Revised Equality Paper

Having presented the old equality paper once, I’ve done a substantial rewrite. I frame the paper more clearly in the views that I think make it interesting. It still contends that equality doesn’t matter, but it explains why it matters that equality doesn’t matter, and cuts off a couple of egalitarian escape hatches that were never fully dealt with in the earlier version. This is still an abstract for the short, conference version (which has been accepted at the CEU Graduate Philosophy Conference), but it’s nonetheless worth putting on the Research page, here.

Lectures on Value

I’ve got a week’s worth of lecturing to do this year, and it’s ongoing right now. I’m doing a week on ‘Value’ for the department’s introductory ‘Morality, Rationality, and Value’ course. You can find copies of the slideshows for each lecture on the Teaching page, here.

A Productive Couple of Weeks

In addition to all the job hunting, I’ve managed to make a bolder version of my neighbourliness paper. The new version offers an explanation of what it takes to be a good neighbour and then claims that the openness of the scope of the ‘neighbour’ relation (i.e. the answer to the question ‘who is my neighbour?’) means that being a good neighbour just is being a good person. The abstract is here, along with the abstract for the older, more timid version. Those of you who like American spellings, without ‘U’s, will be out of luck.

After a struggle, another new paper

The last three weeks I’ve laboured over this 4000 word presentation paper on Equality. It’s been a real struggle to figure out what I want to say and why I’m having trouble saying it. That said, I think I’ve got it. The general point is that equality doesn’t matter. This is not to say that social justice doesn’t matter or that I’m in favour of discrimination or against a living wage. I argue that the notion of desert does all the work egalitarians want equality to do and without running afoul of fairness in the way equality does. Ultimately if you’re a liberal and you’re committed to justice as fairness, you ought not be committed to equality. The abstract for the paper, called ‘Rescuing Justice From Equality’ is on the research page here.

Back to the Old Thesis

I’ve spent most of the last two months working on papers – getting them ready to submit for publication and/or presentation – and applying for jobs. Now that the first round of applications are sent out and I’m waiting to hear on my first forays into the world of academic publishing it’s time to get back to my thesis. I’m still planning to defend next spring, so I’ve really only got about five months to put this together. In that spirit, you’ll find a copy of my thesis’ introduction on the research page. Comments are, as always, welcome.

Academic Mitosis

So I had a paper on solidarity in Tommie Shelby’s We Who Are Dark. Now I have two: one on Shelby and whether his approach to solidarity is compatible with his underlying liberal individualism; another on an approach to solidarity that I think is compatible with autonomy (note that I think liberal individualism holds autonomy as its central value, so I’m really talking about the same thing here). Abstracts are available on my research page, but interested parties should please contact me for copies. One is currently submitted to a journal that shall remain nameless, while the other should be out the door by the beginning of next month.

P.S. I had a great time at the Politics of Social Cohesion conference in Copenhagen last week. Thanks to all those who peppered me with questions following my presentation. That level of interest is very encouraging. Now I have to look forward to presenting a similar version of the paper at the VII Pavia Graduate Political Theory Conference in Italy next week.

Paper Changes

After consulting with my supervisors, my paper on solidarity in Tommie Shelby’s We Who Are Dark is going to be split in two. One, Shelby’s Solidarity and the Problem of Compatibility, is currently under review, while another, Solidarity and Autonomy, will present my approach to solidarity and how I believe it can be reconciled with autonomy. They will appear on the research page, with appropriate links, as they finish. However, that could take a while, as I’m due to present the main ideas for S & A in Copenhagen at the Politics of Social Cohesion Conference, and in Pavia, Italy, at the VII Pavia Graduate Conference in Political Philosophy (no page, no link). The first is in early Sept, while the last is later that month. After that, I should have the ideas worked out well enough to proceed to final draft. I’ll update again then.

Another Vacation, Another Paper

Two papers, actually. I’ve finished my piece on Korsgaard’s take on Evil, and I’ve made major revisions to my longer work on Tommie Shelby and Solidarity. Hopefully they’ll be coming to a couple of different academic journals near you soon, and by soon I mean sometime. If you’d like a copy, feel free to contact me at the usual address, but I’ll be in Sweden and Denmark for about a week in about a week.

Vacation Notice and New Paper

Well, in the last two months I’ve written a couple of papers, given a few presentations, finished one thesis chapter and got a start on another. I’m due for a break. I’ll be back on the 18th for ordinary business. If you wish to register for the Practical Reasoning Workshop, feel free to e-mail me and I’ll put you on the list when I get back. Oh, and to wet your appetites, here’s an abstract for a new paper on Korsgaard’s excellent new book Self-constitution.

Another New Paper – Solidarity and Liberalism: Two Approaches

What can I say, it’s been a productive month. I’ve been working on a paper dissecting the approach to solidarity Tommie Shelby advocates in We Who Are Dark. An abstract is now available on my research page or by clicking here.