Thomas Mulligan
Biographic Data
| ID | 1312759 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas Mulligan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Mulligan |
| SIGNATURE | MULLIGAN T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Georgetown University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9088-5249 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 15 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The Rational Response to Excessive Confidence
Conciliationism holds that it is rational to modify one’s beliefs in the face of disagreement. But extant conciliatory norms yield incorrect results in cases involving excessive confidence —cases in which one’s interlocutors are sure, or almost sure, that their opinions are correct. After explaining the problem of excessive confidence, I show that a Bayesian approach to Conciliationism handles the problem elegantly and effectively. Further, it ha…
Intuition about Justice: Desertist or Luck Egalitarian
Optimizing political influence: A jury theorem with dynamic competence and dependence
A Bayesian solution to Hallsson’s puzzle
Politics is rife with motivated cognition. People do not dispassionately engage with the evidence when they form political beliefs; they interpret it selectively, generating justifications for their desired conclusions and reasons why contrary evidence should be ignored. Moreover, research shows that epistemic ability (e.g. intelligence and familiarity with evidence) is correlated with motivated cognition. Bjørn Hallsson has pointed out that this…
How East Meets West: Justice and Consequences in Confucian Meritocracy
"Meritocracy" has historically been understood in two ways. The first is as an approach to governance. On this understanding, we seek to put meritorious (somehow defined) people into public office to the benefit of society. This understanding has its roots in Confucius, its scope is political offices, and its justification is consequentialist. The second understanding of "meritocracy" is as a theory of justice. We distribute in accordance with me…
Why not be a desertist?: Three arguments for desert and against luck egalitarianism
Many philosophers believe that luck egalitarianism captures “desert-like” intuitions about justice. Some even think that luck egalitariansm distributes goods in accordance with desert. In this paper, we argue that this is wrong. Desertism conflicts with luck egalitarianism in three important contexts, and, in these contexts, desertism renders the proper moral judgment. First, compared to desertism, luck egalitarianism is sometimes too stingy: it …
Should Current Generations Make Reparation for Slavery
Should Current Generations Make Reparation for Slavery?." Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 97(4), p. 847
Plural Voting for the Twenty-First Century
Recent political developments cast doubt on the wisdom of democratic decision-making. Brexit, the Colombian people's (initial) rejection of peace with the FARC, and the election of Donald Trump suggest that the time is right to explore alternatives to democracy. In this essay, I describe and defend the epistocratic system of government which is, given current theoretical and empirical knowledge, most likely to produce optimal political outcomes—o…
A Note on the Epistemology of Disagreement and Politics
On the Compatibility of Epistocracy and Public Reason
In "epistocratic" forms of government, political power is wielded by those who possess the knowledge relevant to good policymaking. Some democrats--notably, David Estlund--concede that epistocracy might produce better political outcomes than democracy but argue that epistocracy cannot be justified under public reason. These objections to epistocracy are unsound because they violate a viability constraint: they are also fatal to democracy and all …
Disagreement, peerhood, and three paradoxes of Conciliationism
The importance of intimacy to men living in a nursing home
Sexual interest, activity, and satisfaction among male nursing home residents
Sexuality and aging in male veterans: A cross-sectional study of interest, ability, and activity
Plural Voting for the Twenty-First Century
Recent political developments cast doubt on the wisdom of democratic decision-making. Brexit, the Colombian people's (initial) rejection of peace with the FARC, and the election of Donald Trump suggest that the time is right to explore alternatives to democracy. In this essay, I describe and defend the epistocratic system of government which is, given current theoretical and empirical knowledge, most likely to produce optimal political outcomes—o…
Disagreement, peerhood, and three paradoxes of Conciliationism
Should Current Generations Make Reparation for Slavery
Should Current Generations Make Reparation for Slavery?." Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 97(4), p. 847
Sexuality and aging in male veterans: A cross-sectional study of interest, ability, and activity
Sexual interest, activity, and satisfaction among male nursing home residents
Sexual interest, activity, and satisfaction among male nursing home residents
Sexuality and aging in male veterans: A cross-sectional study of interest, ability, and activity
The importance of intimacy to men living in a nursing home
On the Compatibility of Epistocracy and Public Reason
In "epistocratic" forms of government, political power is wielded by those who possess the knowledge relevant to good policymaking. Some democrats--notably, David Estlund--concede that epistocracy might produce better political outcomes than democracy but argue that epistocracy cannot be justified under public reason. These objections to epistocracy are unsound because they violate a viability constraint: they are also fatal to democracy and all …
Disagreement, peerhood, and three paradoxes of Conciliationism
A Note on the Epistemology of Disagreement and Politics
Plural Voting for the Twenty-First Century
Recent political developments cast doubt on the wisdom of democratic decision-making. Brexit, the Colombian people's (initial) rejection of peace with the FARC, and the election of Donald Trump suggest that the time is right to explore alternatives to democracy. In this essay, I describe and defend the epistocratic system of government which is, given current theoretical and empirical knowledge, most likely to produce optimal political outcomes—o…
Why not be a desertist?: Three arguments for desert and against luck egalitarianism
Many philosophers believe that luck egalitarianism captures “desert-like” intuitions about justice. Some even think that luck egalitariansm distributes goods in accordance with desert. In this paper, we argue that this is wrong. Desertism conflicts with luck egalitarianism in three important contexts, and, in these contexts, desertism renders the proper moral judgment. First, compared to desertism, luck egalitarianism is sometimes too stingy: it …
Should Current Generations Make Reparation for Slavery
Should Current Generations Make Reparation for Slavery?." Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 97(4), p. 847
How East Meets West: Justice and Consequences in Confucian Meritocracy
"Meritocracy" has historically been understood in two ways. The first is as an approach to governance. On this understanding, we seek to put meritorious (somehow defined) people into public office to the benefit of society. This understanding has its roots in Confucius, its scope is political offices, and its justification is consequentialist. The second understanding of "meritocracy" is as a theory of justice. We distribute in accordance with me…
A Bayesian solution to Hallsson’s puzzle
Politics is rife with motivated cognition. People do not dispassionately engage with the evidence when they form political beliefs; they interpret it selectively, generating justifications for their desired conclusions and reasons why contrary evidence should be ignored. Moreover, research shows that epistemic ability (e.g. intelligence and familiarity with evidence) is correlated with motivated cognition. Bjørn Hallsson has pointed out that this…
Intuition about Justice: Desertist or Luck Egalitarian
Optimizing political influence: A jury theorem with dynamic competence and dependence
The Rational Response to Excessive Confidence
Conciliationism holds that it is rational to modify one’s beliefs in the face of disagreement. But extant conciliatory norms yield incorrect results in cases involving excessive confidence —cases in which one’s interlocutors are sure, or almost sure, that their opinions are correct. After explaining the problem of excessive confidence, I show that a Bayesian approach to Conciliationism handles the problem elegantly and effectively. Further, it ha…
Philosophy (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Politics (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Clinical Psychology (3 works) · Medicine (3 works)