Michael Brownstein
Biographic Data
| ID | 1607796 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Brownstein |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Brownstein |
| SIGNATURE | BROWNSTEIN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0311-9536 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Somebody Should Do Something
A novel and scientific approach to creating transformative social change—and the surprising ways that each of us can help make a real difference. Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from our collective practices: laws, economies, history, culture, norms, and built environments. The dilemma is that there is no way to make structural c…
Change the People or Change the Policy? On the Moral Education of Antiracists
While those who take a "structuralist" approach to racial justice issues are right to call attention to the importance of social practices, laws, etc., they sometimes go too far by suggesting that antiracist efforts ought to focus on changing unjust social systems rather than changing individuals' minds. We argue that while the "either/or" thinking implied by this framing is intuitive and pervasive, it is misleading and self-undermining. We inste…
Individualism, Structuralism, and Climate Change
Scholars, journalists, and activists working on climate change often distinguish between “individual” and “structural” approaches to decarbonization. The former concern choices individuals can make to reduce their “personal carbon footprint” (e.g. eating less meat). The latter concern changes to institutions, laws, and other social structures. These two approaches are often framed as oppositional, representing a mutually exclusive forced choice b…
Philosophy’s other climate problem☆
Understanding Implicit Bias
What is the status of research on implicit bias? In light of meta‐analyses revealing ostensibly low average correlations between implicit measures and behavior, as well as various other psychometric concerns, criticism has become ubiquitous. We argue that while there are significant challenges and ample room for improvement, research on the causes, psychological properties, and behavioral effects of implicit bias continues to deserve a role in th…
The Implicit Mind
Heroes are often admired for their ability to act without having “one thought too many,” as Bernard Williams put it. Likewise, the unhesitating decisions of masterful athletes and artists are part of their fascination. Examples like these make clear that spontaneity can represent an ideal. However, recent literature in empirical psychology has shown how vulnerable our spontaneous inclinations can be to bias, shortsightedness, and irrationality. H…
The Habit Stance
While it is clear that implicit attitudes are malleable, there is much to learn about the most effective techniques for changing them. This chapter examines three general approaches that increasingly appear to be well supported in both lab-based and field studies. The chapter considers the importance of rote practice, pre-commitment, and context regulation. Each represents a different element of adopting the “habit stance,” a way of cultivating m…
Implicit Bias and Philosophy, Volume 1
Implicit Bias and Philosophy Vol. 1
Implicit Bias and Philosophy, Volume 2
At the University of Sheffield between 2011 and 2012, a leading group of philosophers, psychologists, and others gathered to explore the nature and significance of implicit bias. The two volumes of Implicit Bias and Philosophy emerge from these workshops. Each volume philosophically examines core areas of psychological research on implicit bias as well as the ramifications of implicit bias for core areas of philosophy. Volume II: Moral Responsibi…
Doing without believing
Ethical Automaticity
Social psychologists tell us that much of human behavior is automatic. It is natural to think that automatic behavioral dispositions are ethically desirable if and only if they are suitably governed by an agent’s reflective judgments. However, we identify a class of automatic dispositions that make normatively self-standing contributions to praiseworthy action and a well-lived life, independently of, or even in spite of, an agent’s reflective jud…
Conceptuality and Practical Action
In their recent debate, Hubert Dreyfus rejects John McDowell’s claim that perception is permeated with “mindedness” and argues instead that ordinary embodied coping is largely “nonconceptual.” This argument has important, yet largely unacknowledged consequences for normative social theory, which this article demonstrates through a critique of Charles Taylor’s Verstehen thesis. If Dreyfus is right that “the enemy of expertise is thought,” then Tay…
Merleau-Ponty Between Subjectivity and Power
Merleau-Ponty Between Subjectivity and Power Michael Brownstein (bio) Diana Coole. Merleau-Ponty and Modern Politics After Anti-Humanism. Plymouth, UK: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007. 288 pages. $29.95 (pbk). ISBN: 0742533387 Existential phenomenology is political. This could be a scholastic claim, given the wide-ranging influence of canonical existential phenomenologists like Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty on prominent continental political theorists…
Traditional Japanese Theater
Part I. An Introduction to Traditional Japanese Theater Japanese Theater: A Living TraditionHistorical PerspectivesGeneral CharacteristicsThe StagesFour Figures of the Thunder God: Major GenresNoh: KamoKyogen: ThunderboltKabuki: Saint Narukami SceneBunraku: Mount Tenpai and Tumult in the PalacePart II. Noh and Kyogen Theaters Elements of PerformanceNoh PlaysAtsumori, by by ZeamiIzutsu, by by ZeamiMiideraShunkanDok okiYamamba, by by ZeamiKyogen Pl…
Doing without believing
Ethical Automaticity
