Ramon Das

Senior Lecturer School of History, Philosophy, Political Science & International Relations

• ramon.das@vuw.ac.nz
• 04 4635038
• Room 608, Murphy Bldg Kelburn Pde

Qualifications

• BA Carleton
• MA Wisconsin
• PhD Maryland

Profile

Ramon works mainly in moral and political philosophy; his interests include foundational questions in ethics as well as more practical topics such as the ethics of humanitarian intervention and climate change. Other research interests include evolutionary debunking arguments, free will, and the philosophy of law. He is currently writing a book on ‘companions in guilt’ arguments, which try to show that arguments for moral scepticism prove too much, undermining our scientific and ordinary perceptual beliefs if they work at all. Ramon teaches courses in ethics and international affairs, philosophy of law, and meta-ethics. He has taught at Victoria University of Wellington since 1999, and is a past recipient of the Victoria University of Wellington award for teaching excellence.

Research areas

Moral and political philosophy; meta-ethics; free will; philosophy of law.

Selected publications

Articles

• International Investment and Trade Australian Poverty Audit, ASAP Oceania (2016).
• ‘Bad News for Moral Error Theorists: There is No Master Argument Against Companions in Guilt Strategies,’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy (2016).
• ‘Evolutionary Debunking Arguments: Epistemological or Metaphysical?’ Philosophical Studies 173/2 (2016): 417-35.
• ‘Why Companions in Guilt Arguments Still Work: Reply to Cowie,’ The Philosophical Quarterly 66/262 (2016): 152-60.
• ‘Has Industrialization Benefited No One? Climate Change and the Non-identity Problem,’ Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17/4 (2014): 747-59.
• ‘Recent Work: Ethics and International Affairs,’ Philosophical Books 48/4 (2007): 329-44.
• ‘Making Moral Sense of the Israel-Hezbollah War,’ Human Rights Research 4 (2006): 1-34 Ramon Das, "Making Moral Sense of the Israel-Hezbollah War" [2006] HRR 6
• ‘Virtue Ethics and Right Action,’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy 81/3 (2003): 324-39.
• Prerogatives Without Restrictions? Philosophical Studies 99/3 (2000): 347-72.

Book chapters

• Humanitarian Intervention and Non-ideal Theory,” The Responsibility to Protect in Real Politics, edited by Tony Coady, Ned Dobos, and Sagar Sanyal. Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
• ‘Virtue, Reason, and Will,’ Virtue’s Reasons: New Essays on Virtue, Character, and Reasons, edited by Noell Birondo and Stewart Braun, Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).
• ‘Virtue and Right Action: A Critique,’ Routledge Companion to Virtue Ethics, edited by Michael Slote and Lorraine Besser-Jones. New York: Routledge (2015): 331-43.
• ‘Aid Agencies, States, and Collective Harm,’ Ethical Questions and International NGO’s: an exchange between philosophers and NGO’s, edited by Keith Horton and Chris Roche. Springer (2011): 175-91.
• ‘Prudence, Identity, and Value,’ Time and Ethics: Essays at the Intersection, edited by Heather Dyke. Kluwer (2003): 27-39.