Papers by Robert Westmoreland
Res Publica, 2020
Mill's Liberty Principle aims to protect 'social' freedom, which is traditionally understood as n... more Mill's Liberty Principle aims to protect 'social' freedom, which is traditionally understood as negative freedom. I argue that Mill's conception of social freedom does not comfortably fit even a moralized conception of negative freedom, and that individuality, an ideal fundamental to On Liberty, is a robustly positive type of freedom. This raises the question of whether protecting social freedom involves an egalitarian, progressive (in the contemporary sense) state that ambitiously strives to create the social conditions of individuality. I consider the case for an affirmative answer to that question, then argue that the ideal of individuality itself blocks interventions that some contemporary egalitarian, progressive liberals consider at least consistent with the Liberty Principle. These include autonomy-enhancing paternalism, and outright prohibition of as opposed to time, place, and manner regulation of the expression of some opinions that adversely affect protected minorities. Though not libertarian, the Liberty Principle is not an expression of this type of egalitarian liberalism, as evidenced inter alia by Mill's emphatic rejection of state control of education, and his categorical case against prohibiting the expression of even the most extreme and insidious opinions.
Bowling Green Studies in Applied Philosophy, 1985
Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 1991
... This interpretation of the notion of canonical language is well within the spirit of law as i... more ... This interpretation of the notion of canonical language is well within the spirit of law as integrity, and if accepted saves Hercules, albeit in an eccentric way, from the charge that he, like thepragmatist of justice, has no principled commitment to constitutional language. ...
Noûs, 1993
The Idea of Constitutionalism: Classical Foundations John Locke and American Constitutionalism by... more The Idea of Constitutionalism: Classical Foundations John Locke and American Constitutionalism by Leslie Armour David Hume and the Constitution by Wade Robison Montesquieu and Rousseau on Constitutional Theory by Guy Lafrance Kant's Approach to Constitutionalism by Mary Gregor Hegel's Idea of Constitutionalism by Peter Stillman Philosophy in the Debates at the United States Constitutional Convention of 1787 by Andrew Reck Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives on Constitutionalism The Constitution, Rights, and the Conditions of Legitimacy by Jeffrey Reiman Constitutionalism and Critical Legal Studies by Mark Tushnet Property, Economy, and the State by Milton Fisk Constitutionalism and Military Justice: Making Justice from Military Justice by Peter French The Extension of Law to Foreign Policy: The Next Constitutional Challenge by Richard Falk The Taming of the Technological Imperative: Constitutionalism in the 21st Century by Rosemarie Tong Afterword Constitutionalism, Moral Skepticism, and Religious Beliefs by Jeffrie Murphy Index
Law and Philosophy, 1999
Public reason is supposed to enable the enforcement of the conditions of a distinctively liberal ... more Public reason is supposed to enable the enforcement of the conditions of a distinctively liberal ideal of autonomy on grounds acceptable to all citizens. After sketching the abstract concept of public reason, this paper sets out several conceptions of that ideal, in order to show that the logic of the public reason project carries it toward the sectarian politics it seeks to avoid.
Law and Philosophy, 1998
think the Rawlsian state would do this, as part of its education of citizens into the "political"... more think the Rawlsian state would do this, as part of its education of citizens into the "political" ideal of the person.
Law and Philosophy, 2011
Political liberalism is supposed to be neutral among reasonable comprehensive doctrines, includin... more Political liberalism is supposed to be neutral among reasonable comprehensive doctrines, including comprehensive liberalism. Some critics think that it implicitly assumes comprehensive liberalism. I argue that political liberalism has the resources to avoid this charge and chart a path between sectarianism and unprincipled accommodation that allows a range of policy justifications onto the political agenda of a scope that honors the ideal of neutrality.
