Juha Räikkä
Biographic Data
| ID | 1287528 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Juha Räikkä |
| GIVEN NAMES | Juha |
| FAMILY NAME | Räikkä |
| SIGNATURE | RÄIKKÄ J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Turku |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7728-1283 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 45 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Good and Bad Political Compromises
Political compromises are common. Parties that seek to influence society must inevitably make them. Populists often criticize such compromises, as compromising implies that an ideal outcome will not be achieved. In general, political compromises evoke strong emotions, particularly when they are perceived as problematic—morally or otherwise. In this paper, I will examine whether the moral norms that govern compromise are specific to it. I evaluate…
The Matthew Effect and Ethics
The unequal distribution of goods seems to be a permanent phenomenon both nationally and globally. Although the historical details of the roots of inequality may vary slightly from country to country, one of the main causes is the so‐called ‘Matthew effect’, which refers to the accumulation of advantages. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. In this paper, I argue that although the Matthew effect has a bad moral reputation, this effect i…
Distribution and ignorance
According to the so-called presumption of equality, a person who does not know whether there is an acceptable reason for differential treatment should just presume the similarity of the cases and treat them equally. If we assume that the presumption of equality is an acceptable moral principle, at least when the allocation cannot be postponed and an equal distribution of goods is possible, then an important question arises: when exactly does the …
On the Nontechnical Limits of Brain Imaging
Since the advent of neuroimaging technologies, their limits and possibilities have captivated scientists and philosophers. Thus far, the debate has largely concerned technical limits of our capacity to “read minds.” This paper extends the discussion concerning the limitations of neuroimaging to issues that are not dependent on technical issues or on our understanding of the complexity of brain activities. The author argues that there is a serious…
Black magic and respecting persons—Some perplexities
Black magic (henceforth BM) is acting in an attempt to harm human beings through supernatural means. Examples include the employment of spells, the use of special curses, the burning of objects related to the purported victim, and the use of pins with voodoo dolls. For the sake of simplicity, we shall focus on attempts to kill through BM. The moral attitude towards BM has not been, as far as we know, significantly discussed in contemporary analyt…
On the presumption of equality
According to the presumption of equality, cases should be presumed to be similar when it is not known whether they are similar or different. When an allocative agent is unaware either of the appropriate distributive criterion or people’s relevant features (or both) and she cannot postpone the allocation, then she should distribute goods equally. I explore the nature and justification of the presumption of equality and bring out how commentators h…
Forgiveness, tolerance, and genetic enhancement
Privacy and Self-Presentation
The Ethics of Alien Attitudes
1. IntroductionPeople do not always really believe what they take themselves to believe. A person may sincerely say that a certain racist belief is definitively false, but still hold such a belief. When asked what he believes about something, it is likely that he simply expresses his opinion about the issue in question, and this reveals what he takes himself to believe, but not necessarily what he really believes. In some cases, however, a person…
The Ethics of Conspiracy Theorizing
On Political Conspiracy Theories
I analyze the view that most political conspiracy theories should be rejected on the grounds that they embody "an almost nihilistic degree of skepticism". This view has been widely criticized, but I will aim to show that the objections presented so far are not wholly convincing. I will argue that the claim that most conspiracy theorists end in making claims of larger and larger conspiracies is mistaken, as the empirical evidence concerning conspi…
From the Guest Editor
This special issue of Trames delves into the problems of global ethics with a collection of eight papers dedicated to the topic. Most of the authors of the papers are trained philosophers, and therefore their approach is conceptual and normative rather than purely empirical. This collection grew out of a workshop on Global Ethics that took place in Rovaniemi, Lapland, in May 24-25, 2007
Pogge on global poverty
Thomas Pogge has recently defended additional ways in which to eradicate poverty from the developing world. In this article, Pogge's argument is discussed. First the premises on which Pogge relies are summarized and the logic of ‘international borrowing privilege’ introduced. Then it is argued that Pogge's solutions to the poverty problem would face similar difficulties to many other solutions—that is, in order to work properly they all must gain…
The Role of Prohibitions in Ethics
The self-fulfilling prophecies and global inequality
