Ethics | Michael Brennen

6 Nov 2020

Illegal Immigration, Categories, and the Kingdom of God

posted in: Christian, Ethics, Political Philosophy | 0

At Jesus’ resurrection, a new cosmic era was initiated. He became the first person of a new creation that will ultimately result in the renewal of the entire cosmos, the promised “new heaven and new earth.” That new creation in Jesus totally redefines all human categories, in that the new creation is of a type altogether different from what we now know; this is why we no longer define others by outward appearances or social or political categories.

13 Aug 2020

Natural Law Theology and the Kingdom of God

posted in: Christian, Ethics, Political Philosophy | 0

Only in the last several years have I become aware of the natural law tradition in theology that informs much contemporary Christian ethical and political debate; my interests and readings did not cross paths with natural law until I participated … Read More

17 May 2015

A Response to Robert Reich on Big Money in Politics

posted in: Economics, Ethics, Political Philosophy | 0

Robert Reich recently posted a critique of big money on his Facebook page, in which he listed seven points of criticism. He seems to be focusing on the political right, noting that “a dozen Republican wanna-be’s are already attacking government … Read More

17 Mar 2015

Speculators, Prices, and Information

posted in: Economics, Ethics | 0

Following the previous post on the role of speculators in markets, this is a more conceptual view of what is happening with the information system of prices in markets. We do not normally think of prices as communicating information, but … Read More

4 Mar 2015

Speculators, Time Shifting Prices, and Resource Conservation

posted in: Economics, Ethics | 0

In a recent exchange with a friend, a common view of commodity speculators emerged that they drive up prices and extract money from the rest of us. The actual role of speculation in the market does not intuitively make sense, … Read More

15 Apr 2014

Externalities 4. Steven Cheung: The Myth of Social Cost

posted in: Economics, Ethics, Externalities | 0

This is the fourth of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities”, the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More

12 Apr 2014

Externalities 3. Carl Dahlman: Externalities Are Normative

posted in: Economics, Ethics, Externalities | 0

This is the third of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities”, the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More

12 Apr 2014

Externalities 2. Ronald Coase: Externalities are Reciprocal

posted in: Economics, Ethics, Externalities | 1

This is the second of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities”, the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More

12 Apr 2014

Externalities 1. A.C. Pigou: Welfare Economics

posted in: Economics, Ethics, Externalities | 0

This is the first of a series examining the moral dimensions of economic “externalities”, the spillover or incidental side effects in market activity. The series is available in expanded form, with an introductory chapter and updated essays, as an e-book … Read More

9 Mar 2014

Peter Railton: Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality

posted in: Ethics, Philosophy | 0

Peter Railton’s article on alienation and consequentialism seems to me to share something of Doug Portmore’s consequentializing project. I will briefly explain how I see that. Railton proposes taking two views of consequentialism: subjective consequentialism and objective consequentialism. Subjective consequentialism … Read More

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