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 1996
The past quarter-century has seen a resurgence of interest in a topic supposedly laid to rest by ... more The past quarter-century has seen a resurgence of interest in a topic supposedly laid to rest by Kant if not by Socrates: divine command theories of ethics. Several distinguished contemporary philosophers have claimed an essential link between morality, or at least its deontological core, and the divine will and/or intellect. Their theories are said inter alia to answer traditional objections, among which is the following dilemma. (1) If moral standards promulgated by God are justified in virtue of reasons independent of his will, then morality is independent of God's will, even if the fact that God promulgates moral standards overdetermines our moral obligations; and if moral standards are justified solely in virtue of the fact that God promulgates them, then anything, even cruelty for its own sake, is right in case God commands it. (2) Either moral standards promulgated by God are justified in virtue of reasons independent of his will, or moral standards are justified solely in virtue of the fact that God promulgates them. (3) Therefore either morality is independent of God's will, even if the fact that God promulgates moral standards overdetermines moral obligations, or anything, even cruelty for its own sake, is right in case God commands it. According to this argument, the lack of limits on the content of moral standards, in case their force owes wholly to divine command, reduces morality to a despotism, even if in the actual world its substance is agreeable. There are several types of contemporary divine command theory: semantic theories, l which argue, e.g., that judgments of the wrongness of an action in part mean that such acts are contrary to the commands of a loving God; causal theories, 2 according to which divine belief states or acts of will are the cause of the moral status of actions; and theories that posit a metaphysical link between morality and God. This paper will concentrate on what I think are the two most interesting contemporary metaphysical divine command theories, articulated by
Faith and Philosophy, 1991
Contemporary liberalism celebrates itself as founded on a deep respect for the unique worth of pe... more Contemporary liberalism celebrates itself as founded on a deep respect for the unique worth of persons. Though it does not assume any non-naturalistic conception of persons of the sort characteristic of the Judeo-Christian or Kantian traditions, neither does it typically claim to deny such conceptions; in fact liberalism professes a neutrality toward all non-harmful ways of life, including theistic religions, motivated by its respect for persons. I argue that in theory and practice an influential strand of contemporary liberalism both assumes a conception of persons which is Hobbesian in inspiration and manifests Hobbes' hostility toward religion. Few discoveries are more irritating than those which expose the pedigree of ideas.-Lord Acton l Contemporary liberalism often celebrates itself as founded on a recognition of the unique worth of persons. It does not assume the non-naturalistic view of persons of either Christianity or Kant, but it claims not to reject it either; it allows no judgments about the worth of various ways of life to affect the state's distribution of goods, but it claims not to be founded on the assumption that none is worthier than another; though it forbids the state to prefer one religion to another or religion to irreligion, it professes not to assume or promote a secular world view. This essay questions these assumptions, and argues that a very influential strand of liberalism, one that typically claims to be as tolerant of theistic religions, including Christianity, as of any other way of life that does no injustice to others, is really Hobbesian in inspiration and hostile to religion, Christianity in particular. I do not try to set out a political theory or conception of justice that uniquely realizes Christian ideals as they apply to political life: there may well be no such theory, and if there is, it cannot be limned in a brief essay. Nor do I claim that all forms of liberalism share the tendencies I describe. I only float the hypothesis that a certain package of political commitments which I trust most would call liberal appears to constitute an intellectual system rather than an entirely contingent collection of discrete beliefs on the assumption that it manifests a particular way of looking at the world articulated first by Hobbes.
Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs, 1995
The AIDS crisis has provoked a debate about the drug evaluation and approval process in the Unite... more The AIDS crisis has provoked a debate about the drug evaluation and approval process in the United States. This debate includes an intramural disagreement among liberals about whether or not the primacy of the individual patient entails virtually unlimited patient sovereignty over treatment decisions. Some think it does; others argue that such a policy would seriously undermine responsible drug evaluation and medical research. I argue that underlying this disagreement is a serious rift between what I call radical and traditional liberalism, and that the former represents a significant threat to medical research.
Uploads
Papers by Robert Westmoreland