Abstract

Whether for good purposes or bad, coercion is one extremely important and effective means of getting someone to do something. Unfortunately, recent philosophical discussions of the concept have lost sight of how agents use it, as well as what makes it possible to use it or be subject to it. After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 of this dissertation shows that, beginning with Robert Nozick's seminal essay "Coercion" , philosophers have tended to psychologize the concept. By focusing on its psychology, recent theories of coercion fail to distinguish it from other, clearly non-coercive phenomena, and also fail to recognize coercion that has become regularized and pervasive. ;The dissertation defends a theory of coercion that focuses on the coercer and the sort of act coercion is: what its purpose is, how an agent can employ it, and how it can be distinguished from related acts. Force and violence are model means for imposing a practical necessity on a human agent because of the way they can disrupt an agent's ability to satisfy her basic needs for goods like life, health, bodily integrity, sustenance, and freedom of movement. Chapter 3 argues that coercion can be understood as one agent imposing a practical necessity on the actions of another in pursuit of purposes the coercer chooses, and illustrates this by a study of the uses of force and violence. ;Chapters 4 and 5 clarify the concept of practical necessity, and use that analysis to identify coercion by economic means within the context of a complex economy. Starting from Anscombe's work on rule-governed practices and practical inference, the dissertation develops an account of practical necessity that shows how practical necessity frames various aspects of an agent's choice of actions. The dissertation goes on to argue that certain economic practices may be necessary, but not coercive, while arguing that practices such as policing, which provide members of society with security from attack, are almost always coercive. ;Chapter 6 demonstrates the usefulness of this approach by applying it in investigations of several aspects of Anglo-American gender relations, in particular, the legal histories rape and sexual harassment.