Whatever else might be said about the Lockean and Hobbesian states of nature, it is widely believe that they are mutually incompatible. One or the other (or neither) is a correct way of thinking about the state of nature, but not both. This paper argues that this intuitively plausible claim is...

Herbert Spencer is commonly regarded as a "social Darwinist," who was, at best, indifferent to the suffering of the poor, and perhaps even positively welcoming of it. This paper re-examines Spencer's thoughts regarding obligations to the poor, and argues that the common interpretation is deeply...

This paper argues that a sweatshop worker's choice to accept the conditions of his or her employment is morally significant, both as an exercise of autonomy and as an expression of preference. This fact establishes a moral claim against interference in the conditions of sweatshop labor by third...