Javier Hidalgo
Biographic Data
| ID | 3873243 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Javier Hidalgo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Javier |
| FAMILY NAME | Hidalgo |
| SIGNATURE | HIDALGO J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Richmond |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5539-492X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 32 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Yogācāra and Impartial Compassion
Yogācāra is a tradition of Buddhist philosophy that made important contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, and logic. While contemporary philosophers have engaged with these aspects of Yogācāra, few authors have explored the implications of Yogācāra for moral theory. In this paper, I aim to fill this gap by constructing an argument for impartial benevolence or compassion that draws on the resources of the Yogācāra tradition. According to an i…
Only libertarianism can provide a robust justification for open borders
This paper argues that libertarianism—and only libertarianism—can vindicate immigration's status as a human right whose protection is morally required in nearly all circumstances. Competing political theories such as liberal egalitarianism fail to rule out significant immigration restrictions in a range of realistic conditions. We begin by outlining the core tenets of libertarianism and their implications for immigration policy. Next, we explain …
Empty or Emergent Persons? A Critique of Buddhist Personalism
In contrast to Buddhist Reductionists who deny the ultimate existence of the persons, Buddhist Personalists claim that persons are ultimately real in some important sense. Recently, some philosophers have offered philosophical reconstructions of Buddhist Personalism. In this paper, I critically evaluate one philosophical reconstruction of Buddhist Personalism according to which persons are irreducible to the parts that constitute them. Instead, p…
An Abhidharmic theory of welfare
Do Buddhist philosophical commitments support a particular theory of well-being? Most authors who have examined this question argue that Buddhist ideas are compatible with multiple theories of well-being. In this paper, I contend that one tradition of Buddhist philosophy—Abhidharma—does imply a specific theory of welfare. In particular, Abhidharma supports hedonism. Most Ābhidharmikas claim that only property-particulars called dharmas ultimately…
Buddhist Error Theory
The ethics of resisting immigration law
States heavily restrict immigration, and many people violate these restrictions. For example, unauthorized immigrants cross borders without official permission, and other actors, such as people smugglers, assist them in doing so. How should we evaluate resistance to immigration law from a moral perspective? In this article, I survey recent work on the ethics of resisting immigration law. In particular, I examine three categories of resistance to …
Unjust Borders: Individuals and the Ethics of Immigration
States restrict immigration on a massive scale. Governments fortify their borders with walls and fences, authorize border patrols, imprison migrants in detention centers, and deport large numbers of foreigners. Unjust Borders: Individuals and the Ethics of Immigration argues that immigration restrictions are systematically unjust and examines how individual actors should respond to this injustice. Javier Hidalgo maintains that individuals can rig…
Selling Citizenship: A Defence
Many people think that citizenship should not be for sale. On their view, it is morally wrong for states to sell citizenship to foreigners. In this article, I challenge this view. I argue that it is in principle permissible for states to sell citizenship. I contend that, if states can permissibly deny foreigners access to citizenship in some cases, then states can permissibly give foreigners the option of buying citizenship in these cases. Furthe…
The Duty to Disobey Immigration Law
Many political theorists argue that immigration restrictions are unjust and defend broadly open borders. In this paper, I examine the implications of this view for individual conduct. In particular, I argue that the citizens of states that enforce unjust immigration restrictions have duties to disobey certain immigration laws. States conscript their citizens to help enforce immigration law by imposing legal duties on these citizens to monitor, re…
Liberalism or Immigration Restrictions, But Not Both
This paper argues for a dilemma: you can accept liberalism or immigration restrictions, but not both. More specifically, the standard arguments for restricting freedom of movement apply equally to textbook liberal freedoms, such as freedom of speech, religion, occupation and reproductive choice. We begin with a sketch of liberalism’s core principles and an argument for why freedom of movement is plausibly on a par with other liberal freedoms. Nex…
The ethics of people smuggling
People smugglers help transport migrants across international borders without authorization and in return for compensation. Many people object to people smuggling and believe that the smuggling of migrants is an evil trade. In this paper, I offer a qualified defense of people smuggling. In particular, I argue that people smuggling that assists refugees in escaping threats to their rights can be morally justified. I then rebut the objections that …
The case for the international governance of immigration
States have rights to unilaterally determine their own immigration policies under international law and few international institutions regulate states’ decision-making about immigration. As a result, states have extensive discretion over immigration policy. In this paper, I argue that states should join international migration institutions that would constrain their discretion over immigration. Immigration restrictions are morally risky. When sta…
Resistance to Unjust Immigration Restrictions
State employees use force or the threat of force to restrict immigration. 1 Border guards forcibly detain and incarcerate foreigners who immigrate without state approval.When migrants evade or resist immigration restrictions, border agents sometimes deploy tasers to incapacitate migrants, pepper spray them, shoot them with rubber bullets, and, less frequently, beat migrants with batons, and even fire live ammunition at them. 2 Thousands of migran…
Immigration Restrictions and the Right to Avoid Unwanted Obligations
Michael Blake presents a novel argument for the claim that, if states have obligations to protect the human rights of everyone in their jurisdiction, then some immigration restrictions are morally justified. Blake argues that citizens acquire new obligations to protect the human rights of immigrants once these immigrants enter a state’s territorial jurisdiction. But Blake contends that people have rights to avoid unwanted obligations and that cit…
