Jessica Saunders
Biographic Data
| ID | 80894 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jessica Saunders |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jessica |
| FAMILY NAME | Saunders |
| SIGNATURE | SAUNDERS J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Durham University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1290-275X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 74 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 41 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Between idealism and pragmatism
This introduction to a special section marking the work of Robert Stern examines the three articles he published in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy and uses them to reconstruct his distinctive interpretation of Hegel. We argue that Stern read Hegel as at once an idealist and a pragmatist. His paper on the concrete universal reveals the sense in which Hegel was an idealist: not a holistic monist committed to an all-encompassing a…
Robert Stern (1962–2024)
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Why we go wrong
Kant holds that whenever we fail to act from duty, we are driven by self-love. In this paper, we argue that there are a variety of different ways in which people go wrong, and we show why it is unsatisfying to reduce all of these to self-love. In doing so, we present Kant with five cases of wrongdoing that are difficult to account for in terms of self-love. We end by suggesting a possible fix for Kant, arguing that he should either accept a plura…
Journalism and Ethical Praxis
The importance of high-quality, ethically sound journalism in sustaining a healthy democratic and deliberative public sphere is well established. However, recent trends suggest a lack of public trust in journalism (Fink 2019. “The Biggest Challenge Facing Journalism: A Lack of Trust.” Journalism; OECD 2024. Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions—2024 Results) coupled with a range of online challenges to ethically sourced news warrant a…
The Strand
The practical standpoint
Some Kantians argue that freedom is not a metaphysical property that we might or might not possess, but instead an idea or presupposition that we must adopt from the practical standpoint. In doing so, they look to secure our freedom, no matter what science or theoretical reason reveals about us. This paper lays out two problems for this position. The problems are both metaphysical and epistemic. The metaphysical issues are that conceiving of free…
Not taking oneself too seriously
This paper lays out one positive role that humour can play in intimate relationships, focusing on the value of not taking oneself too seriously. It begins by looking at the positive value of humour in general (Section I), before applying this to intimate relationships (Section II). In doing so, it draws upon a general account of the value of humour, which claims that humour can defuse our fight or flight responses, and help us see ourselves hones…
At Home with the Poor
Kant and Overdemandingness II
In this paper, we consider how demandingness objections pertain to perfect duties in Kantian ethics. We revisit the framework of demandingness that we introduced in a previous paper, before introducing three cases that have been suggested to constitute problems for Kant, specifically regarding perfect duties. We argue that some of these cases do constitute problems for the Kantian framework, but the complaint of overdemandingness obfuscates other…
Examining Risk Factors of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization in Central America
The current study examines country-specific risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among Guatemalan and Honduran women. More specifically, we examine if (in)equality between partners, experience of controlling or emotionally abusive behavior, and components of the intergenerational transmission of violence significantly affect the risk of lifetime IPV victimization for Guatemalan ( N = 5,645) and Honduran women ( N = 9,427)…
Some hope for Kant’s Groundwork III
Kant worries that if we are not free, morality will be nothing more than a phantasm for us. In the final section of the Groundwork, he attempts secure our freedom, and with it, morality. Here is a simplified version of his argument: A rational will is a free willA free will stands under the moral lawTherefore, a rational will stands under the moral lawIn this paper, I attempt to defuse two prominent objections to this argument. Commentators often…
Robert Stern (1962–2024)
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Kant and Overdemandingness I
The Overdemandingness Objection maintains that an ethical theory or principle that demands too much should be rejected, or at least moderated. Traditionally, overdemandingness is considered primarily a problem for consequentialist ethical theories. Recently, Kant and Kantian ethics have also become part of the debate. This development helps us better understand both overdemandingness and problems with Kant's ethics. In this, the first of a pair o…
The Individual as an Object of Love
In this paper, we do two things: first, we offer a metaphysical account of what it is to be an individual person through Hegel’s understanding of the concrete universal; and second, we show how this account of an individual can help in thinking about love. The aim is to show that Hegel’s distinctive account of individuality and universality can do justice to two intuitions about love which appear to be in tension: on the one hand, that love can i…
A test for implicit bias in discretionary criminal justice decisions
OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to develop a framework to test for implicit racial bias in discretionary decisions made by community supervision agents in conditions with increasing information ambiguity. HYPOTHESES: We reasoned that as in-person contact decreases, community supervision officers' specific knowledge of clients would be replaced by heuristics that lead to racially disproportionate outcomes in higher discretion events. Officers' implicit bi…
