On Money, God, and Dogmatic Liberalism: A Reply to my Critics
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Michael Blake
Abstract
Darrel Moellendorf, David Owen, and Lea Ypi have offered some subtle and powerful criticisms of the view I defend in Debating Brain Drain. I here focus on two broad category of criticism. The first is that my use of metaphor is faulty. I try to demonstrate that the right to emigrate is similar in moral strength to the right to freely exercise one’s religion, and not morally akin to the (non-existent) right to be free from paying taxes. I defend the proposition that the taking of money from people is morally distinct from the taking of time; we have reason to regard the latter sort of taking as more difficult to justify. The second category of criticism focuses on the theoretical assumption of my view, and argues that the liberalism I endorse begs important questions: it might be at such a high level of abstraction that it cannot answer the most important questions of political ethics, or it might assume so much about the nature of liberalism that it is dogmatic and unpersuasive. I argue, in response, that a political theory need not answer all political questions in order to be of use, and that the insistence on liberal rights represents not dogma but valid moral concerns.
©2016 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Symposium on Brain Drain: The Merits and Limits of Furthering Normative Solutions in Source Countries
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Sharing the Burdens of the Brain Drain
- Can a Liberal State Make Access to Medical Education Conditional on Public Service?
- Compulsory Public Service and the Right to Exit
- Medical Brain Drain: Free-Riding, Exploitation, and Global Justice
- Brain Drain, Contracts, and Moral Obligation
- Solving Problems Associated with the Brain Drain: Fair Contracts, Legitimate States, and Appropriate Policy Measures
- On Money, God, and Dogmatic Liberalism: A Reply to my Critics
- Additional Article
- Luck, Love, and Extreme Skiing: Distributive Injustice without Unfairness
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Symposium on Brain Drain: The Merits and Limits of Furthering Normative Solutions in Source Countries
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Debating Brain Drain: An Overview
- Sharing the Burdens of the Brain Drain
- Can a Liberal State Make Access to Medical Education Conditional on Public Service?
- Compulsory Public Service and the Right to Exit
- Medical Brain Drain: Free-Riding, Exploitation, and Global Justice
- Brain Drain, Contracts, and Moral Obligation
- Solving Problems Associated with the Brain Drain: Fair Contracts, Legitimate States, and Appropriate Policy Measures
- On Money, God, and Dogmatic Liberalism: A Reply to my Critics
- Additional Article
- Luck, Love, and Extreme Skiing: Distributive Injustice without Unfairness
