.: Contact
| Dept. of Philosophy 9500 Gilman Dr. San Diego, CA 92039-0119 |
Email: ncdavis@ucsd.edu |
.: Research
| AOS: | Ethics, Political Philosophy |
| AOC: | Philosophy of Law, History of Political Philosophy, Free Will and Moral Responsibility |
I take a new approach to the problem of political obligation, by arguing that it is a type of associative obligation. I develop an ethical theory of the obligations we have to our associates, such as our friends and family, by virtue of our psychological connectedness. I extend this theory to argue that political obligation is a kind of associative obligation based on relationships that are distinctively political in that they develop through participation in conversations about the society's policies and principles. In contrast to social contract theories, I argue that participating in the national conversation psychologically connects us, and as a result we acquire associative political obligations.
.: Papers
Publications:
"Friends, Family, and Moral Theories"
in On the Ethical Life:
Essays in Honor of Peter Singer. Ed. Ray Younis, Cambridge
Scholars
Press (Cambridge 2009).
In progress:
"Associative
Obligation as
Integrity"
.: Courses
Philosophy
of
Law,
Summer, 2007
Introduction to
Ethics,
Spring, 2009