield)

Review of Marie-Luise Schubert Kalsi, Alexius Meinong's Elements of Ethics, With a Translation of the Fragment Ethische Bausteine, The Review of Metaphysics, 52, 1999, 727-730.

Review of H.E. Mason, editor, Moral Dilemmas and Moral Theory, Philosophical Books, 39, 1998, 62-65.

Review of Nicholas Rescher, Pluralism: Against the Demand for Consensus, Philosophical Books, 35, 1994, 264-266.

Review of Roderick M. Chisholm, Brentano and Intrinsic Value, The Journal of Value Inquiry, 22, 1988, 331-334.

"The Meaning of Animal Rights" (Review of Tom Regan, The Case for Animal Rights), Human Studies: A Journal of Philosophy and the Social Sciences, 8, 1985, 389-392.