Conversations in Philosophy, Law, and Politics

Conversations in Philosophy, Law, and Politics offers a new agenda for work where these three disciplines meet. It showcases three generations of scholars—from newly minted professors to some of today's most distinguished thinkers. Consisting of fifteen conversations, pairs of chapters dedicated to a single topic, the volume provides intergenerational and multidisciplinary perspectives on aspects of our social world. Each conversation comprises a first paper by a scholar who sets the topic, followed by a second paper by a scholar of a different generation, and usually a different discipline, who offers further insight or commentary. Each conversation thus provides two sets of original thoughts about a matter of lively current interest and interdisciplinary significance. Topics investigated include moral revolutions, AI and democracy, trust and the rule of law, responsibility, praise and blame, reasonableness, duty, political obligation, justice and equality, justice and intersectionality, domination, pornography, intentions in the law, and legal argumentation. Written in clear prose, the volume is accessible by philosophers, lawyers, political theorists, and beyond.

table of content

1. Moral Revolutions

On the Urgency of Kick-starting a Moral Revolution to Save Ourselves, Kimberley Brownlee

Making Change, Kwame Anthony Appiah

2. AI and Democracy

Can Artificial Intelligence Bring Deliberation to the Masses?, Hélène Landemore

The Two Roles of Deliberation in Democracy, Philip Pettit

3. Trust and the Rule of Law

Trust and the Rule of Law, Thomas W. Simpson

Cultures of Trust and the Rule of Law, Onora O'Neill

4. Taking Responsibility

Taking Responsibility , Pauline Sliwa

Taking Responsibility, Defensiveness, and the Blame Game, Pamela Hieronymi

5. Praise

What Are We Praiseworthy For?, Zoë Johnson King

Understanding Praise, Susan Wolf

6. Blame

What Can We Say to Each Other?, James Edwards

Standing to Blame: Can it Be Defended?, Alison Hills

7. Reasonableness

The Reasonable and the Justified, Hasan Dindjer

Varieties of Reasonableness, Thomas Scanlon

8. Duty

Looking and Seeing, Nicolas Cornell

On Duty, Jeremy Waldron

9. Political Obligation

Pluralism in Political Obligation, Ashwini Vasanthakumar

All Our Imperatives, Nancy L. Rosenblum

10. Justice and Equality

Distributive Egalitarianism as Aspirational Justice, Gina Schouten

Relational Equality and Pluralism about Justice, Samuel Scheffler

11. Justice and Groups

The Metaphysics of Injustice, Robin Dembroff

Social Systems and Intersectional Oppression, Sally Haslanger

12. Domination

On Domination, Lori Watson

Of Domination and its Ending, Catharine A. MacKinnon

13. Pornography

Pornography and the Limits of Speech Act Analysis, Kate Greasley

Pornography: 'Enacting' or 'Eroticising' Women s Subordination?, Rae Langton

14. Law and Intentions

Intentional Legislation: What Makes a Text a Statute?, Brian Flanagan

Intentions, Procedures, and Social Rules, Michael Bratman

15. Argumentation

Arguing A Contrario, Luís Duarte d'Almeida

A Contrario Argument and Default Reasoning, John Horty