Social psychologists tell us that much of human behavior is automatic. It is natural to think that automatic behavioral dispositions are ethically desirable if and only if they are suitably governed by an agent’s reflective judgments. However, we identify a class of automatic dispositions that make normatively self-standing contributions to praiseworthy action and a well-lived life, independently of, or even in spite of, an agent’s reflective jud…
Traditional Japanese Theater
Part I. An Introduction to Traditional Japanese Theater Japanese Theater: A Living TraditionHistorical PerspectivesGeneral CharacteristicsThe StagesFour Figures of the Thunder God: Major GenresNoh: KamoKyogen: ThunderboltKabuki: Saint Narukami SceneBunraku: Mount Tenpai and Tumult in the PalacePart II. Noh and Kyogen Theaters Elements of PerformanceNoh PlaysAtsumori, by by ZeamiIzutsu, by by ZeamiMiideraShunkanDok okiYamamba, by by ZeamiKyogen Pl…
Merleau-Ponty Between Subjectivity and Power
Merleau-Ponty Between Subjectivity and Power Michael Brownstein (bio) Diana Coole. Merleau-Ponty and Modern Politics After Anti-Humanism. Plymouth, UK: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007. 288 pages. $29.95 (pbk). ISBN: 0742533387 Existential phenomenology is political. This could be a scholastic claim, given the wide-ranging influence of canonical existential phenomenologists like Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty on prominent continental political theorists…
Conceptuality and Practical Action
In their recent debate, Hubert Dreyfus rejects John McDowell’s claim that perception is permeated with “mindedness” and argues instead that ordinary embodied coping is largely “nonconceptual.” This argument has important, yet largely unacknowledged consequences for normative social theory, which this article demonstrates through a critique of Charles Taylor’s Verstehen thesis. If Dreyfus is right that “the enemy of expertise is thought,” then Tay…
Ethical Automaticity
Social psychologists tell us that much of human behavior is automatic. It is natural to think that automatic behavioral dispositions are ethically desirable if and only if they are suitably governed by an agent’s reflective judgments. However, we identify a class of automatic dispositions that make normatively self-standing contributions to praiseworthy action and a well-lived life, independently of, or even in spite of, an agent’s reflective jud…
Implicit Bias and Philosophy, Volume 1
Implicit Bias and Philosophy Vol. 1
Implicit Bias and Philosophy, Volume 2
At the University of Sheffield between 2011 and 2012, a leading group of philosophers, psychologists, and others gathered to explore the nature and significance of implicit bias. The two volumes of Implicit Bias and Philosophy emerge from these workshops. Each volume philosophically examines core areas of psychological research on implicit bias as well as the ramifications of implicit bias for core areas of philosophy. Volume II: Moral Responsibi…
Doing without believing
The Implicit Mind
Heroes are often admired for their ability to act without having “one thought too many,” as Bernard Williams put it. Likewise, the unhesitating decisions of masterful athletes and artists are part of their fascination. Examples like these make clear that spontaneity can represent an ideal. However, recent literature in empirical psychology has shown how vulnerable our spontaneous inclinations can be to bias, shortsightedness, and irrationality. H…
The Habit Stance
While it is clear that implicit attitudes are malleable, there is much to learn about the most effective techniques for changing them. This chapter examines three general approaches that increasingly appear to be well supported in both lab-based and field studies. The chapter considers the importance of rote practice, pre-commitment, and context regulation. Each represents a different element of adopting the “habit stance,” a way of cultivating m…
Understanding Implicit Bias
What is the status of research on implicit bias? In light of meta‐analyses revealing ostensibly low average correlations between implicit measures and behavior, as well as various other psychometric concerns, criticism has become ubiquitous. We argue that while there are significant challenges and ample room for improvement, research on the causes, psychological properties, and behavioral effects of implicit bias continues to deserve a role in th…
Philosophy’s other climate problem☆
Individualism, Structuralism, and Climate Change
Scholars, journalists, and activists working on climate change often distinguish between “individual” and “structural” approaches to decarbonization. The former concern choices individuals can make to reduce their “personal carbon footprint” (e.g. eating less meat). The latter concern changes to institutions, laws, and other social structures. These two approaches are often framed as oppositional, representing a mutually exclusive forced choice b…
Change the People or Change the Policy? On the Moral Education of Antiracists
While those who take a "structuralist" approach to racial justice issues are right to call attention to the importance of social practices, laws, etc., they sometimes go too far by suggesting that antiracist efforts ought to focus on changing unjust social systems rather than changing individuals' minds. We argue that while the "either/or" thinking implied by this framing is intuitive and pervasive, it is misleading and self-undermining. We inste…
Somebody Should Do Something
A novel and scientific approach to creating transformative social change—and the surprising ways that each of us can help make a real difference. Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change, racism, and poverty, are structural. They emerge from our collective practices: laws, economies, history, culture, norms, and built environments. The dilemma is that there is no way to make structural c…
Philosophy (10 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Implicit attitude (3 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (3 works)