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Abstract
Public policy debates often turn on how to get things done once we know our policy objectives. But how do we make appropriate progress when people disagree about what those objectives might be? In this volume, a team of world-renowned scholars introduce and explore the power of philosophy as a tool for understanding public policy controversies. Each chapter uses the tools and concepts of philosophy to frame an assessment of what is at stake in an enduring and recent policy debate. Organised thematically, the volume addresses issues such as disability policies, parenting, immigration, political apologies, criminal punishment, data gathering, and more. Drawing on the resources of ethical theory, social philosophy, and political theory in a highly accessible way, the book is ideal for students and scholars in both philosophy and public policy.
Philosophers have much to say about public affairs and to improve public policy. This wide-ranging book shows how, where and why across some of the most important topics in policy circles today.
Thom Brooks, Dean of Durham Law School
Andrew I. Cohen is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics at Georgia State University. He is the author of Philosophy, Ethics, and Public Policy (2015), and co-editor, with Christopher Heath Wellman, of Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics (2005, 2014).
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy and Public Policy | Cover | ||
| Contents | v | ||
| Acknowledgments | ix | ||
| Introduction | xi | ||
| Part I: Rule of Law: Applications and Exemptions | 1 | ||
| 1 Moral Reasoning and the Death Penalty | 3 | ||
| Two Aspects of Fairness in Sentencing | 3 | ||
| Abstract versus Particularistic Moral Reasoning | 6 | ||
| Nussbaum on Mitigation | 10 | ||
| Asymmetry between Mitigating and Aggravating Factors | 12 | ||
| Conclusion: Arbitrariness and Retributive Justice | 16 | ||
| 2 Philosophy, Prostitution, and Policy | 19 | ||
| Background | 20 | ||
| Sex and Morality | 22 | ||
| Good Sex, Bad Sex | 24 | ||
| Sexual Autonomy | 26 | ||
| Revisiting the Swedish Model—Feminist Gains and Losses | 28 | ||
| 3 Bulk Collection, Intrusion, and Domination | 39 | ||
| Conventional Technology for Targeted Surveillance and Zones of Privacy | 41 | ||
| How Bulk Collection Is Different | 44 | ||
| The NSA State and the Stasi State | 51 | ||
| What Really Is Wrong with Bulk Collection | 53 | ||
| Democracy and Secrecy: A Tension | 55 | ||
| 4 A Public Reason Approach to Religious Exemptions | 61 | ||
| Public Reason and Public Justification | 62 | ||
| Basic Liberal Institutions | 65 | ||
| Religious Exemptions | 67 | ||
| Additional Considerations for the Non-Exempt | 70 | ||
| The Prominence, but Non-Uniqueness, of Religious Exemptions | 71 | ||
| Part II: Topics on Public Policies and Public Goods | 79 | ||
| 5 Acceptable Risk of Extinction in the Context of Endangered Species Policy | 81 | ||
| The Biodiversity Crisis | 82 | ||
| The Value of Species | 83 | ||
| Assessing Extinction Risk | 86 | ||
| Policy Tools and Policies | 88 | ||
| Prioritization and Acceptable Risk | 96 | ||
| Conclusion and Recommendation | 96 | ||
| 6 Public Goods and Education | 105 | ||
| The Ubiquity of Public Goods | 105 | ||
| The Poverty of Public Goods Arguments | 107 | ||
| Third-Party Payers | 111 | ||
| Conclusion | 117 | ||
| 7 Ethical Issues in Academic/Industrial Collaborations | 121 | ||
| A Brief History of Collaborations between Academia and Industry | 121 | ||
| Benefits of Collaborations between Academia and Industry | 124 | ||
| Ethical Issues and Concerns Raised by Collaborations between Academia and Industry | 124 | ||
| Conclusion: Addressing Ethical Issues and Concerns | 130 | ||
| 8 “Pervasive” Biomedical Technologies: Implications for Ethics and Policymaking | 137 | ||
| The Pervasiveness Hypothesis | 137 | ||
| The Social Dynamic of Pervasive Technologies | 138 | ||
| The Pervasiveness Hypothesis and Biomedical Technologies | 142 | ||
| Enhancement | 147 | ||
| Implications for Biomedical Ethics and Policymaking | 150 | ||
| Part III: Public Policies Shaping Public and Private Identities | 157 | ||
| 9 Immigration in Philosophy and in Policy | 159 | ||
| The Question of Justification: What Moral Justification Can Be Given for the Right to Exclude? | 161 | ||
| The Question of Discrimination: What Reasons Can Be Rightly Given to Prefer a Given Candidate for Migration? | 165 | ||
| The Question of Immunity: Who Cannot Be Refused Entry? | 167 | ||
| The Question of Membership: Who Is an Outsider? | 169 | ||
| The Question of Enforcement: What May States Do, in the Name of Preventing Unwanted Migration? | 172 | ||
| 10 Toward an Ethics of Political Apology | 179 | ||
| Apologies and Ethics | 180 | ||
| Making Room for Political Apologies | 183 | ||
| Rights and Duties of Moral Repair | 185 | ||
| Concluding Thoughts | 193 | ||
| 11 Parenting, Philosophy, Public Policy, and a Puzzle: “Good Enough” Parents, Sure, but Why the Requirement That Parents Be Two People in Love? | 199 | ||
| Evolving Family Ideals | 199 | ||
| Background: A Rights-Based Conceptual Framework for Counting Children In | 202 | ||
| Who Gets to Parent and the “Good Enough” Standard?: Biological versus Adoptive Parents | 205 | ||
| Numbers of Parents: Why Stop at Two? | 205 | ||
| Must There Be Love? | 209 | ||
| 12 Disability, Identity Justice, and the Politics of Nondiscrimination | 215 | ||
| Disability Jurisprudence | 217 | ||
| “Disability” as a Term of Art | 219 | ||
| A Scenario of Disability | 223 | ||
| More Scenarios of Disability | 226 | ||
| Accommodation or Modification? | 228 | ||
| Conclusion | 229 | ||
| About the Contributors | 242 | ||
| Index | 235 |