Philip Devine | Providence College (original) (raw)

Books by Philip Devine

A systematic exploration of the ethics of killing, including abortion, capital punishment, euthan... more A systematic exploration of the ethics of killing, including abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and war.

Discussion of relativism and related philosophical views. I argue for God as the Judge of all di... more Discussion of relativism and related philosophical views. I argue for God as the Judge of all disputed issues.

The very diversity of human beings, I argue, requires that we believe in a common human nature an... more The very diversity of human beings, I argue, requires that we believe in a common human nature and a generous understanding of our common humanity.

I defend a version of natural law ethics, both against rivals such as the Grisez school and again... more I defend a version of natural law ethics, both against rivals such as the Grisez school and against its positivist, postmodernist, and Calvinist critics

A text with readings exploring a spectrum of views on sex and gender issues, ranging from traditi... more A text with readings exploring a spectrum of views on sex and gender issues, ranging from traditionalism to cultural radicalism.

I criticize the philosophy of Richard Rorty, taking as my focus the implication of his views for ... more I criticize the philosophy of Richard Rorty, taking as my focus the implication of his views for education. I write both as a philosopher and as a concerned citizen

I here explore the fundamental question of social and political philosophy, what makes a group of... more I here explore the fundamental question of social and political philosophy, what makes a group of people a 'we'?

A study of the ways that human groups establish boundaries, ranging from ostracism to through tor... more A study of the ways that human groups establish boundaries, ranging from ostracism to through torture to the belief that the Other is damned.

I examine the claim that there are acts which it is wrong to perform whatever the circumstances o... more I examine the claim that there are acts which it is wrong to perform whatever the circumstances or consequences, including the usages of society, without reference to revelation. Both our need for such absolutes, and our difficulty in believing in them, arise from the same source: the complexity of human beings, the moral demands that bear on us, and the situations in which we find oursidves

Teaching Documents by Philip Devine

Papers by Philip Devine

Preface for Instructors. Introduction for Students. About the Editors. About the Contributors. Me... more Preface for Instructors. Introduction for Students. About the Editors. About the Contributors. Methodological Prologue: How Should We Think about Sex and Gender? D.H. Lawrence: A Propos of Lady Chatterly"s Lover. Janet Radcliffe Richards: The Fruits of Unreason. 1. Male and Female: Is the Distinction Natural or Conventional? Jan Morris: My Conundrum. Anthony Mastroeni: The Principle of Totality-A Possible Justification for Transsexual Surgery. Stephen B. Clark: The Universality of Sex Roles. Suzanne Kessler and Wendy McKenna: The Primacy of Gender Attribution. Richard Wasserstrom: Sex Roles and the Ideal Society. Mary Midgley and Judith Hughes: Biology, Mere and Otherwise. Roger Scruton: Sex and Gender. 2. Sexuality: The Flesh and the Spirit. Richard Mohr: The Inherent Privacy of Sex. Andrea Dworkin: Intercourse. Bertrand Russell: The Place of Sex Among Human Values. Thomas Nagel: Sexual Perversion. Richard Connell: Reproduction as the Goal of Sexuality. Niles Newton: Sexual Intercourse: Its Relation to the Rest of Women"s Sexual Role. Susan Lydon: The Politics of Orgasm. Richard Rodriguez: The Late Vicotrians. Arlene Stein: From Old Gay to New. Plato: The Ladder or Eros. 3. Reproduction: How Far Should We Try to Control It? Sallie Tisdale: We Do Abortions Here. Judith Jarvis Thomson: A Defense of Abortion. Celia Wolf-Devine: Abortion and the Feminine Voice. Rosemary Radford Ruether: Birth Control and the Ideals of Marital Sexuality. Cormac Burke: Marriage and Contraception: Donors and Surrogates. John Robertson: Collaborative Reproduction. Jean Bethke Elshtain: Technology as Destiny. Hilde Lindemann Nelson and James Lindemann Nelson: Cutting Motherhood in Two. 4. Marriage and Family: Is the Traditional Family a Good Thing? Donald Hatcher: Existential Ethics and Why It"s Immoral to be a Housewife. Sandra Bartky: Feeding Egos and Tending Wounds: Deference and Disaffection in Women"s Emotional Labor. John Rawls: Justice and the Family. Michael Sandel: Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Susan Moller Okin: Justice, Gender and the Family. Phyllis Schlafly: The Power of the Positive Woman. Jean Behtke Elshtain: Feminists Against the Family. Sylvia Ann Hewlett: When the Bough Breaks. 5. Politics: Gender in the Public Arena. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar: Sex Wars: Not the Fun Kind. Alison Jaggar: Political Philosophies of Women"s Liberation. Juli Loesch Wiley: Social Feminism: Reweaving Society. Louis Katzner: Is the Favoring of Women and Blacks in Employment and Educational Opportunities Justified? Laura Purdy: In Defense of Hiring Apparently Less Qualified Women. Catherine MacKinnon: Sexual Harassment: Its First Decade in Count. Katie Roiphe: Reckless Eyeballing. Michael Novak: Men Without Women. Timothy F. Murphy: Homosex/Ethics. Andrew Sullivan: The Conservative Case for Same-Sex Marriage. Robert P. George: "Same-Sex Marriage" and "Moral Neutrality". David Orgon Coolidge: The Question of Marriage: Two Arguments. Paula Ettlelbrick: Since When is Marriage a Path to Liberation?. E.J. Graff: Retying the Knot. 6. Religion: Naming the Supreme Being. Mircea Eliade: The Sacredness of Nature and Cosmic Religion: Sky Gods and Mother Earth. Genesis: Chapters 1-3. Carol P. Christ: Why Women Need the Goddess: Phenomenological, Psychological, and Political Reflections. Elizabeth Johnson: Basic Linguistic Options: God, Women Equivalence. Juli Loesch Wiley: On the Fatherhood of God and Is "God the Mother" Just as Good? Richard Davis: Inclusive Language: A Christian Gay Man"s View. Susan Heine: God the Father, God the Mother, and Goddesses. Gary Culpepper: Why Christians Name God "Father". Rosemary Radford Ruether: Ecofeminism: Symbolic and Social Connections of the Oppression of Women and the Domination of Nature. Edith Black: Women in Genesis 1-3. Tamar Frankiel: Judaism and Feminine Spirituality.

