Paul Bou-Habib | University of Essex (original) (raw)

Papers by Paul Bou-Habib

Avmark Aviation Economist, 1994

There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for ex... more There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for example, a few of the indicators of children’s well-being in a recent report by UNICEF ( 2007 ) comparing children’s well-being across 21 developed countries: ‘material well-being’, ‘health and safety’, and ‘family and peer relationships’. 1 Most would agree that a child’s well-being is most likely undermined, or under threat of being so, if the child lives in poverty, is in poor health, or has no close relationships with her parents or friends. If policy makers, parents and carers were able to secure or facilitate high scores for children across all of these indicators, most would agree that they would have made substantial progress in ensuring that children enjoy a good childhood. There are other aspects of a good childhood that are more controversial than those identifi ed by the three above indicators. Consider, for example, the question of how great an emphasis parents should place, i...

Avmark Aviation Economist, 1994

SUBTITLE: THE BAA HAS ISSUED A REPORT STATING ITS CASE FOR THE BUILDING OF TERMINAL 5 AT HEATHROW... more SUBTITLE: THE BAA HAS ISSUED A REPORT STATING ITS CASE FOR THE BUILDING OF TERMINAL 5 AT HEATHROW: CITING CONSTRAINTS ON PASSENGER CAPACITY AT EXISTING TERMINALS, BAA INSISTS THE PROJECT WILL CONSOLIDATE HEATHROW'S POSITION AS THE WORLD'S LARGEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2021

When skilled individuals emigrate from developing states to developed states, they leave a burden... more When skilled individuals emigrate from developing states to developed states, they leave a burdened state behind and bring their valuable human capital to a state that enjoys vast advantages by comparison. Most of the normative debate to date on this so-called ‘brain drain’ has focused on the duties that skilled emigrants owe to their home state after they emigrate. This article shifts the focus to the question of whether their host state acquires special duties toward their home state and argues for an affirmative answer to that question. After identifying the conditions under which ‘exploitative free-riding’ can occur, the article shows that the brain drain is a case of exploitation that gives rise to special duties of compensation for developed host states.

Sustainability, 2021

We live in a time of pressing planetary challenges, many of which threaten catastrophic change to... more We live in a time of pressing planetary challenges, many of which threaten catastrophic change to the natural environment and require massive and novel coordinated scientific and societal efforts on an unprecedented scale. Universities and other academic institutions have the opportunity and responsibility to assume a leading role in an era when the destiny of the planet is precisely in the hands of human beings. Drawing on the Planetary Health project promoted by the Rockefeller Foundation and The Lancet, Pompeu Fabra University launched in 2018 the Planetary Wellbeing Initiative, a long-term institutional strategy also animated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Planetary Wellbeing might be defined as the highest attainable standard of wellbeing for human and non-human beings and their social and natural systems. Developing the potential of these new concepts involves a substantial theoretical and empirical effort in many different fields, all of them inte...

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2018

According to Cécile Laborde, persons with religious commitments that are incidentally burdened by... more According to Cécile Laborde, persons with religious commitments that are incidentally burdened by generally applicable laws should, under certain circumstances, be provided with an exemption from those laws. Laborde's justification for this view is that religious commitments are a type of commitment with which a person must comply if she is to maintain her integrity. I argue that Laborde´s account is insufficiently demanding in terms of the other-regarding attitudes it expects people to have before they can make claims to exemptions based on their integrity. The reason it is insufficiently demanding is that Laborde's account rests on what I call a 'non-moralised' view of integrity. I raise some criticisms of this view and defend the alternative, 'moralised' view of integrity, according to which the value of a religious person's integrity depends on whether the practice she wishes to perform complies with certain moral constraints.

The Journal of Politics, 2019

Ever since the 1992 Rio Declaration, global environmental diplomacy has revolved around the princ... more Ever since the 1992 Rio Declaration, global environmental diplomacy has revolved around the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". 1 The principle asserts that, while all states should contribute to tackling the challenges of climate change, developed states should bear a greater share of the burdens than developing states. The legal documents that affirm the principle give two reasons for this differentiation of burdens amongst states. The first is historical: developed states bear a greater causal responsibility for global warming insofar as they have emitted greater amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the past. The second reason appeals to considerations of wealth: developed states are better able to bear burdens in adjusting to climate change in view of their greater levels of wealth. 2 Most normative political theorists agree that both of these reasons have some weight in justifying differentiated responsibilities amongst states in tackling the challenges of climate change. 3 However, there is disagreement about the weight we should assign to each reason, and therefore, also, about how exactly responsibilities for tackling climate should be 1 See Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), Article 3 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992) and Article 10 of the Kyoto Protocol (1997). I am indebted to Caney (2005, 773) for these references.

