Mark Evans | Swansea University (original) (raw)
Papers by Mark Evans
Journal of Political Ideologies, 2004
It is often claimed that liberals today advocate a politics which, as far as possible, eschews su... more It is often claimed that liberals today advocate a politics which, as far as possible, eschews support for any particular ethical ideals of character. Among the considerations that may be adduced in support of this commitment is an ostensibly powerful resistance to any notion that politicians have a special responsibility to set ethical standards for those they represent. This article argues, however, that the idea of politicians as ‘ethical exemplars’ can be presented in a form to which liberals could in fact be consistently sympathetic. Minor though the idea's role in a liberal conception of politics may be, the argument in support of it highlights a little-noticed way in which the ethical-impartialist reading of ‘liberalism’ is impoverished.
Ethics & International Affairs, 2009
Recently, strong arguments have been offered for the inclusion ofjus post bellumin just war theor... more Recently, strong arguments have been offered for the inclusion ofjus post bellumin just war theory. If this addition is indeed justified, it is plain that, due to the variety in types of post-conflict situation, the content ofjus post bellumwill necessarily vary. One instance when it looks as if it should become “extended” in its scope, ranging well beyond (for example) issues of “just peace terms,” is when occupation of a defeated enemy is necessary. In this situation, this article argues that an engagement byjus post bellumwith the morality of post-conflict reconstruction is unavoidable. However, the resulting extension ofjus post bellum's stipulations threatens to generate conflict with another tenet that it would surely wish to endorse with respect to “just occupation,” namely, that sovereignty or self-determination should be restored to the occupied people as soon as is reasonably possible. Hence, the action-guiding objective of the theory could become significantly problem...
Politics and Ethics Review, 2005
1. Like many other countries, Britain has what one might call a ‘two-tier’ educational system, in... more 1. Like many other countries, Britain has what one might call a ‘two-tier’ educational system, in which parents who are sufficiently wealthy to afford their fees can send their children to independent schools (which are idiosyncratically and misleadingly known as ‘public’ schools). These schools are widely thought to provide a superior-quality education on average to that available for free in state schools. The higher quality is said to be due to the facts that independentschool teachers are often better paid, better qualified and more highly motivated than many of their state-school peers, consequently teaching their pupils more effectively. The latter also benefit from what are usually superior facilities and supplementary educational and extra-curricular opportunities. Their class sizes are typically much smaller, which generally allows greater attention to be paid to the individual’s particular pedagogic needs. And the whole effect of these benefits, it is said, is to encourage a ‘high-achieving’ academic ethos which is sometimes diluted or even absent altogether in the state sector. This two-tier structure has long generated controversy in British politics. Partly, this has been so because, Britain’s class system being what it is, the very fact that one has attended a particular independent school – regardless of the quality of its education – often secures advantages for its beneficiaries in later life (this is sometimes known as the ‘old-school-tie’ phenomenon). But the central bone of contention is that the two-tier system instantiates ‘ability to pay’ as a decisive distributive principle in educational provision. If we accept the claim that there is a significant difference in quality of education on average between the two, we can see how this arrangement represents a flagrant violation of what John Rawls calls fair equality of opportunity (Rawls, 1971: 73), which would stipulate that each child receive the same standard of education regardless of the wealth of their parents.
Inquiry, 1995
... governments could be prevented from becoming still worse by emulating such features of his Ut... more ... governments could be prevented from becoming still worse by emulating such features of his Utopia as were still feasible),71 the obdurately non-political, anti-social character of his search for personal freedom and happiness in his other works such as Emile, La Nouvelle ...
Journal of Political Ideologies, 2004
It is often claimed that liberals today advocate a politics which, as far as possible, eschews su... more It is often claimed that liberals today advocate a politics which, as far as possible, eschews support for any particular ethical ideals of character. Among the considerations that may be adduced in support of this commitment is an ostensibly powerful resistance to any notion that politicians have a special responsibility to set ethical standards for those they represent. This article argues, however, that the idea of politicians as ‘ethical exemplars’ can be presented in a form to which liberals could in fact be consistently sympathetic. Minor though the idea's role in a liberal conception of politics may be, the argument in support of it highlights a little-noticed way in which the ethical-impartialist reading of ‘liberalism’ is impoverished.
Ethics & International Affairs, 2009
Recently, strong arguments have been offered for the inclusion ofjus post bellumin just war theor... more Recently, strong arguments have been offered for the inclusion ofjus post bellumin just war theory. If this addition is indeed justified, it is plain that, due to the variety in types of post-conflict situation, the content ofjus post bellumwill necessarily vary. One instance when it looks as if it should become “extended” in its scope, ranging well beyond (for example) issues of “just peace terms,” is when occupation of a defeated enemy is necessary. In this situation, this article argues that an engagement byjus post bellumwith the morality of post-conflict reconstruction is unavoidable. However, the resulting extension ofjus post bellum's stipulations threatens to generate conflict with another tenet that it would surely wish to endorse with respect to “just occupation,” namely, that sovereignty or self-determination should be restored to the occupied people as soon as is reasonably possible. Hence, the action-guiding objective of the theory could become significantly problem...
Politics and Ethics Review, 2005
1. Like many other countries, Britain has what one might call a ‘two-tier’ educational system, in... more 1. Like many other countries, Britain has what one might call a ‘two-tier’ educational system, in which parents who are sufficiently wealthy to afford their fees can send their children to independent schools (which are idiosyncratically and misleadingly known as ‘public’ schools). These schools are widely thought to provide a superior-quality education on average to that available for free in state schools. The higher quality is said to be due to the facts that independentschool teachers are often better paid, better qualified and more highly motivated than many of their state-school peers, consequently teaching their pupils more effectively. The latter also benefit from what are usually superior facilities and supplementary educational and extra-curricular opportunities. Their class sizes are typically much smaller, which generally allows greater attention to be paid to the individual’s particular pedagogic needs. And the whole effect of these benefits, it is said, is to encourage a ‘high-achieving’ academic ethos which is sometimes diluted or even absent altogether in the state sector. This two-tier structure has long generated controversy in British politics. Partly, this has been so because, Britain’s class system being what it is, the very fact that one has attended a particular independent school – regardless of the quality of its education – often secures advantages for its beneficiaries in later life (this is sometimes known as the ‘old-school-tie’ phenomenon). But the central bone of contention is that the two-tier system instantiates ‘ability to pay’ as a decisive distributive principle in educational provision. If we accept the claim that there is a significant difference in quality of education on average between the two, we can see how this arrangement represents a flagrant violation of what John Rawls calls fair equality of opportunity (Rawls, 1971: 73), which would stipulate that each child receive the same standard of education regardless of the wealth of their parents.
Inquiry, 1995
... governments could be prevented from becoming still worse by emulating such features of his Ut... more ... governments could be prevented from becoming still worse by emulating such features of his Utopia as were still feasible),71 the obdurately non-political, anti-social character of his search for personal freedom and happiness in his other works such as Emile, La Nouvelle ...