Why Restrictions on the Immigration of Health Workers Are Unjust
Some bioethicists and political philosophers argue that rich states should restrict the immigration of health workers from poor countries in order to prevent harm to people in these countries. In this essay, I argue that restrictions on the immigration of health workers are unjust, even if this immigration results in bad health outcomes for people in poor countries. I contend that negative duties to refrain from interfering with the occupational …
Self-determination, immigration restrictions, and the problem of compatriot deportation
Several political theorists argue that states have rights to self-determination and these rights justify immigration restrictions. Call this: the self-determination argument for immigration restrictions. In this article, I develop an objection to the self-determination argument. I argue that if it is morally permissible for states to restrict immigration because they have rights to self-determination, then it can also be morally permissible for s…
Associative Duties and Immigration
This paper evaluates an argument for immigration restrictions that appeals to the costs that immigration imposes on the citizens of a recipient state. According to this argument, citizens have associative duties to protect each other’s interests, immigration can damage these interests in certain cases, and the associative duties between compatriots justify immigration restrictions in these cases. Call this: the partiality argument for immigration…
Freedom, immigration, and adequate options
According to the freedom argument for open borders, immigration restrictions are generally unjust because these restrictions infringe on important freedoms, such as freedom of association and the economic liberties. Some authors have objected to the freedom argument by claiming that potential immigrants only have rights to sufficient options to live decent or autonomous lives and, consequently, states can permissibly prevent people from immigrati…
Resistance to Unjust Immigration Restrictions
State employees use force or the threat of force to restrict immigration. 1 Border guards forcibly detain and incarcerate foreigners who immigrate without state approval.When migrants evade or resist immigration restrictions, border agents sometimes deploy tasers to incapacitate migrants, pepper spray them, shoot them with rubber bullets, and, less frequently, beat migrants with batons, and even fire live ammunition at them. 2 Thousands of migran…
The case for the international governance of immigration
States have rights to unilaterally determine their own immigration policies under international law and few international institutions regulate states’ decision-making about immigration. As a result, states have extensive discretion over immigration policy. In this paper, I argue that states should join international migration institutions that would constrain their discretion over immigration. Immigration restrictions are morally risky. When sta…
Freedom, immigration, and adequate options
According to the freedom argument for open borders, immigration restrictions are generally unjust because these restrictions infringe on important freedoms, such as freedom of association and the economic liberties. Some authors have objected to the freedom argument by claiming that potential immigrants only have rights to sufficient options to live decent or autonomous lives and, consequently, states can permissibly prevent people from immigrati…
Self-determination, immigration restrictions, and the problem of compatriot deportation
Several political theorists argue that states have rights to self-determination and these rights justify immigration restrictions. Call this: the self-determination argument for immigration restrictions. In this article, I develop an objection to the self-determination argument. I argue that if it is morally permissible for states to restrict immigration because they have rights to self-determination, then it can also be morally permissible for s…
The ethics of people smuggling
People smugglers help transport migrants across international borders without authorization and in return for compensation. Many people object to people smuggling and believe that the smuggling of migrants is an evil trade. In this paper, I offer a qualified defense of people smuggling. In particular, I argue that people smuggling that assists refugees in escaping threats to their rights can be morally justified. I then rebut the objections that …
Freedom, immigration, and adequate options
According to the freedom argument for open borders, immigration restrictions are generally unjust because these restrictions infringe on important freedoms, such as freedom of association and the economic liberties. Some authors have objected to the freedom argument by claiming that potential immigrants only have rights to sufficient options to live decent or autonomous lives and, consequently, states can permissibly prevent people from immigrati…
Associative Duties and Immigration
This paper evaluates an argument for immigration restrictions that appeals to the costs that immigration imposes on the citizens of a recipient state. According to this argument, citizens have associative duties to protect each other’s interests, immigration can damage these interests in certain cases, and the associative duties between compatriots justify immigration restrictions in these cases. Call this: the partiality argument for immigration…
Immigration Restrictions and the Right to Avoid Unwanted Obligations
Michael Blake presents a novel argument for the claim that, if states have obligations to protect the human rights of everyone in their jurisdiction, then some immigration restrictions are morally justified. Blake argues that citizens acquire new obligations to protect the human rights of immigrants once these immigrants enter a state’s territorial jurisdiction. But Blake contends that people have rights to avoid unwanted obligations and that cit…
Why Restrictions on the Immigration of Health Workers Are Unjust
Some bioethicists and political philosophers argue that rich states should restrict the immigration of health workers from poor countries in order to prevent harm to people in these countries. In this essay, I argue that restrictions on the immigration of health workers are unjust, even if this immigration results in bad health outcomes for people in poor countries. I contend that negative duties to refrain from interfering with the occupational …
Self-determination, immigration restrictions, and the problem of compatriot deportation
