David McCabe - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by David McCabe

Research paper thumbnail of The Idea of the National Interest

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal Democracy

Encyclopedia of Global Justice, 2011

The combined impact of the 2007-2008 world food crisis and the 2008 financial crisis have resulte... more The combined impact of the 2007-2008 world food crisis and the 2008 financial crisis have resulted in shifts worldwide in private investment, commodity markets, food production, and food security initiatives. One of the most significant aftereffects of these overlapping crises is a rapidly expanding agricultural land grab in which different parties are buying and leasing cultivable land across the Global South. Land acquisitions are made by nationstates fearful about future food insecurity, private investors and speculators seeking profit in a booming market,

Research paper thumbnail of Modus Vivendi as a Global Political Morality

The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi, 2018

In recent years a number of political theorists, dissatisfied with what they see as a dominant bu... more In recent years a number of political theorists, dissatisfied with what they see as a dominant but wrongheaded approach to political philosophy exemplified in what they call “liberal moralism,” have endorsed a modus vivendi approach as a framework for evaluating political institutions around the globe. In this paper I discuss this approach in the face of a serious challenge that can be raised against it. The challenge is to show that as an approach to global political morality modus vivendi is both (1) essentially different from the liberal moralism it rejects and (2) normatively and conceptually compelling as a way of answering fundamental questions of political morality. To satisfy the first, global modus vivendi must avoid appealing to the parochial notions of universal norms, human nature, and human interests that are often said to mar liberal moralism. To satisfy the second, it must posit some universal moral standards of minimally decent treatment (most often, and most usefully, cashed out in the idea of human rights). In this chapter I pursue these challenges to determine whether modus vivendi is best seen as a genuine alternative to liberal moralism or instead simply as a more chastened and sensible version of that approach.

Research paper thumbnail of Private Lives and Public Virtues: The Idea of a Liberal Community

Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1998

Ever since Immanuel Kant suggested that ‘the problem of setting up a state can be solved even by ... more Ever since Immanuel Kant suggested that ‘the problem of setting up a state can be solved even by a nation of devils’ so long as citizens’ selfish tendencies worked to counterbalance one another (Immanuel Kant, ‘Perpetual Peace,’ Hans Reiss, ed., Kant's Political Writing [New York: Cambridge University Press 1970], 112), critics have complained that liberalism is indifferent to individual character and, worse still, is predicated on the notion that citizens ought to be concerned primarily with their private interests and little, if at all, with the public weal. Lately, this line of criticism has been pressed with renewed force by theorists who argue that liberal states can flourish only if citizens develop the distinctive virtues that, ‘taken together … constitute a disposition to foster, support, and participate in liberal political institutions,’ but that liberal states committed to neutrality with respect to the good cannot realistically expect their citizens to develop these ...

Research paper thumbnail of The case for modus vivendi liberalism

Research paper thumbnail of John Locke and the Argument Against Strict Separation

The Review of Politics, 1997

Contemporary liberals who advocate strict separation between church and state often defend themse... more Contemporary liberals who advocate strict separation between church and state often defend themselves by suggesting that such a position is the only one compatible with the principle of liberal neutrality, whose origins go back to John Locke's first Letter on Toleration. This essay argues that this line of reasoning is mistaken. While Locke did endorse the neutrality principle, he did not endorse strict separation, and this fact suggests that the connection between liberal neutrality and strict separation is not as secure as many liberals have assumed. This examination of Locke's attitudes toward neutrality and strict separation aims both to clarify what is at stake in contemporary debates over strict separation in liberal states and to consider the conditions that would have to be met to mount a Lockean argument against weakening church-state separation in contemporary liberal states.

Research paper thumbnail of Michael Oakeshott and the Idea of Liberal Education

Social Theory and Practice, 2000

RefDoc Bienvenue - Welcome. Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: Conversing with Luke and His Two Books

The Expository Times, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Knowing about the Good: A Problem with Antiperfectionism

Ethics, 2000

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

Research paper thumbnail of Brettschneider, Corey. When the State Speaks, What Should It Say? How Democracies Can Protect Expression and Promote Equality.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Pp. 216. $35.00 (cloth)

Ethics, 2013

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

Research paper thumbnail of New Journals in Political Philosophy and Related Fields

Ethics, 1996

... to refute arguments justifying paternalist measures aimed at pre-venting people from smoking;... more ... to refute arguments justifying paternalist measures aimed at pre-venting people from smoking; and Lynn Willis and Martin Hulsey's argument rebutting an ... while the press describes its founder and chief editor, Amitai Etzioni, as a growing confidant of President Clinton, RC may ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Idea of the National Interest