In this paper I will discuss the causes of global inequality. I will argue that there may be other important reasons for poverty than Western selfishness. Further, I will claim that most Western people believe that for one reason or another it is practically impossible to eradicate poverty, and that this shared belief itself may be a cause for why it is practically impossible to eradicate it in the near future. The question is about an unfortunat…
The Argument From Truth as a Basis for Legislation Concerning Freedom of Speech
In recent discussion on free speech the so-called argument from truth has been evaluated from various critical perspectives. In this paper I would like to comment on some of the recent contributions. I shall argue that it is not necessarily a problem for the argument from truth that it works into two directions in the sense that it can justify both the freedom of speech and its limitations. I shall also try to show that "monistic" theories of fre…
The Repugnant Conclusion and the Welfare of Actual People
According to Derek Parfit's well‐known argument, a version of utilitarian moral theory implies the so‐called Repugnant Conclusion. This version of utilitarianism states that other things being equal, it is better if there is a greater total sum of whatever makes life worth living. This view appears to implicate that a world where there is an immense total sum of whatever makes life worth living but where individual people have an exceedingly low …
Coercive population policies, procreative freedom, and morality
I shall briefly evaluate the common claim that ethically acceptable population policies must let individuals to decide freely on the number of their children. I shall ask, first, what exactly is the relation between population policies that we find intuitively appealing, on the one hand, and population policies that maximize procreative freedom, on the other, and second, what is the relation between population policies that we tend to reject on m…
Social Criticism as a Social Practice
In this paper I will analyse the notion of social criticism. I will follow a three-step strategy
The Problem of the Second Best
In this article I shall undertake a preliminary exploration of the notion of second best. I shall follow a three-step strategy. First, I shall introduce some applications of the theorem of the second best in different fields of philosophy and social sciences. Secondly, I shall make several conceptual distinctions related to the theorem. I aim to show that there are certain theoretical results that are similar but not identical to the theorem of t…
The Feasibility Condition in Political Theory
Do We Need Minority Rights? Conceptual Issues
Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (VRÜ)" analysiert die Verfassungs- und Rechtsentwicklung in den Staaten Asiens, Afrikas und Lateinamerikas sowie deren regionale wie internationale Einbindung. Die Zeitschrift widmet sich verfassungsvergleichend Regionen ausserhalb Europas unter Einbeziehung theoretischer und methodischer Grundlagen. Gegründet 1968 und inspiriert von Dekolonialisation und kooperativem Aufbruch veröffentlicht sie nicht zuletzt Unter…
Do We Need Minority Rights?
The title of this volume is the critical and provocative question - do we need minority rights? - in order to announce that it does make sense to ask whether there are special obligations to minority protection. The following essays, none of which is published elsewhere, explore several of the many important philosophical questions about minority protection, as well as the practical and judicial problems related to certain answers. The first four…
On Disassociating Oneself from Collective Responsiblity
Soulevant le probleme de la relation entre la responsabilite individuelle et la responsabilite collective au sein d'une groupe ethnique, culturel ou national, ayant commis un acte reprehensible, l'A. montre que le fait de s'opposer individuellement a la conduite blâmable d'un groupe n'est pas un moyen suffisant pour eviter la responsabilite qui incombe a chaque membre du groupe
The Feasibility Condition in Political Theory
On Political Conspiracy Theories
I analyze the view that most political conspiracy theories should be rejected on the grounds that they embody "an almost nihilistic degree of skepticism". This view has been widely criticized, but I will aim to show that the objections presented so far are not wholly convincing. I will argue that the claim that most conspiracy theorists end in making claims of larger and larger conspiracies is mistaken, as the empirical evidence concerning conspi…
The self-fulfilling prophecies and global inequality
In this paper I will discuss the causes of global inequality. I will argue that there may be other important reasons for poverty than Western selfishness. Further, I will claim that most Western people believe that for one reason or another it is practically impossible to eradicate poverty, and that this shared belief itself may be a cause for why it is practically impossible to eradicate it in the near future. The question is about an unfortunat…
Coercive population policies, procreative freedom, and morality
I shall briefly evaluate the common claim that ethically acceptable population policies must let individuals to decide freely on the number of their children. I shall ask, first, what exactly is the relation between population policies that we find intuitively appealing, on the one hand, and population policies that maximize procreative freedom, on the other, and second, what is the relation between population policies that we tend to reject on m…