Several political theorists argue that states have rights to self-determination and these rights justify immigration restrictions. Call this: the self-determination argument for immigration restrictions. In this article, I develop an objection to the self-determination argument. I argue that if it is morally permissible for states to restrict immigration because they have rights to self-determination, then it can also be morally permissible for s…
The case for the international governance of immigration
States have rights to unilaterally determine their own immigration policies under international law and few international institutions regulate states’ decision-making about immigration. As a result, states have extensive discretion over immigration policy. In this paper, I argue that states should join international migration institutions that would constrain their discretion over immigration. Immigration restrictions are morally risky. When sta…
Resistance to Unjust Immigration Restrictions
State employees use force or the threat of force to restrict immigration. 1 Border guards forcibly detain and incarcerate foreigners who immigrate without state approval.When migrants evade or resist immigration restrictions, border agents sometimes deploy tasers to incapacitate migrants, pepper spray them, shoot them with rubber bullets, and, less frequently, beat migrants with batons, and even fire live ammunition at them. 2 Thousands of migran…
Selling Citizenship: A Defence
Many people think that citizenship should not be for sale. On their view, it is morally wrong for states to sell citizenship to foreigners. In this article, I challenge this view. I argue that it is in principle permissible for states to sell citizenship. I contend that, if states can permissibly deny foreigners access to citizenship in some cases, then states can permissibly give foreigners the option of buying citizenship in these cases. Furthe…
The Duty to Disobey Immigration Law
Many political theorists argue that immigration restrictions are unjust and defend broadly open borders. In this paper, I examine the implications of this view for individual conduct. In particular, I argue that the citizens of states that enforce unjust immigration restrictions have duties to disobey certain immigration laws. States conscript their citizens to help enforce immigration law by imposing legal duties on these citizens to monitor, re…
Liberalism or Immigration Restrictions, But Not Both
This paper argues for a dilemma: you can accept liberalism or immigration restrictions, but not both. More specifically, the standard arguments for restricting freedom of movement apply equally to textbook liberal freedoms, such as freedom of speech, religion, occupation and reproductive choice. We begin with a sketch of liberalism’s core principles and an argument for why freedom of movement is plausibly on a par with other liberal freedoms. Nex…
The ethics of people smuggling
People smugglers help transport migrants across international borders without authorization and in return for compensation. Many people object to people smuggling and believe that the smuggling of migrants is an evil trade. In this paper, I offer a qualified defense of people smuggling. In particular, I argue that people smuggling that assists refugees in escaping threats to their rights can be morally justified. I then rebut the objections that …
Unjust Borders: Individuals and the Ethics of Immigration
States restrict immigration on a massive scale. Governments fortify their borders with walls and fences, authorize border patrols, imprison migrants in detention centers, and deport large numbers of foreigners. Unjust Borders: Individuals and the Ethics of Immigration argues that immigration restrictions are systematically unjust and examines how individual actors should respond to this injustice. Javier Hidalgo maintains that individuals can rig…
The ethics of resisting immigration law
States heavily restrict immigration, and many people violate these restrictions. For example, unauthorized immigrants cross borders without official permission, and other actors, such as people smugglers, assist them in doing so. How should we evaluate resistance to immigration law from a moral perspective? In this article, I survey recent work on the ethics of resisting immigration law. In particular, I examine three categories of resistance to …
Buddhist Error Theory
Empty or Emergent Persons? A Critique of Buddhist Personalism
In contrast to Buddhist Reductionists who deny the ultimate existence of the persons, Buddhist Personalists claim that persons are ultimately real in some important sense. Recently, some philosophers have offered philosophical reconstructions of Buddhist Personalism. In this paper, I critically evaluate one philosophical reconstruction of Buddhist Personalism according to which persons are irreducible to the parts that constitute them. Instead, p…
An Abhidharmic theory of welfare
Do Buddhist philosophical commitments support a particular theory of well-being? Most authors who have examined this question argue that Buddhist ideas are compatible with multiple theories of well-being. In this paper, I contend that one tradition of Buddhist philosophy—Abhidharma—does imply a specific theory of welfare. In particular, Abhidharma supports hedonism. Most Ābhidharmikas claim that only property-particulars called dharmas ultimately…
Only libertarianism can provide a robust justification for open borders
This paper argues that libertarianism—and only libertarianism—can vindicate immigration's status as a human right whose protection is morally required in nearly all circumstances. Competing political theories such as liberal egalitarianism fail to rule out significant immigration restrictions in a range of realistic conditions. We begin by outlining the core tenets of libertarianism and their implications for immigration policy. Next, we explain …
Yogācāra and Impartial Compassion
Yogācāra is a tradition of Buddhist philosophy that made important contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, and logic. While contemporary philosophers have engaged with these aspects of Yogācāra, few authors have explored the implications of Yogācāra for moral theory. In this paper, I aim to fill this gap by constructing an argument for impartial benevolence or compassion that draws on the resources of the Yogācāra tradition. According to an i…
Law (15 works) · Political science (15 works) · Immigration (14 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Law and economics (10 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (10 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (9 works) · Politics (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Law (6 works)