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal Democracy

Encyclopedia of Global Justice, 2011

The combined impact of the 2007-2008 world food crisis and the 2008 financial crisis have resulte... more The combined impact of the 2007-2008 world food crisis and the 2008 financial crisis have resulted in shifts worldwide in private investment, commodity markets, food production, and food security initiatives. One of the most significant aftereffects of these overlapping crises is a rapidly expanding agricultural land grab in which different parties are buying and leasing cultivable land across the Global South. Land acquisitions are made by nationstates fearful about future food insecurity, private investors and speculators seeking profit in a booming market,

Research paper thumbnail of Modus Vivendi as a Global Political Morality

The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi, 2018

In recent years a number of political theorists, dissatisfied with what they see as a dominant bu... more In recent years a number of political theorists, dissatisfied with what they see as a dominant but wrongheaded approach to political philosophy exemplified in what they call “liberal moralism,” have endorsed a modus vivendi approach as a framework for evaluating political institutions around the globe. In this paper I discuss this approach in the face of a serious challenge that can be raised against it. The challenge is to show that as an approach to global political morality modus vivendi is both (1) essentially different from the liberal moralism it rejects and (2) normatively and conceptually compelling as a way of answering fundamental questions of political morality. To satisfy the first, global modus vivendi must avoid appealing to the parochial notions of universal norms, human nature, and human interests that are often said to mar liberal moralism. To satisfy the second, it must posit some universal moral standards of minimally decent treatment (most often, and most usefully, cashed out in the idea of human rights). In this chapter I pursue these challenges to determine whether modus vivendi is best seen as a genuine alternative to liberal moralism or instead simply as a more chastened and sensible version of that approach.

Research paper thumbnail of Private Lives and Public Virtues: The Idea of a Liberal Community

Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1998

Ever since Immanuel Kant suggested that ‘the problem of setting up a state can be solved even by ... more Ever since Immanuel Kant suggested that ‘the problem of setting up a state can be solved even by a nation of devils’ so long as citizens’ selfish tendencies worked to counterbalance one another (Immanuel Kant, ‘Perpetual Peace,’ Hans Reiss, ed., Kant's Political Writing [New York: Cambridge University Press 1970], 112), critics have complained that liberalism is indifferent to individual character and, worse still, is predicated on the notion that citizens ought to be concerned primarily with their private interests and little, if at all, with the public weal. Lately, this line of criticism has been pressed with renewed force by theorists who argue that liberal states can flourish only if citizens develop the distinctive virtues that, ‘taken together … constitute a disposition to foster, support, and participate in liberal political institutions,’ but that liberal states committed to neutrality with respect to the good cannot realistically expect their citizens to develop these ...

Research paper thumbnail of The case for modus vivendi liberalism

Research paper thumbnail of John Locke and the Argument Against Strict Separation

The Review of Politics, 1997

Contemporary liberals who advocate strict separation between church and state often defend themse... more Contemporary liberals who advocate strict separation between church and state often defend themselves by suggesting that such a position is the only one compatible with the principle of liberal neutrality, whose origins go back to John Locke's first Letter on Toleration. This essay argues that this line of reasoning is mistaken. While Locke did endorse the neutrality principle, he did not endorse strict separation, and this fact suggests that the connection between liberal neutrality and strict separation is not as secure as many liberals have assumed. This examination of Locke's attitudes toward neutrality and strict separation aims both to clarify what is at stake in contemporary debates over strict separation in liberal states and to consider the conditions that would have to be met to mount a Lockean argument against weakening church-state separation in contemporary liberal states.

Research paper thumbnail of Michael Oakeshott and the Idea of Liberal Education

Social Theory and Practice, 2000

RefDoc Bienvenue - Welcome. Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Book Review: Conversing with Luke and His Two Books

The Expository Times, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Knowing about the Good: A Problem with Antiperfectionism

Ethics, 2000

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

Research paper thumbnail of Brettschneider, Corey. When the State Speaks, What Should It Say? How Democracies Can Protect Expression and Promote Equality.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Pp. 216. $35.00 (cloth)

Ethics, 2013

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact

Research paper thumbnail of New Journals in Political Philosophy and Related Fields

Ethics, 1996

... to refute arguments justifying paternalist measures aimed at pre-venting people from smoking;... more ... to refute arguments justifying paternalist measures aimed at pre-venting people from smoking; and Lynn Willis and Martin Hulsey's argument rebutting an ... while the press describes its founder and chief editor, Amitai Etzioni, as a growing confidant of President Clinton, RC may ...