Criminal Law & Philosophy Abstract The aim of the paper is to investigate how retributivists should respond to the apparent tension between moral desert and proportionality in punishment. I argue th

Campbell, T. Axiological Retributivism and the Desert Neutrality Paradox. Philosophies 2022, 7, 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies7040080 Abstract: According to axiological retributivism, people canan outcome in which someone gets what she deserves, even if it is bad for her, can thereby haveintrinsic positive value. A question seldom asked is how axiological retributivism should deal withcomparisons of outcomes that differ with respect to the number and identities of deserving agents.Attempting to answer this question exposes a problem for axiological retributivism that parallels awell-known problem in population axiology introduced by John Broome. The problem for axiologicalretributivism is that it supports the existence of a range of negative wellbeing levels such that if adeserving person comes into existence at any of these levels, the resulting outcome is neither betternor worse with respect to desert. However, the existence of such a range is inconsistent with a setof very plausible axiological claims. I call this the desert neutrality paradox. After introducing theparadox, I consider several possible responses to it. I suggest that one reasonable response, thoughperhaps not the only one, is to reject axiological retributivism.

Philosophy Compass 13 (6), 2018.  DOI:10.1111/phc3.12493.  Abstract The idea of reflective equilibrium (IRE) remains the most popular approach to questions about method in ethics, despite the masses of cr

Criminal Law and Philosophy, Volume 12, Issue 1, pp 125-142. Abstract Retributivism may seem wholly uninterested in the fit between penal policy and public opinion, but on one rendition of the theory, h

Sovereignty and sustainability - friends or foes? Interview with Steven Vanderheiden

To limit the global warming to a maximum of two degrees above pre-industrial levels, much of the coal and oil reserves on earth must stay in the ground. This requires international agreements to limit

The (New) Case for Wage-Earner Funds

Research seminar with Markus Furendal, Post-Doc in Political Science, Stockholm University, and Martin O'Neill, Professor of Philosophy at University of York. Abstract In our presentation we make the

Place: At the Institute for Futures Studies, Holländargatan 13, Stockholm, or online. REGISTER HEREResearch seminar with Markus Furendal, Post-Doc in Political Science, Stockholm University, and Martin

Olli Kangas, Professor, Director of Governmental Relations, Social Insurance Institution, Kela, Finland ABSTRACT Changes in labour markets, too complex social security system, monetary disincentive prob

Results from a Six-Country Public Opinion Survey 32 s. Summary Policymakers, civil society organizations, and academics are proposing the establishment of new institutions for better representing the rig

AI & Society (2020) Abstract An intelligent machine surpassing human intelligence across a wide set of skills has been proposed as a possible existential catastrophe (i.e., an event comparable in val