The Relevance of Human Nature

Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 9 (3):1-9 (2015)
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Abstract

The so-called "Human Nature Constraint" holds that if an agent is unable, due to features of human nature, to bring herself to act in a certain way, then this suffices to block or negate the claim that the agent is required to act in that way. David Estlund (2011) has recently mounted a forceful objection to the Human Nature Constraint. I argue that Estlund’s objection fails – but instructively, in a way that gives Estlund resources for a different way of resisting attempts to negate normative claims by deploying the Human Nature Constraint.

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Nicholas Southwood
Australian National University

Citations of this work

The feasibility issue.Nicholas Southwood - 2018 - Philosophy Compass 13 (8):e12509.
"Actual" does not imply "feasible".Nicholas Southwood & David Wiens - 2016 - Philosophical Studies 173 (11):3037-3060.
Justice, Feasibility, and Social Science as it is.Emily McTernan - 2019 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 22 (1):27-40.

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References found in this work

Human Nature and the Limits (If Any) of Political Philosophy.David Estlund - 2011 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 39 (3):207-237.
Justice and Feasibility: A Dynamic Approach.Pablo Gilabert - 2017 - In Kevin Vallier & Michael Weber (eds.), Political Utopias: Contemporary Debates. New York, NY: Oup Usa. pp. 95-126.
Motivational Limitations on the Demands of Justice.David Wiens - 2016 - European Journal of Political Theory 15 (3):333-352.

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