Journal of Political Philosophy, 2018

The Case for Replacement Migration "New Germans? We make them ourselves." 1 Population ageing is ... more The Case for Replacement Migration "New Germans? We make them ourselves." 1 Population ageing is a global phenomenon. In almost all states of the world, the proportion of older persons is increasing. 2 This process, which is expected to accelerate in the coming decades, alters the balance between the aggregate capacities and needs of a population, and is captured, albeit crudely, by the so-called "age dependency ratio"-i.e. the ratio of persons aged 65 or above to persons aged 20-64. As this ratio increases, transfer programs between age groups-programs that transfer resources from persons of working age to the elderly, such as public pensions, health care and long-term care-become unsustainable without reform. This article examines the nature of the demographic policies developed states should pursue in response to population ageing. 3 Demographic policies aim to affect the size or composition of a population. More specifically, I will examine the relative emphasis developed states should place on two types of demographic policy that aim at increasing the proportion of working-age persons in their populations: pronatalism, which 1 Translated from a poster by the Alternativ für Deutschland (AFD) party during the 2017 German election. 2 For an overview of the world's ageing population, see United Nations, Population Division, World Population Ageing 2015 (2015) (ST/ESA/SER.A/390). 3 On population ageing challenges in developing states, see Norman Daniels, Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 161-190. 2 aims to increase the fertility rate of the population, and replacement migration, which aims to increase its immigration rate. Neither of these demographic policies, nor some combination of them, can realistically "solve" the problem of population ageing over time, at least if by that we mean rendering existing inter-age group transfer programs permanently sustainable. 4 But they can form part of the overall adjustment developed states should make to population ageing. This article defends the conclusion that developed states have a conditional duty to prioritise replacement migration over pronatalism. 5 This is a conditional duty in the sense that it holds only if states decide to pursue a demographic response to population ageing. I do not assume that states must adopt a demographic response to ageing-it may well be permissible for them to adopt a purely non-demographic response. My main claim is that if they do adopt a demographic response, then they must adopt replacement migration rather than pronatalism as their preferred demographic response. Section 1 provides background information about the demographic transition that is taking place in developed states, and defines "pronatalism" and "replacement migration". Section 2 answers the objection that an ethical comparison of different 4 This point is elaborated in Section 1. 5 Whether replacement migration should be given priority over pronatalism is an issue that has received almost no scholarly attention. Two related discussions are Tim Meijers, Justice in Procreation, PhD Thesis, Université Catholique de Louvain (2016), which examines whether states can consistently exclude immigrants for demographic reasons, while granting citizenship to native-born children, and Axel Gosseries and Danielle Zwarthoed, "Generations and Global Justice," Global Political Theory, eds. David Held and Pietro Maffettone (Cambridge: Polity, 2016), pp. 281-304, which provides an overview of challenges that confront replacement migration policies.

European Journal of Political Theory, 2016

In this comment, I reply to two objections John Tate raises against my discussion of the trajecto... more In this comment, I reply to two objections John Tate raises against my discussion of the trajectory of Locke's ideas on toleration (in an earlier article published in EJPT, ‘Locke’s Tracts and the Anarchy of the Religious Conscience’) Tate maintains that I misunderstand the role of natural law and civil peace in Locke's thought. I defend my interpretation of the role of natural law and show that Tate is mistaken in his claim that Locke's concern to preserve civil peace conflicted with his separate concern to protect individual rights.

Midwest Studies In Philosophy, 2016

John Broome's book Climate Matters (2012) is a lucid and instructive discussion of a number of et... more John Broome's book Climate Matters (2012) is a lucid and instructive discussion of a number of ethical questions about how we must respond to climate change. In this paper, I examine his discussion of how the effects on future people of climate policies should bear on government decisions about whether to adopt those policies. In brief, Broome argues that the future effects of a government's climate policies are a matter of indifference as far as justice is concerned. These future effects are of relevance only because, and insofar as, governments have weaker duties of goodness (or beneficence). I argue that this position does not give sufficient importance to the future effects of climate policy. To rectify this position, I propose that we endorse a third type of duty that has implications for climate policy. This third duty is not directed at particular future individuals (as duties of justice are) and neither is it directed at the producing as much impersonal good as possible (as duties of goodness are). Instead it requires that governments respect the intrinsic value of human life.

