“Revitalizing Mercy under the Rule of Law” I distinguish between two concepts of mercy in Western political thought: beneficent mercy and critical mercy. To grant beneficent mercy is to compassionately spare someone from harsh treatment that she deserves. To grant … Read more
Grace & Graciousness: Goodness in Loving the Bad Grace is love that is not fully explained by the excellence of its objects. Indeed, as I will argue, one can experience forms of grace toward an object in full awareness … Read more
"Democracy Beyond Law" Political philosophers from diverse tradition have long defended the democratic control of the state. In particular, many have argued that democracy promotes individual freedom by providing subjects with the power to control the state's interference in their activities. … Read more
"Metaphysical Explanation by Constraint" Metaphysical explanation has enjoyed a surge of recent interest. But attention paid to metaphysical explanation has focused nearly exclusively on just one kind: those that work by providing information about what grounds what. Not all metaphysical … Read more
"Edenic Idealism" In this paper, I develop a novel semantic form of idealism about ordinary objects. According to edenic idealism, our ordinary object terms refer to items in the manifest world: the world of primitive objects and properties presented to … Read more
Jane Friedman will give a talk, “Inquiry and the Doxastic Attitudes”, as part of our annual Speaker Series, with a reception to follow.
Elijah Millgram will give a talk as part of our annual Speaker Series. Reception to follow. Who Was the Author of Nietzsche's Zarathustra? Why would Nietzsche have written a text that presents itself as the holy scripture of a nonexistent … Read more
"Should States Allow Markets in Citizenship?" Christopher Freiman is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at William & Mary. Professor Freiman's research interests include democratic theory, distributive justice, and applied ethics - to see his complete bio, please visit his website. This … Read more
Ram Neta, “Basing and Conjuring” Suppose you have a reason to vote. Suppose also that it is a reason why you vote. It doesn't follow from these two suppositions that it is a reason in light of which you vote. What is it … Read more
Join us at the UNC Student Union, room 3205, for Philosophy in 15 Minutes presentations by Professors John Roberts, Ram Neta, and David Reeve! After the presentation, we will enjoy a reception in the art gallery with plenty of food … Read more
