Philosophy

Extremely Local

The Unique American Obsession with Small-Scale Government

  • Claude S. Fischer

Democracy and Philanthropy

Rob Reich on the Role of Foundations in Democratic Societies

  • Rob Reich

Slavery, Emancipation, and the Relationship of Freedom and Equality

Two Objections to Slavery

  • Elizabeth Anderson

Slavery, Emancipation, and Equality

Wesson Lecture Discussion

  • Elizabeth Anderson
  • Joshua Cohen
  • David Hollinger

Responsibility within Frameworks

The appropriateness of blame depends on a person’s attitudes toward others.

  • T. M. Scanlon

Dangerous Alternatives to Blame

We need to be cautious. Alternatives to blame may be even worse.

  • Mike Konczal

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Blame Is Crucial for Morality

A commitment to morality requires blame.

  • George Sher

Blame and Punishment in California

We don’t need to change attitudes about blame in order to scale back mass incarceration.

  • Adriaan Lanni

Blame and Christianity

Blame began with the triumph of Christianity.

  • Brian Leiter

Blame Corrupts Criminal Justice System

We are not morally required to blame wrongdoers.

  • Erin Kelly

Blame Necessary for Law

That we are all perfectly innocent is a radical claim.

  • Gideon Rosen

Blame Derives from Conflicting Ideologies

Blaming holds people responsible for violating rules we have made collectively.

  • Christine M. Korsgaard

Blame Motivates Good Behavior

The thought of being blamed by others can motivate good behavior.

  • Paul Bloom

Beyond Blame

The philosophy of personal responsibility has ruined criminal justice and economic policy. It’s time to move past blame.

  • Barbara H. Fried
with responses from
  • Paul Bloom
  • Christine M. Korsgaard
  • Gideon Rosen
  • Erin Kelly
  • Brian Leiter
  • Adriaan Lanni
  • George Sher
  • Mike Konczal
  • T. M. Scanlon

The Constitution Without the Court

Protecting Americans' Rights Is Not a Job for the Judiciary Alone

  • Pamela S. Karlan

Our Collaboration with the Stanford Ethics Center

The Bowen H. McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University has partnered with Boston Review to share content from its fellows and guest lecturers.

  • Deborah Chasman

The Morality of Choice

Just how do I decide that a stone is worth taking home?

  • Deborah Stone

On Being an Octopus

Nothing stretches our thinking about the mind the way an octopus does.

  • Peter Godfrey-Smith

“What Are Foundations For?” at Harvard

Rob Reich discusses his views on the role of foundations in democratic societies, as articulated in his Boston Review forum essay "What Are Foundations For?" 

  • Rob Reich

What Are Foundations For?

Philanthropic institutions are plutocratic by nature. Can they be justified in a democracy?

  • Rob Reich
with responses from
  • Christopher J. Coyne
  • Stanley N. Katz
  • Diane Ravitch
  • Deborah Fung
  • Paul Brest
  • Rick Cohen
  • Tyler Cowen
  • Seana Valentine Shiffrin
  • Pablo Eisenberg
  • Larry Kramer
  • Eric Beerbohm
  • Robert K. Ross
  • Gara LaMarche
  • Emma Saunders-Hastings

Justice Postponed in Guatemala

Ríos Montt—and the United States—evade reckoning with the past.

  • Lauren Carasik

Getting Smarter

Why are human beings becoming more intelligent?

  • Claude S. Fischer

Founding Firearms

Originalism and the Second Amendment

  • Pamela S. Karlan

Lives of the Moral Saints

An Interview with Larissa MacFarquhar

  • David V. Johnson
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