Social Theory and Practice, 2011

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2012

ABSTRACT

Journal of Political Philosophy, 2014

Having no merit in the first place, they cannot override its claims.-John Rawls 1 P ARENTAL parti... more Having no merit in the first place, they cannot override its claims.-John Rawls 1 P ARENTAL partiality consists of actions by which parents bestow greater resources and affection on their own children than on others. Because different parents are not equally able or willing to provide support for their children, parental partiality contributes to inequality amongst children. That is troubling: it seems unjust that some children should face worse prospects in life than others merely because their parents were less able or willing to support them during their childhood. This 'distributive objection' 2 impels us to consider what might be said on the other side of the argument: what is so valuable about parental partiality? This article examines the nature of an important type of good that can arise for parents and children by virtue of their relationship. Many parents believe it is valuable that they are able to do good for their children-that they are able to advance their children's interests. What they regard as valuable is not just the fact that their children come to enjoy certain generic goods they provide for them-the piano lessons, the money, the clothes, and so on. They see value also in the parental act itself of providing those generic goods. Adapting a term from Brighouse and Swift, let me call this second-order good, general promotion. 3 My aim is to describe and defend what I will call a moralized view of general promotion. According to the moralized view, in order for acts of parental partiality to realize the good of general promotion they must comply with the demands of morality, in a sense I elaborate below. The non-moralized view denies that this is necessary. Acts of general promotion that consist of stealing or *I would like to thank the following persons for their comments on previous drafts of the article:

European Journal of Political Theory, 2013

This article reconstructs the main arguments in John Locke’s first political writings, the highly... more This article reconstructs the main arguments in John Locke’s first political writings, the highly rhetorical, and often obscure, Two Tracts on Government (1660–1662). The Tracts support the government’s right to impose religious ceremonies on its people, an astonishing fact given Locke’s famous defense of toleration in his later works. The reconstruction of the Tracts developed here allows us to see that rather than a pessimistic view of the prospects for peace under religious diversity, what mainly animates the young Locke is a desire to defend the rule of law against an anarchical conception of religious freedom. The article also argues that the evolution of Locke’s thinking on religious freedom was in large part governed by Locke’s attempt to interpret religious freedom in a way that avoids its having anarchical implications.

Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, 2014

There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for ex... more There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for example, a few of the indicators of children's well-being in a recent report by UNICEF (2007) comparing children's well-being across 21 developed countries: 'material well-being', 'health and safety', and 'family and peer relationships'. 1 Most would agree that a child's well-being is most likely undermined, or under threat of being so, if the child lives in poverty, is in poor health, or has no close relationships with her parents or friends. If policy makers, parents and carers were able to secure or facilitate high scores for children across all of these indicators, most would agree that they would have made substantial progress in ensuring that children enjoy a good childhood. There are other aspects of a good childhood that are more controversial than those identifi ed by the three above indicators. Consider, for example, the question of how great an emphasis parents should place, in rearing their children, on preparing them for adulthood. Does there come a point-and if so, where should that be drawn?-at which the 'concerted cultivation' of skills and aptitudes in children

