Papers
A Defence of Weighted Lotteries in Life Saving Cases (abstract)
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 12:3 [June 2009] pp. 279-90.
Abstract: The three most common responses to Taurek’s ‘numbers problem’ are saving the greater number, equal chance lotteries and weighted lotteries. Weighted lotteries have perhaps received the least support, having been criticized by Scanlon What We Owe to Each Other (1998) and Hirose ‘Fairness in Life and Death Cases’ (2007). This article considers these objections in turn, and argues that they do not succeed in refuting the fairness of a weighted lottery, which remains a potential solution to cases of conflict. Moreover, it shows how these responses actually lead to a new argument for weighted lotteries, appealing to fairness and Pareto-optimality.
Keywords: Aggregation; Fairness; Lotteries; Scanlon; Taurek; Weighted lotteries
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 12:3 [June 2009] pp. 279-90.
Making Voting Pay (abstract)
Politics 29:2 [June 2009] pp. 130-6
Abstract: Those who regard low turnout as a particular problem for democracy are sometimes led to endorse compulsory voting as a solution. However, even if there is a moral duty to vote, such legal coercion seems illiberal. This article, by appeal to the analogous case of blood donations, suggests that we should consider instead paying people incentives to vote. This would achieve the aim of increasing turnout, particularly among underrepresented groups, without threatening individual liberty in the way that compulsion seems to.
Politics 29:2 [June 2009] pp. 130-6.
Acts of Self-Harming Protest and the Definition of Terrorism (abstract)
Review Journal of Political Philosophy 6:1 [July 2008] pp. 175-80.
Abstract: Terrorism, as generally defined, involves the use or threat of violence against innocent civilians in order to influence the actions or policies of some other, e.g. a government. This paper illustrates a problematic feature of this definition – that it seemingly includes acts of protest that involve violence directed only at oneself. It concludes with a dilemma, either we accept these cases as possibly justifiable acts of terrorism or we must modify our definitions to exclude them.
Review Journal of Political Philosophy 6:1 (special issue on terrorism, torture and the uses of violence) [July 2008] pp. 175-80.
The Equality of Lotteries (abstract)
Philosophy 83:3 [July 2008] pp. 359-72.
Abstract: Lotteries have long been used to resolve competing claims, yet their recent implementation to allocate school places in Brighton and Hove, England led to considerable public outcry. This article argues that, given appropriate selection is impossible when parties have equal claims, a lottery is preferable to an auction because it excludes unjust influences. Three forms of contractualism are discussed and the fairness of lotteries is traced to the fact that they give each person an equal chance, as a surrogate for their equal claim to the good. It is argued that this can be a reason to favour an artificially-constructed lottery to a ‘natural’ lottery where there is suspicion that the latter may be biased.
Philosophy 83:3 [July 2008] pp. 359-72.
Democracy as Fairness
This is the submitted (but not yet final) version of my doctoral thesis.
My doctoral thesis explores the relation between democracy and majority-rule. I argue that it is mistaken to identify the two and that majority-rule is justified only as an instrument to realize political equality. Moreover, in certain circumstances, this can fail. In these cases, one way to give everyone an equal chance would be to randomly select a single vote to determine outcomes. I such a procedure, called lottery-voting, and defend its democratic credentials.
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