Person, Polis, Planet: Essays in Applied Philosophy

269 Pages·2008·1 MB·English

by  David Schmidtz

Person, Polis, Planet
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Person, Polis, Planet
Essays in Applied Philosophy
DAVID SCHMIDTZ
1
2008
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schmidtz, David.
Person, polis, planet : essays in applied philosophy / David Schmidtz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-536583-2
1. Ethics. 2. Applied philosophy. I. Title.
BJ1012.S345 2008
170—dc22 2007043147
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Randy Kendrick for all she did in 2003 to help me when I had a nearly
inoperable brain tumor, and for all that she has helped me do in my life and career
since then. It is in her honor that my current position is named the Kendrick Chair
of Philosophy.
I have hundreds of friends and colleagues to thank for their help and support
over the years, both in general and with respect to the particular articles reprinted
here. If I tried to name them all here, I might exceed Oxford’s word limit before the
end of this note. I thanked them by name in the original articles, though, and I will
not forget all that I owe them.
Special thanks to Cathleen Johnson: for her expertise as an economist and for
her high-octane editorial common sense, when that was what I needed, and for bird-
watching, hiking, teaching me to salsa dance, exploring new recipes with me, and
marrying me, when that was what I needed.
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CONTENTS
1. Introduction 3
Person
2. Choosing Strategies 15
3. Choosing Ends 37
4. Reasons for Altruism 62
5. What Nozick Did for Decision Theory (with Sarah Wright) 78
Polis
6. How to Deserve 93
7. Moral Dualism 117
8. Separateness, Suffering, and Moral Theory 145
9. Diminishing Marginal Utility 165
10. Guarantees 174
Planet
11. The Institution of Property 193
12. R einventing the Commons: An African Case Study
(with Elizabeth Willott) 211
13. Natural Enemies: An Anatomy of Environmental Confl ict 228
14. Are All Species Equal? 239
Works Cited 249
Index 257
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Person, Polis, Planet