Journal of Social Philosophy, 2013

With few exceptions, contemporary liberal egalitarians have neglected the question of parental ju... more With few exceptions, contemporary liberal egalitarians have neglected the question of parental justice, the question of whether in a just society parents have claims to sharing the costs of children with nonparents. 1 Liberal egalitarians certainly discuss and endorse measures that support parents, such as parental leave policies, child tax credit, and publicly funded schools. However, such measures are typically viewed as necessary to help bring about gender justice: they are proposed in order to ensure that mothers are not penalized relative to fathers, given the unequal distribution of child-rearing labor between them. Alternatively, measures to support parents might be endorsed as an indirect way in which to meet the claims of children in relatively disadvantaged households. This paper considers what liberal egalitarian justice has to say about the claims of parents as such rather than about the support society owes parents insofar as they are women at the short end of an independently unjust inequality, or insofar as they are vehicles for transferring resources to children who might otherwise be at risk of disadvantage. Any theory of justice, as we argue later, must take a stance on the question of parental justice, and on the face of it the stance that liberal egalitarians must take on it goes against the widely held conviction that parents, merely as parents, have claims to receive support from nonparents. That conviction, as we explain in more detail later, may seem hard to square with two commitments at the heart of liberal egalitarianism, namely, that social justice must hold individuals responsible for their choices in life, and that it must be defended and described in a way that refrains from appealing to a comprehensive conception of the good life. Our aim in this paper is to examine whether liberal egalitarians should endorse the conclusion that parents are entitled to receive support from nonparents as a means of upholding the autonomy that they, like all others, should be equally able to enjoy in a just society. Our examination of the autonomy-based argument for parental justice will proceed through a discussion of the most important statement of it set forth to date by Anne Alstott. Alstott's central claim is that a liberal and equal society, committed as it is to equally protecting its citizens' autonomy, should support parents because the parenting role, which our society's laws shape and enforce, is an extremely demanding one in terms of autonomy. The liberal state is under an obligation to compensate parents because it is importantly implicated in limiting their autonomy and that obligation must be shared, more specifically, by all of its citizens, be they parents or nonparents. bs_bs_banner

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2012

One of the most distinctive features of Ronald Dworkin's egalitarian theory is its commitment to ... more One of the most distinctive features of Ronald Dworkin's egalitarian theory is its commitment to holding individuals responsible for the costs to others of their ambitions. This commitment has received much criticism. Drawing on Dworkin's latest statement of his position in Justice for Hedgehogs (2011), we suggest that it seems to be in tension with another crucial element of Dworkin's own theory, namely, its endorsement of the importance of people leading authentic liveslives that reflect their own values. We examine this tension between responsibility and authenticity, and some strategies Dworkin does and could deploy to defuse it, which we think are unsuccessful. We then propose a solution for reconciling the demands of responsibility and authenticity, which is, so we claim, friendly to Dworkin's fundamental commitments but which leads to a revisionist interpretation of the demands of equality of resources.

Avmark Aviation Economist, 1994

There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for ex... more There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for example, a few of the indicators of children’s well-being in a recent report by UNICEF ( 2007 ) comparing children’s well-being across 21 developed countries: ‘material well-being’, ‘health and safety’, and ‘family and peer relationships’. 1 Most would agree that a child’s well-being is most likely undermined, or under threat of being so, if the child lives in poverty, is in poor health, or has no close relationships with her parents or friends. If policy makers, parents and carers were able to secure or facilitate high scores for children across all of these indicators, most would agree that they would have made substantial progress in ensuring that children enjoy a good childhood. There are other aspects of a good childhood that are more controversial than those identifi ed by the three above indicators. Consider, for example, the question of how great an emphasis parents should place, i...

Avmark Aviation Economist, 1994

SUBTITLE: THE BAA HAS ISSUED A REPORT STATING ITS CASE FOR THE BUILDING OF TERMINAL 5 AT HEATHROW... more SUBTITLE: THE BAA HAS ISSUED A REPORT STATING ITS CASE FOR THE BUILDING OF TERMINAL 5 AT HEATHROW: CITING CONSTRAINTS ON PASSENGER CAPACITY AT EXISTING TERMINALS, BAA INSISTS THE PROJECT WILL CONSOLIDATE HEATHROW'S POSITION AS THE WORLD'S LARGEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2021

When skilled individuals emigrate from developing states to developed states, they leave a burden... more When skilled individuals emigrate from developing states to developed states, they leave a burdened state behind and bring their valuable human capital to a state that enjoys vast advantages by comparison. Most of the normative debate to date on this so-called ‘brain drain’ has focused on the duties that skilled emigrants owe to their home state after they emigrate. This article shifts the focus to the question of whether their host state acquires special duties toward their home state and argues for an affirmative answer to that question. After identifying the conditions under which ‘exploitative free-riding’ can occur, the article shows that the brain drain is a case of exploitation that gives rise to special duties of compensation for developed host states.