Early childhood growth in Daasanach pastoralists of Northern Kenya
OBJECTIVES: Investigations of early childhood growth among small-scale populations are essential for understanding human life history variation and enhancing the ability to serve such communities through global public health initiatives. This study characterizes early childhood growth trajectories and identifies differences in growth patterns relative to international references among Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralist children living in a hot, a…
Irrational Love
This paper argues that there are important irrational elements to love. In the philosophical literature, we typically find that love is either thought of as rational or arational and that any irrational elements are thought to be defective, or extraneous to love itself. We argue, on the contrary, that irrationality is in part connected to what we find valuable about love. We focus on 3 basic elements of love: 1) Whom you love 2) How much you love…
Wellbeing Economics
This free (open-access PDF) book sets out a wellbeing economics framework that directly addresses fundamental issues affecting wellbeing outcomes. The book examines national public policy, but its analysis also focuses on choices made by individuals, households, families, civil society, local government and the global community. It therefore offers important insights for anyone concerned with improving personal wellbeing and community prosperity …
Philosophy of Love in the Past, Present, and Future
Chapter 16. Race, Bias, and Police Use of the Taser
Estimating the Impact of Research Practitioner Partnerships on evidence-based Program Implementation
Evidence-based program implementation in criminal justice and community settings is complex and rarely encounters an ideal set of conditions. Implementation failure may be more common than success, and the field has only started to seriously consider how to improve dissemination and implementation. Research-practitioner partnerships are a potential mechanism for achieving implementation success. Using an implementation science framework, we exami…
Moral Education and Transcendental Idealism
In this paper, we draw attention to several important tensions between Kant’s account of moral education and his commitment to transcendental idealism. Our main claim is that, in locating freedom outside of space and time, transcendental idealism makes it difficult for Kant to both provide an explanation of how moral education occurs, but also to confirm that his own account actually works. Having laid out these problems, we then offer a response…
A hidden cost of convenience
Research Summary Criminal justice practitioners increasingly seek out efficient means of community supervision supplanting face‐to‐face interactions with practices that are less onerous to administrators and clients. We examined the differential impact of remote supervision for low‐risk probationers by race. Remote reporting greatly reduces or eliminates in‐person meetings where race would be salient; however, it also creates conditions where an …
Estimates of Law Enforcement Costs by Crime Type for Benefit-Cost Analyses
Crime is an important outcome in many social policy evaluations. Benefits to society from preventing crime are based on avoiding victimization and freeing criminal justice system resources. For the latter, analysts need information about the marginal cost of policing for different types of crime across jurisdictions; however, this information is not readily available. This paper details key economic concepts relevant to law enforcement services, …
Moving From Efficacy to Effectiveness
Research Summary In 2012, the editors of CPP published an exchange about the Drug Market Intervention (DMI) in High Point, NC, concluding that it may be a promising approach to crime control but questioning whether it could be implemented across different settings. In this effectiveness study, we followed a cohort of seven sites that participated in a Bureau of Justice Assistance–sponsored DMI training to assess implementation and outcomes. Three…
Imputing Missing Data
Choosing the most appropriate method to handle missing data during analyses is one of the most challenging decisions confronting researchers. Often, missing values are just ignored rather than replaced with a reliable imputation method. Six methods of data imputation were used to replace missing data from two data sets of varying sizes; this article examines the results. Each imputation method is defined, and the pros and cons of its use in socia…
Motivations for becoming a police officer
Kant and the Problem of Recognition
Kant wants to show that freedom is possible in the face of natural necessity. Transcendental idealism is his solution, which locates freedom outside of nature. I accept that this makes freedom possible, but object that it precludes the recognition of other rational agents. In making this case, I trace some of the history of Kant’s thoughts on freedom. In several of his earlier works, he argues that we are aware of our own activity. He later aband…
Are Immigrant Youth Less Violent? Specifying the Reasons and Mechanisms
In this article, the authors present an overview of the relationship between immigrant households and crime and violence, drawing on sociological and public health literature. They present a critique of popular culture perspectives on immigrant families and youth violence, showing that crime and violence outcomes are if anything better for youth in immigrant families than one would expect given the social disadvantages that many immigrant househo…
Estimates of Law Enforcement Costs by Crime Type for Benefit-Cost Analyses
