Étienne Brown
Biographic Data
| ID | 3698208 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Étienne Brown |
| GIVEN NAMES | Étienne |
| FAMILY NAME | Brown |
| SIGNATURE | BROWN E |
| AFFILIATIONS | San Jose State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1314-5068 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1942 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Recommended Selves
By allocating their attention to pieces of content, algorithmic filtering shapes the daily behavior of billions of users when they interact with a digital platform. Beyond conditioning what we do, can recommendation algorithms influence who we are? This article suggests that they do. Specifically, I contend that recommender systems affect users’ capacity to be their authentic selves in both positive and negative ways. I start by offering an accou…
Democracy Needs Reach
Free Speech and the Legal Prohibition of Fake News
Western European liberal democracies have recently enacted laws that prohibit the diffusion of fake news on social media. Yet, many consider that such laws are incompatible with freedom of expression. In this paper, I argue that democratic governments have strong pro tanto reasons to prohibit fake news, and that doing so is compatible with free speech. First, I show that fake news disrupts a mutually beneficial form of epistemic dependence in whi…
Kant’s Doctrine of the Highest Good
Kant’s discussion of the highest good is subject to continuous disagreement between the proponents of two interpretations of this concept. According to the secular interpretation, Kant conceived of the highest good as a political ideal which can be realized through human agency alone, albeit only from the Critique of the Power of Judgement onwards. By way of contrast, proponents of the theological interpretation find Kant’s treatment of the highe…
Disagreement, Epistemic Paralysis, and the Legitimacy of Technocracy
Jeffrey Friedman convincingly argues that technocrats may often lack the knowledge required to enact public policies that will effectively promote their consequentialist goals. Friedman’s argument is strong enough to produce technocratic paralysis, in many cases, but “epistemic gambles” may present a way out of this problem. His discussion of exitocracy also raises the question of how to square his internal form of technocratic critique with the …
Fake News and Conceptual Ethics
In a recent contribution to conceptual ethics, Joshua Habgood-Coote argues that philosophers should refrain from using the term “fake news,” which is commonly employed in public discussions focusing on the epistemic health of democracies. In this short discussion note, I take issue with this claim, discussing each of the three arguments advanced by Coote to support the conclusion that we should abandon this concept. First, I contend that although…
Political liberalism and the false neutrality objection
One central objection to philosophical defences of liberal neutrality is that many neutrally justified laws and policies are nonetheless discriminatory as they unilaterally impose costs or confer unearned privileges on the bearers of a particular conception of the good. Call this the false neutrality objection. While liberal neutralists seldom consider this objection to be a serious allegation, and often claim that it rests on a misunderstanding,…
Propaganda, Misinformation, and the Epistemic Value of Democracy
If citizens are to make enlightened collective decisions, they need to rely on true factual beliefs, but misinformation impairs their ability to do so. Although some cases of misinformation are deliberate and amount to propaganda, cases of inadvertent misinformation are just as problematic in affecting the beliefs and behavior of democratic citizens. A review of empirical evidence suggests that this is a serious issue that cannot entirely be addr…
Kantian Constructivism and the Normativity of Practical Identities
Many neo-Aristotelians argue that practical identities are normative, that is, they provide us with reasons for action and create binding obligations. Kantian constructivists agree with this insight but argue that contemporary Aristotelians fail to fully justify it. Practical identities are normative, Kantian constructivists contend, but their normativity necessarily derives from the normativity of humanity. In this paper, I shed light on this un…
Inégalités entre globalisation et particularisation
Comment rendre intelligibles les plus extrêmes des injustices actuelles à partir d’elles-mêmes, des inégalités liées à la pauvreté ou bien celles qui engagent des risques et des violences ? À rebours d’une démarche qui continuerait de voir une réponse suffisante dans de grands principes atemporels et universels, qui définissent des idéaux à leur opposer, ce livre s’emploie à cerner les limites des théories de la justice, ce à quoi se sont résumée…
Inégalités entre globalisation et particularisation
Comment rendre intelligibles les plus extrêmes des injustices actuelles à partir d’elles-mêmes, des inégalités liées à la pauvreté ou bien celles qui engagent des risques et des violences ? À rebours d’une démarche qui continuerait de voir une réponse suffisante dans de grands principes atemporels et universels, qui définissent des idéaux à leur opposer, ce livre s’emploie à cerner les limites des théories de la justice, ce à quoi se sont résumée…
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and the Normativity Challenge
Aristotelian virtue theorists are currently engaged in a discussion with philosophers who use psychological findings to question some of their main assumptions. In this article, I present and argue against one of these psychological challenges—Jesse Prinz’s Normativity Challenge—which rests on the claim that findings in cultural psychology contradict the Aristotelian thesis that the normativity of virtues derives from nature. First, I demonstrate…
A Note on the New Federal Reserve Board Index of Production
Propaganda, Misinformation, and the Epistemic Value of Democracy
If citizens are to make enlightened collective decisions, they need to rely on true factual beliefs, but misinformation impairs their ability to do so. Although some cases of misinformation are deliberate and amount to propaganda, cases of inadvertent misinformation are just as problematic in affecting the beliefs and behavior of democratic citizens. A review of empirical evidence suggests that this is a serious issue that cannot entirely be addr…
Kantian Constructivism and the Normativity of Practical Identities