Sustainability, 2021

We live in a time of pressing planetary challenges, many of which threaten catastrophic change to... more We live in a time of pressing planetary challenges, many of which threaten catastrophic change to the natural environment and require massive and novel coordinated scientific and societal efforts on an unprecedented scale. Universities and other academic institutions have the opportunity and responsibility to assume a leading role in an era when the destiny of the planet is precisely in the hands of human beings. Drawing on the Planetary Health project promoted by the Rockefeller Foundation and The Lancet, Pompeu Fabra University launched in 2018 the Planetary Wellbeing Initiative, a long-term institutional strategy also animated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Planetary Wellbeing might be defined as the highest attainable standard of wellbeing for human and non-human beings and their social and natural systems. Developing the potential of these new concepts involves a substantial theoretical and empirical effort in many different fields, all of them inte...

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2018

According to Cécile Laborde, persons with religious commitments that are incidentally burdened by... more According to Cécile Laborde, persons with religious commitments that are incidentally burdened by generally applicable laws should, under certain circumstances, be provided with an exemption from those laws. Laborde's justification for this view is that religious commitments are a type of commitment with which a person must comply if she is to maintain her integrity. I argue that Laborde´s account is insufficiently demanding in terms of the other-regarding attitudes it expects people to have before they can make claims to exemptions based on their integrity. The reason it is insufficiently demanding is that Laborde's account rests on what I call a 'non-moralised' view of integrity. I raise some criticisms of this view and defend the alternative, 'moralised' view of integrity, according to which the value of a religious person's integrity depends on whether the practice she wishes to perform complies with certain moral constraints.

The Journal of Politics, 2019

Ever since the 1992 Rio Declaration, global environmental diplomacy has revolved around the princ... more Ever since the 1992 Rio Declaration, global environmental diplomacy has revolved around the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". 1 The principle asserts that, while all states should contribute to tackling the challenges of climate change, developed states should bear a greater share of the burdens than developing states. The legal documents that affirm the principle give two reasons for this differentiation of burdens amongst states. The first is historical: developed states bear a greater causal responsibility for global warming insofar as they have emitted greater amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the past. The second reason appeals to considerations of wealth: developed states are better able to bear burdens in adjusting to climate change in view of their greater levels of wealth. 2 Most normative political theorists agree that both of these reasons have some weight in justifying differentiated responsibilities amongst states in tackling the challenges of climate change. 3 However, there is disagreement about the weight we should assign to each reason, and therefore, also, about how exactly responsibilities for tackling climate should be 1 See Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), Article 3 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992) and Article 10 of the Kyoto Protocol (1997). I am indebted to Caney (2005, 773) for these references.

Journal of Political Philosophy, 2018

The Case for Replacement Migration "New Germans? We make them ourselves." 1 Population ageing is ... more The Case for Replacement Migration "New Germans? We make them ourselves." 1 Population ageing is a global phenomenon. In almost all states of the world, the proportion of older persons is increasing. 2 This process, which is expected to accelerate in the coming decades, alters the balance between the aggregate capacities and needs of a population, and is captured, albeit crudely, by the so-called "age dependency ratio"-i.e. the ratio of persons aged 65 or above to persons aged 20-64. As this ratio increases, transfer programs between age groups-programs that transfer resources from persons of working age to the elderly, such as public pensions, health care and long-term care-become unsustainable without reform. This article examines the nature of the demographic policies developed states should pursue in response to population ageing. 3 Demographic policies aim to affect the size or composition of a population. More specifically, I will examine the relative emphasis developed states should place on two types of demographic policy that aim at increasing the proportion of working-age persons in their populations: pronatalism, which 1 Translated from a poster by the Alternativ für Deutschland (AFD) party during the 2017 German election. 2 For an overview of the world's ageing population, see United Nations, Population Division, World Population Ageing 2015 (2015) (ST/ESA/SER.A/390). 3 On population ageing challenges in developing states, see Norman Daniels, Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 161-190. 2 aims to increase the fertility rate of the population, and replacement migration, which aims to increase its immigration rate. Neither of these demographic policies, nor some combination of them, can realistically "solve" the problem of population ageing over time, at least if by that we mean rendering existing inter-age group transfer programs permanently sustainable. 4 But they can form part of the overall adjustment developed states should make to population ageing. This article defends the conclusion that developed states have a conditional duty to prioritise replacement migration over pronatalism. 5 This is a conditional duty in the sense that it holds only if states decide to pursue a demographic response to population ageing. I do not assume that states must adopt a demographic response to ageing-it may well be permissible for them to adopt a purely non-demographic response. My main claim is that if they do adopt a demographic response, then they must adopt replacement migration rather than pronatalism as their preferred demographic response. Section 1 provides background information about the demographic transition that is taking place in developed states, and defines "pronatalism" and "replacement migration". Section 2 answers the objection that an ethical comparison of different 4 This point is elaborated in Section 1. 5 Whether replacement migration should be given priority over pronatalism is an issue that has received almost no scholarly attention. Two related discussions are Tim Meijers, Justice in Procreation, PhD Thesis, Université Catholique de Louvain (2016), which examines whether states can consistently exclude immigrants for demographic reasons, while granting citizenship to native-born children, and Axel Gosseries and Danielle Zwarthoed, "Generations and Global Justice," Global Political Theory, eds. David Held and Pietro Maffettone (Cambridge: Polity, 2016), pp. 281-304, which provides an overview of challenges that confront replacement migration policies.