Although there are inevitable complexities in this as all moral and political issues, the reject... more Although there are inevitable complexities in this as all moral and political issues, the rejection of torture is necessary to a civilized society. I give both consequentialist and non-consequentialist arguments for this claim.

The reaction to Donald Trump' election in elite circles shows the decadence of our educated classes.

Diversity has become a new, persecuting religion. This is a bad thing

Human beings are diverse, but the celebration of diversity ignores the fact that our very divers... more Human beings are diverse, but the celebration of diversity ignores the fact that our very diversity requires a concept of the healthily human

Alasdair MacIntyre is known for his rejection of liberalism and his belief in non-state communiti... more Alasdair MacIntyre is known for his rejection of liberalism and his belief in non-state communities of virtue. I argue that he needs a liberal state to protect these communities from each other and a possibly hostile stated

I examine Alasdair MacIntyre's concept of tradition. The key problem is how tradition can be fl... more I examine Alasdair MacIntyre's concept of tradition. The key problem is how tradition can be flexible enough to permit rational reflection, without being so flexible as to be uselss

Argumentation, 1995

The denial of moral absolutes rests, I think, on a seductive but fallacious argument, which I sha... more The denial of moral absolutes rests, I think, on a seductive but fallacious argument, which I shall attempt both to expound and to refute here'. Human beings are highly complex creatures living in a highly complex world. Every human being is different from every other, every interaction or relationship between or among human beings is unique. Hence also every occasion for moral choice is also unique, and all those action kinds -be they adultery, murder, rape, theft, or torture on which moralists are accustomed to pass judgment include an enormous variety of differing transactions, which ideally ought to be evaluated one by one. Moreover, each proposed action has a variety of different aspects: intention, foreseen consequence, conventional meaning, and symbolic significance for example, which bear on moral choice in a wide variety of ways. Moral rules are therefore rules of thumb, open to exceptions whenever persuasive arguments for making them are provided.

Contemporary Sociology, 2002

... Title: Diversity and Its Discontents: Cultural Conflict and Common Ground in Contemporary Ame... more ... Title: Diversity and Its Discontents: Cultural Conflict and Common Ground in Contemporary American Society. ... Paradoxes, Realities, and Alternative Ways of Thinking" (Jeffrey C. Alexander and Neil J. Smelser); (2) "The Culture of Discontent: Democratic Liberalism and the ...

International Philosophical Quarterly, Sep 11, 2009

The reaction to Donald Trump' election in elite circles shows the decadence of our educated classes.

Diversity has become a new, persecuting religion. This is a bad thing

Argumentation, 1995

Contemporary Sociology, 2002

International Philosophical Quarterly, Sep 11, 2009

Ethics, 1979

Page 1. The Conscious Acceptance of Guilt in the Necessary Murder* Philip E. Devine University of... more Page 1. The Conscious Acceptance of Guilt in the Necessary Murder* Philip E. Devine University of Wisconsin-La Crosse I do think that abortion is murder-of a very special and neces-sary kind. . . Guilt and remorse and sorrow ...

Philosophy and Medicine, 1988

This essay is concerned with the interrelationship between abstract moral principles, moral rules... more This essay is concerned with the interrelationship between abstract moral principles, moral rules, and the description and evaluation of concrete situations, especially in the light of the open textured character of moral and other language. I draw four conclusions from my examination of the structure of moral reasoning. (1) Moral requirements are embedded in ways of life, to sustain which is part of their purpose. Moral codes are constantly being tested by their being applied to concrete situations. (3) There is both a powerful case for, and a powerful case against, treating some moral rules as exceptionless and immune to revision. And (4) moral reasoning is dependent for its vitality on the continued existence of conditions outside the power of moralists to preserve.

Advances in bioethics, 1997

Public affairs quarterly, 1991

... 28-32, 80-83. Parenthetical references in this section are to this article; I am indebted to ... more ... 28-32, 80-83. Parenthetical references in this section are to this article; I am indebted to Eleanore Devine for pointing it out to me. ... 1 (1987), pp. 57-81. 8. Michael Ruse, Homosexuality (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988), pp. 253-54. ...

The Hastings Center Report, 1984

The Hastings Center Report, 1980

Teaching Philosophy, 1987