Crime is an important outcome in many social policy evaluations. Benefits to society from preventing crime are based on avoiding victimization and freeing criminal justice system resources. For the latter, analysts need information about the marginal cost of policing for different types of crime across jurisdictions; however, this information is not readily available. This paper details key economic concepts relevant to law enforcement services, …
A Propensity-Score-Weighted Population-Based Study of the Health Benefits of Dogs and Cats for Children
There is a widely held belief that children's general and psychological health benefits from owning and/or interacting with pets. In our study, we aimed to determine whether children who live with a dog or cat in their home have better mental and physical health outcomes compared with children without such a pet. Our study design consisted of a secondary analysis of household survey data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey. Children …
Substance Use and Academic Performance among African American High School Students
Substance Use and Academic Performance Among African American High School Students
Philosophy of Love in the Past, Present, and Future
Kant, Rational Psychology and Practical Reason
In his pre-critical lectures on rational psychology, Kant employs an argument from the I to the transcendental freedom of the soul. In the (A-edition of the) first Critique, he distances himself from rational psychology, and instead offers four paralogisms of this doctrine, insisting that ‘I think’ no longer licenses any inferences about a soul. Kant also comes alive to the possibility that we could be thinking mechanisms - rational beings, but n…
Kant and Overdemandingness I
The Overdemandingness Objection maintains that an ethical theory or principle that demands too much should be rejected, or at least moderated. Traditionally, overdemandingness is considered primarily a problem for consequentialist ethical theories. Recently, Kant and Kantian ethics have also become part of the debate. This development helps us better understand both overdemandingness and problems with Kant's ethics. In this, the first of a pair o…
Imputing Missing Data
Choosing the most appropriate method to handle missing data during analyses is one of the most challenging decisions confronting researchers. Often, missing values are just ignored rather than replaced with a reliable imputation method. Six methods of data imputation were used to replace missing data from two data sets of varying sizes; this article examines the results. Each imputation method is defined, and the pros and cons of its use in socia…
Substance Use and Academic Performance among African American High School Students
Substance Use and Academic Performance Among African American High School Students
Enforcing Immigration Law at the State and Local Levels
Almost 12 million out-of-status aliens currently reside in the United States. The federal government does not require state and local agencies to carry out specific immigration enforcement actions; however, comprehensive immigration reform may do so in the near future. This paper describes variations in enforcement approaches and making their pros and cons more explicit.
Motivations for becoming a police officer
Tutor Spotter
Are Immigrant Youth Less Violent? Specifying the Reasons and Mechanisms
In this article, the authors present an overview of the relationship between immigrant households and crime and violence, drawing on sociological and public health literature. They present a critique of popular culture perspectives on immigrant families and youth violence, showing that crime and violence outcomes are if anything better for youth in immigrant families than one would expect given the social disadvantages that many immigrant househo…
How Effective is Correctional Education? The Results of a Meta-Analysis
To examine the effectiveness of correctional education and its association with reductions in recidivism and improvement in employment after release from prison, the authors present the results a comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis.
Serving Time or Wasting Time? Correctional Education Programs Improve Job Prospects, Reduce Recidivism, and Save Taxpayer Dollars
Based on a comprehensive literature review, the authors examined the association between correctional education and reductions in recidivism, improvements in employment upon release from prison, and the cost-effectiveness of correctional education.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
After conducting a comprehensive literature search, the authors undertook a meta-analysis to examine the association between correctional education and reductions in recidivism, improvements in employment after release from prison, and other outcomes. The study finds that receiving correctional education while incarcerated reduces inmates' risk of recidivating and may improve their odds of obtaining employment after release from prison
How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here? The Results of a Comprehensive Evaluation
This report assesses the effectiveness of correctional education programs for both incarcerated adults and juveniles and the cost-effectiveness of adult correctional education. It also provides results of a survey of U.S. state correctional education directors that give an up-to-date picture of what correctional education looks like today. Finally, the authors offer recommendations for improving the field of correctional education moving forward
Kant, Rational Psychology and Practical Reason
In his pre-critical lectures on rational psychology, Kant employs an argument from the I to the transcendental freedom of the soul. In the (A-edition of the) first Critique, he distances himself from rational psychology, and instead offers four paralogisms of this doctrine, insisting that ‘I think’ no longer licenses any inferences about a soul. Kant also comes alive to the possibility that we could be thinking mechanisms - rational beings, but n…