European Journal of Political Theory, 2016

In this comment, I reply to two objections John Tate raises against my discussion of the trajecto... more In this comment, I reply to two objections John Tate raises against my discussion of the trajectory of Locke's ideas on toleration (in an earlier article published in EJPT, ‘Locke’s Tracts and the Anarchy of the Religious Conscience’) Tate maintains that I misunderstand the role of natural law and civil peace in Locke's thought. I defend my interpretation of the role of natural law and show that Tate is mistaken in his claim that Locke's concern to preserve civil peace conflicted with his separate concern to protect individual rights.

Midwest Studies In Philosophy, 2016

John Broome's book Climate Matters (2012) is a lucid and instructive discussion of a number of et... more John Broome's book Climate Matters (2012) is a lucid and instructive discussion of a number of ethical questions about how we must respond to climate change. In this paper, I examine his discussion of how the effects on future people of climate policies should bear on government decisions about whether to adopt those policies. In brief, Broome argues that the future effects of a government's climate policies are a matter of indifference as far as justice is concerned. These future effects are of relevance only because, and insofar as, governments have weaker duties of goodness (or beneficence). I argue that this position does not give sufficient importance to the future effects of climate policy. To rectify this position, I propose that we endorse a third type of duty that has implications for climate policy. This third duty is not directed at particular future individuals (as duties of justice are) and neither is it directed at the producing as much impersonal good as possible (as duties of goodness are). Instead it requires that governments respect the intrinsic value of human life.

Social Theory and Practice, 2011

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2012

ABSTRACT

Journal of Political Philosophy, 2014

Having no merit in the first place, they cannot override its claims.-John Rawls 1 P ARENTAL parti... more Having no merit in the first place, they cannot override its claims.-John Rawls 1 P ARENTAL partiality consists of actions by which parents bestow greater resources and affection on their own children than on others. Because different parents are not equally able or willing to provide support for their children, parental partiality contributes to inequality amongst children. That is troubling: it seems unjust that some children should face worse prospects in life than others merely because their parents were less able or willing to support them during their childhood. This 'distributive objection' 2 impels us to consider what might be said on the other side of the argument: what is so valuable about parental partiality? This article examines the nature of an important type of good that can arise for parents and children by virtue of their relationship. Many parents believe it is valuable that they are able to do good for their children-that they are able to advance their children's interests. What they regard as valuable is not just the fact that their children come to enjoy certain generic goods they provide for them-the piano lessons, the money, the clothes, and so on. They see value also in the parental act itself of providing those generic goods. Adapting a term from Brighouse and Swift, let me call this second-order good, general promotion. 3 My aim is to describe and defend what I will call a moralized view of general promotion. According to the moralized view, in order for acts of parental partiality to realize the good of general promotion they must comply with the demands of morality, in a sense I elaborate below. The non-moralized view denies that this is necessary. Acts of general promotion that consist of stealing or *I would like to thank the following persons for their comments on previous drafts of the article:

European Journal of Political Theory, 2013

This article reconstructs the main arguments in John Locke’s first political writings, the highly... more This article reconstructs the main arguments in John Locke’s first political writings, the highly rhetorical, and often obscure, Two Tracts on Government (1660–1662). The Tracts support the government’s right to impose religious ceremonies on its people, an astonishing fact given Locke’s famous defense of toleration in his later works. The reconstruction of the Tracts developed here allows us to see that rather than a pessimistic view of the prospects for peace under religious diversity, what mainly animates the young Locke is a desire to defend the rule of law against an anarchical conception of religious freedom. The article also argues that the evolution of Locke’s thinking on religious freedom was in large part governed by Locke’s attempt to interpret religious freedom in a way that avoids its having anarchical implications.

Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, 2014

There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for ex... more There is little controversy over some of the preconditions for a good childhood. Consider, for example, a few of the indicators of children's well-being in a recent report by UNICEF (2007) comparing children's well-being across 21 developed countries: 'material well-being', 'health and safety', and 'family and peer relationships'. 1 Most would agree that a child's well-being is most likely undermined, or under threat of being so, if the child lives in poverty, is in poor health, or has no close relationships with her parents or friends. If policy makers, parents and carers were able to secure or facilitate high scores for children across all of these indicators, most would agree that they would have made substantial progress in ensuring that children enjoy a good childhood. There are other aspects of a good childhood that are more controversial than those identifi ed by the three above indicators. Consider, for example, the question of how great an emphasis parents should place, in rearing their children, on preparing them for adulthood. Does there come a point-and if so, where should that be drawn?-at which the 'concerted cultivation' of skills and aptitudes in children

Journal of Social Philosophy, 2013

With few exceptions, contemporary liberal egalitarians have neglected the question of parental ju... more With few exceptions, contemporary liberal egalitarians have neglected the question of parental justice, the question of whether in a just society parents have claims to sharing the costs of children with nonparents. 1 Liberal egalitarians certainly discuss and endorse measures that support parents, such as parental leave policies, child tax credit, and publicly funded schools. However, such measures are typically viewed as necessary to help bring about gender justice: they are proposed in order to ensure that mothers are not penalized relative to fathers, given the unequal distribution of child-rearing labor between them. Alternatively, measures to support parents might be endorsed as an indirect way in which to meet the claims of children in relatively disadvantaged households. This paper considers what liberal egalitarian justice has to say about the claims of parents as such rather than about the support society owes parents insofar as they are women at the short end of an independently unjust inequality, or insofar as they are vehicles for transferring resources to children who might otherwise be at risk of disadvantage. Any theory of justice, as we argue later, must take a stance on the question of parental justice, and on the face of it the stance that liberal egalitarians must take on it goes against the widely held conviction that parents, merely as parents, have claims to receive support from nonparents. That conviction, as we explain in more detail later, may seem hard to square with two commitments at the heart of liberal egalitarianism, namely, that social justice must hold individuals responsible for their choices in life, and that it must be defended and described in a way that refrains from appealing to a comprehensive conception of the good life. Our aim in this paper is to examine whether liberal egalitarians should endorse the conclusion that parents are entitled to receive support from nonparents as a means of upholding the autonomy that they, like all others, should be equally able to enjoy in a just society. Our examination of the autonomy-based argument for parental justice will proceed through a discussion of the most important statement of it set forth to date by Anne Alstott. Alstott's central claim is that a liberal and equal society, committed as it is to equally protecting its citizens' autonomy, should support parents because the parenting role, which our society's laws shape and enforce, is an extremely demanding one in terms of autonomy. The liberal state is under an obligation to compensate parents because it is importantly implicated in limiting their autonomy and that obligation must be shared, more specifically, by all of its citizens, be they parents or nonparents. bs_bs_banner

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2012

One of the most distinctive features of Ronald Dworkin's egalitarian theory is its commitment to ... more One of the most distinctive features of Ronald Dworkin's egalitarian theory is its commitment to holding individuals responsible for the costs to others of their ambitions. This commitment has received much criticism. Drawing on Dworkin's latest statement of his position in Justice for Hedgehogs (2011), we suggest that it seems to be in tension with another crucial element of Dworkin's own theory, namely, its endorsement of the importance of people leading authentic liveslives that reflect their own values. We examine this tension between responsibility and authenticity, and some strategies Dworkin does and could deploy to defuse it, which we think are unsuccessful. We then propose a solution for reconciling the demands of responsibility and authenticity, which is, so we claim, friendly to Dworkin's fundamental commitments but which leads to a revisionist interpretation of the demands of equality of resources.