Many neo-Aristotelians argue that practical identities are normative, that is, they provide us with reasons for action and create binding obligations. Kantian constructivists agree with this insight but argue that contemporary Aristotelians fail to fully justify it. Practical identities are normative, Kantian constructivists contend, but their normativity necessarily derives from the normativity of humanity. In this paper, I shed light on this un…
Political liberalism and the false neutrality objection
One central objection to philosophical defences of liberal neutrality is that many neutrally justified laws and policies are nonetheless discriminatory as they unilaterally impose costs or confer unearned privileges on the bearers of a particular conception of the good. Call this the false neutrality objection. While liberal neutralists seldom consider this objection to be a serious allegation, and often claim that it rests on a misunderstanding,…
A Note on the New Federal Reserve Board Index of Production
Inégalités entre globalisation et particularisation
Comment rendre intelligibles les plus extrêmes des injustices actuelles à partir d’elles-mêmes, des inégalités liées à la pauvreté ou bien celles qui engagent des risques et des violences ? À rebours d’une démarche qui continuerait de voir une réponse suffisante dans de grands principes atemporels et universels, qui définissent des idéaux à leur opposer, ce livre s’emploie à cerner les limites des théories de la justice, ce à quoi se sont résumée…
Inégalités entre globalisation et particularisation
Comment rendre intelligibles les plus extrêmes des injustices actuelles à partir d’elles-mêmes, des inégalités liées à la pauvreté ou bien celles qui engagent des risques et des violences ? À rebours d’une démarche qui continuerait de voir une réponse suffisante dans de grands principes atemporels et universels, qui définissent des idéaux à leur opposer, ce livre s’emploie à cerner les limites des théories de la justice, ce à quoi se sont résumée…
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and the Normativity Challenge
Aristotelian virtue theorists are currently engaged in a discussion with philosophers who use psychological findings to question some of their main assumptions. In this article, I present and argue against one of these psychological challenges—Jesse Prinz’s Normativity Challenge—which rests on the claim that findings in cultural psychology contradict the Aristotelian thesis that the normativity of virtues derives from nature. First, I demonstrate…
Political liberalism and the false neutrality objection
One central objection to philosophical defences of liberal neutrality is that many neutrally justified laws and policies are nonetheless discriminatory as they unilaterally impose costs or confer unearned privileges on the bearers of a particular conception of the good. Call this the false neutrality objection. While liberal neutralists seldom consider this objection to be a serious allegation, and often claim that it rests on a misunderstanding,…
Propaganda, Misinformation, and the Epistemic Value of Democracy
If citizens are to make enlightened collective decisions, they need to rely on true factual beliefs, but misinformation impairs their ability to do so. Although some cases of misinformation are deliberate and amount to propaganda, cases of inadvertent misinformation are just as problematic in affecting the beliefs and behavior of democratic citizens. A review of empirical evidence suggests that this is a serious issue that cannot entirely be addr…
Kantian Constructivism and the Normativity of Practical Identities
Many neo-Aristotelians argue that practical identities are normative, that is, they provide us with reasons for action and create binding obligations. Kantian constructivists agree with this insight but argue that contemporary Aristotelians fail to fully justify it. Practical identities are normative, Kantian constructivists contend, but their normativity necessarily derives from the normativity of humanity. In this paper, I shed light on this un…
Fake News and Conceptual Ethics
In a recent contribution to conceptual ethics, Joshua Habgood-Coote argues that philosophers should refrain from using the term “fake news,” which is commonly employed in public discussions focusing on the epistemic health of democracies. In this short discussion note, I take issue with this claim, discussing each of the three arguments advanced by Coote to support the conclusion that we should abandon this concept. First, I contend that although…
Kant’s Doctrine of the Highest Good
Kant’s discussion of the highest good is subject to continuous disagreement between the proponents of two interpretations of this concept. According to the secular interpretation, Kant conceived of the highest good as a political ideal which can be realized through human agency alone, albeit only from the Critique of the Power of Judgement onwards. By way of contrast, proponents of the theological interpretation find Kant’s treatment of the highe…
Disagreement, Epistemic Paralysis, and the Legitimacy of Technocracy
Jeffrey Friedman convincingly argues that technocrats may often lack the knowledge required to enact public policies that will effectively promote their consequentialist goals. Friedman’s argument is strong enough to produce technocratic paralysis, in many cases, but “epistemic gambles” may present a way out of this problem. His discussion of exitocracy also raises the question of how to square his internal form of technocratic critique with the …
Free Speech and the Legal Prohibition of Fake News
Western European liberal democracies have recently enacted laws that prohibit the diffusion of fake news on social media. Yet, many consider that such laws are incompatible with freedom of expression. In this paper, I argue that democratic governments have strong pro tanto reasons to prohibit fake news, and that doing so is compatible with free speech. First, I show that fake news disrupts a mutually beneficial form of epistemic dependence in whi…
Recommended Selves
By allocating their attention to pieces of content, algorithmic filtering shapes the daily behavior of billions of users when they interact with a digital platform. Beyond conditioning what we do, can recommendation algorithms influence who we are? This article suggests that they do. Specifically, I contend that recommender systems affect users’ capacity to be their authentic selves in both positive and negative ways. I start by offering an accou…
Democracy Needs Reach
Philosophy (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (5 works) · Democracy (4 works) · Law and economics (4 works) · Misinformation and Its Impacts (4 works)