Predictions put into practice
A Community-Based, Focused-Deterrence Approach to Closing Overt Drug Markets
Overt drug markets are often associated with violence and property crime, as well as lower quality of life for nearby residents. This process evaluation describes how well seven jurisdictions adhered to a Bureau of Justice Assistance strategy to reduce overt drug markets, as well as the barriers they encountered and the lessons learned from their experiences
The Value of Practical Knowledge
Stephen Engstrom has recently offered an excellent account of morality as practical cognition. He emphasizes the formal conditions of practical knowledge, which he finds in Kant. Engstrom also aligns his account with constructivism, claiming that value is constructed through these formal conditions, chiefly universalisability. In this paper, I employ a variant of Hegel’s empty-formalism objection to challenge the moral significance of the mere fo…
Kant and the Problem of Recognition
Kant wants to show that freedom is possible in the face of natural necessity. Transcendental idealism is his solution, which locates freedom outside of nature. I accept that this makes freedom possible, but object that it precludes the recognition of other rational agents. In making this case, I trace some of the history of Kant’s thoughts on freedom. In several of his earlier works, he argues that we are aware of our own activity. He later aband…
Moving From Efficacy to Effectiveness
Research Summary In 2012, the editors of CPP published an exchange about the Drug Market Intervention (DMI) in High Point, NC, concluding that it may be a promising approach to crime control but questioning whether it could be implemented across different settings. In this effectiveness study, we followed a cohort of seven sites that participated in a Bureau of Justice Assistance–sponsored DMI training to assess implementation and outcomes. Three…
A Propensity-Score-Weighted Population-Based Study of the Health Benefits of Dogs and Cats for Children
There is a widely held belief that children's general and psychological health benefits from owning and/or interacting with pets. In our study, we aimed to determine whether children who live with a dog or cat in their home have better mental and physical health outcomes compared with children without such a pet. Our study design consisted of a secondary analysis of household survey data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey. Children …
Estimates of Law Enforcement Costs by Crime Type for Benefit-Cost Analyses
Crime is an important outcome in many social policy evaluations. Benefits to society from preventing crime are based on avoiding victimization and freeing criminal justice system resources. For the latter, analysts need information about the marginal cost of policing for different types of crime across jurisdictions; however, this information is not readily available. This paper details key economic concepts relevant to law enforcement services, …
Chapter 16. Race, Bias, and Police Use of the Taser
Estimating the Impact of Research Practitioner Partnerships on evidence-based Program Implementation
Evidence-based program implementation in criminal justice and community settings is complex and rarely encounters an ideal set of conditions. Implementation failure may be more common than success, and the field has only started to seriously consider how to improve dissemination and implementation. Research-practitioner partnerships are a potential mechanism for achieving implementation success. Using an implementation science framework, we exami…
Moral Education and Transcendental Idealism
In this paper, we draw attention to several important tensions between Kant’s account of moral education and his commitment to transcendental idealism. Our main claim is that, in locating freedom outside of space and time, transcendental idealism makes it difficult for Kant to both provide an explanation of how moral education occurs, but also to confirm that his own account actually works. Having laid out these problems, we then offer a response…
A hidden cost of convenience
Research Summary Criminal justice practitioners increasingly seek out efficient means of community supervision supplanting face‐to‐face interactions with practices that are less onerous to administrators and clients. We examined the differential impact of remote supervision for low‐risk probationers by race. Remote reporting greatly reduces or eliminates in‐person meetings where race would be salient; however, it also creates conditions where an …
Wellbeing Economics
This free (open-access PDF) book sets out a wellbeing economics framework that directly addresses fundamental issues affecting wellbeing outcomes. The book examines national public policy, but its analysis also focuses on choices made by individuals, households, families, civil society, local government and the global community. It therefore offers important insights for anyone concerned with improving personal wellbeing and community prosperity …
Philosophy of Love in the Past, Present, and Future
Irrational Love
This paper argues that there are important irrational elements to love. In the philosophical literature, we typically find that love is either thought of as rational or arational and that any irrational elements are thought to be defective, or extraneous to love itself. We argue, on the contrary, that irrationality is in part connected to what we find valuable about love. We focus on 3 basic elements of love: 1) Whom you love 2) How much you love…
Psychology (20 works) · Political science (16 works) · Computer Science (15 works) · Criminology (13 works) · Philosophical Ethics and Theory (13 works) · Law (11 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Philosophy (9 works)