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Spring 2008
Volume 07, Number 2

Newsletter on Philosophy and Law

From the Editors

Edition in Tribute to Peter French

This edition honors the work and writings of Peter French and continues the analysis of topics central to his writings. Professor French is the Lincoln Chair in Ethics and Director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University. His writings and editorships have greatly influenced the field of applied ethics. In no small measure his work was a formative contribution during the time when applied ethics turned into a substantive area of specialty within the philosophy discipline. His writings on collective responsibility from over thirty years ago continue to shape topics in ethics, applied ethics, and legal theory, and his articles are widely reprinted in anthologies. He is the founder and senior editor of Midwest Studies in Philosophy, and, from 1988-2004, he was the editor of the Journal of Social Philosophy.

In this edition Professor Ishtiyaque Haji addresses an important concern within French’s writings, whether moral responsibility requires that persons could have done otherwise. Professor McKenna examines French’s account of the process of becoming a morally responsible adult from the prior state of moral innocence. Professor Tollefsen examines French’s account of collective responsibility and considers whether his views can accommodate the central role of the emotions for establishing agency. Finally, Peter French responds to each of these essays. These exchanges both convey a sense of French’s contributions historically, at least particular slices of these contributions, and they also offer new insights within current debates in applied ethics.

This edition is part of a series honoring and analyzing the writings of influential theorists in legal, social, and political philosophy. The format for each edition is to invite several commentaries and responses by a featured philosopher. The goal is to establish an engaging and lively exchange of ideas that contributes to the profession and is accessible to a broad audience, as befits the unique place of the APA Newsletters.

Steven Scalet
Binghamton University (SUNY)

Christopher Griffin
Northern Arizona University

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APA Newsletters

Spring 2008 Volume 07, Number 2

Spring 2008
Volume 07, Number 2