Do We Need Minority Rights? Conceptual Issues
Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (VRÜ)" analysiert die Verfassungs- und Rechtsentwicklung in den Staaten Asiens, Afrikas und Lateinamerikas sowie deren regionale wie internationale Einbindung. Die Zeitschrift widmet sich verfassungsvergleichend Regionen ausserhalb Europas unter Einbeziehung theoretischer und methodischer Grundlagen. Gegründet 1968 und inspiriert von Dekolonialisation und kooperativem Aufbruch veröffentlicht sie nicht zuletzt Unter…
On the presumption of equality
According to the presumption of equality, cases should be presumed to be similar when it is not known whether they are similar or different. When an allocative agent is unaware either of the appropriate distributive criterion or people’s relevant features (or both) and she cannot postpone the allocation, then she should distribute goods equally. I explore the nature and justification of the presumption of equality and bring out how commentators h…
The Problem of the Second Best
In this article I shall undertake a preliminary exploration of the notion of second best. I shall follow a three-step strategy. First, I shall introduce some applications of the theorem of the second best in different fields of philosophy and social sciences. Secondly, I shall make several conceptual distinctions related to the theorem. I aim to show that there are certain theoretical results that are similar but not identical to the theorem of t…
Do We Need Minority Rights?
The title of this volume is the critical and provocative question - do we need minority rights? - in order to announce that it does make sense to ask whether there are special obligations to minority protection. The following essays, none of which is published elsewhere, explore several of the many important philosophical questions about minority protection, as well as the practical and judicial problems related to certain answers. The first four…
On Disassociating Oneself from Collective Responsiblity
Soulevant le probleme de la relation entre la responsabilite individuelle et la responsabilite collective au sein d'une groupe ethnique, culturel ou national, ayant commis un acte reprehensible, l'A. montre que le fait de s'opposer individuellement a la conduite blâmable d'un groupe n'est pas un moyen suffisant pour eviter la responsabilite qui incombe a chaque membre du groupe
The Feasibility Condition in Political Theory
Do We Need Minority Rights? Conceptual Issues
Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (VRÜ)" analysiert die Verfassungs- und Rechtsentwicklung in den Staaten Asiens, Afrikas und Lateinamerikas sowie deren regionale wie internationale Einbindung. Die Zeitschrift widmet sich verfassungsvergleichend Regionen ausserhalb Europas unter Einbeziehung theoretischer und methodischer Grundlagen. Gegründet 1968 und inspiriert von Dekolonialisation und kooperativem Aufbruch veröffentlicht sie nicht zuletzt Unter…
Social Criticism as a Social Practice
In this paper I will analyse the notion of social criticism. I will follow a three-step strategy
The Problem of the Second Best
In this article I shall undertake a preliminary exploration of the notion of second best. I shall follow a three-step strategy. First, I shall introduce some applications of the theorem of the second best in different fields of philosophy and social sciences. Secondly, I shall make several conceptual distinctions related to the theorem. I aim to show that there are certain theoretical results that are similar but not identical to the theorem of t…
Coercive population policies, procreative freedom, and morality
I shall briefly evaluate the common claim that ethically acceptable population policies must let individuals to decide freely on the number of their children. I shall ask, first, what exactly is the relation between population policies that we find intuitively appealing, on the one hand, and population policies that maximize procreative freedom, on the other, and second, what is the relation between population policies that we tend to reject on m…
The Repugnant Conclusion and the Welfare of Actual People
According to Derek Parfit's well‐known argument, a version of utilitarian moral theory implies the so‐called Repugnant Conclusion. This version of utilitarianism states that other things being equal, it is better if there is a greater total sum of whatever makes life worth living. This view appears to implicate that a world where there is an immense total sum of whatever makes life worth living but where individual people have an exceedingly low …
The Argument From Truth as a Basis for Legislation Concerning Freedom of Speech
In recent discussion on free speech the so-called argument from truth has been evaluated from various critical perspectives. In this paper I would like to comment on some of the recent contributions. I shall argue that it is not necessarily a problem for the argument from truth that it works into two directions in the sense that it can justify both the freedom of speech and its limitations. I shall also try to show that "monistic" theories of fre…
The self-fulfilling prophecies and global inequality
In this paper I will discuss the causes of global inequality. I will argue that there may be other important reasons for poverty than Western selfishness. Further, I will claim that most Western people believe that for one reason or another it is practically impossible to eradicate poverty, and that this shared belief itself may be a cause for why it is practically impossible to eradicate it in the near future. The question is about an unfortunat…
The Role of Prohibitions in Ethics
Pogge on global poverty
Thomas Pogge has recently defended additional ways in which to eradicate poverty from the developing world. In this article, Pogge's argument is discussed. First the premises on which Pogge relies are summarized and the logic of ‘international borrowing privilege’ introduced. Then it is argued that Pogge's solutions to the poverty problem would face similar difficulties to many other solutions—that is, in order to work properly they all must gain…
From the Guest Editor
This special issue of Trames delves into the problems of global ethics with a collection of eight papers dedicated to the topic. Most of the authors of the papers are trained philosophers, and therefore their approach is conceptual and normative rather than purely empirical. This collection grew out of a workshop on Global Ethics that took place in Rovaniemi, Lapland, in May 24-25, 2007
On Political Conspiracy Theories
I analyze the view that most political conspiracy theories should be rejected on the grounds that they embody "an almost nihilistic degree of skepticism". This view has been widely criticized, but I will aim to show that the objections presented so far are not wholly convincing. I will argue that the claim that most conspiracy theorists end in making claims of larger and larger conspiracies is mistaken, as the empirical evidence concerning conspi…
The Ethics of Conspiracy Theorizing
The Ethics of Alien Attitudes
1. IntroductionPeople do not always really believe what they take themselves to believe. A person may sincerely say that a certain racist belief is definitively false, but still hold such a belief. When asked what he believes about something, it is likely that he simply expresses his opinion about the issue in question, and this reveals what he takes himself to believe, but not necessarily what he really believes. In some cases, however, a person…
Forgiveness, tolerance, and genetic enhancement
Privacy and Self-Presentation
On the presumption of equality
According to the presumption of equality, cases should be presumed to be similar when it is not known whether they are similar or different. When an allocative agent is unaware either of the appropriate distributive criterion or people’s relevant features (or both) and she cannot postpone the allocation, then she should distribute goods equally. I explore the nature and justification of the presumption of equality and bring out how commentators h…
On the Nontechnical Limits of Brain Imaging
Since the advent of neuroimaging technologies, their limits and possibilities have captivated scientists and philosophers. Thus far, the debate has largely concerned technical limits of our capacity to “read minds.” This paper extends the discussion concerning the limitations of neuroimaging to issues that are not dependent on technical issues or on our understanding of the complexity of brain activities. The author argues that there is a serious…
Black magic and respecting persons—Some perplexities
Black magic (henceforth BM) is acting in an attempt to harm human beings through supernatural means. Examples include the employment of spells, the use of special curses, the burning of objects related to the purported victim, and the use of pins with voodoo dolls. For the sake of simplicity, we shall focus on attempts to kill through BM. The moral attitude towards BM has not been, as far as we know, significantly discussed in contemporary analyt…
Distribution and ignorance
According to the so-called presumption of equality, a person who does not know whether there is an acceptable reason for differential treatment should just presume the similarity of the cases and treat them equally. If we assume that the presumption of equality is an acceptable moral principle, at least when the allocation cannot be postponed and an equal distribution of goods is possible, then an important question arises: when exactly does the …
The Matthew Effect and Ethics
The unequal distribution of goods seems to be a permanent phenomenon both nationally and globally. Although the historical details of the roots of inequality may vary slightly from country to country, one of the main causes is the so‐called ‘Matthew effect’, which refers to the accumulation of advantages. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. In this paper, I argue that although the Matthew effect has a bad moral reputation, this effect i…
Good and Bad Political Compromises
Political compromises are common. Parties that seek to influence society must inevitably make them. Populists often criticize such compromises, as compromising implies that an ideal outcome will not be achieved. In general, political compromises evoke strong emotions, particularly when they are perceived as problematic—morally or otherwise. In this paper, I will examine whether the moral norms that govern compromise are specific to it. I evaluate…
Political science (16 works) · Law (14 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works)