Reasonable Disagreement and the Neutralist Dilemma: Abortion and circumcision in Matthew Kramer’s Liberalism with Excellence

This paper starts by investigating the idea of reasonable disagreement. It then considers Matthew Kramer’s argument that there is no neutral solution available to the disagreement over abortion. The paper argues that Kramer’s account has wider application, and identifies a neutralist dilemma. The neutralist dilemma applies when, of two policy options available to the state, one is unreasonable. It follows that the state should enact only the reasonable policy. However, in a neutralist dilemma the fact of reasonable disagreement due to the burdens of judgment means that it is not possible for the state to act at all, whether legislating or not, without deviating from neutrality. The paper develops the concept of the neutralist dilemma and then applies it to another case discussed by Kramer: infant circumcision. The paper argues that the debate over infant circumcision can be framed as a neutralist dilemma, but that the most plausible resolution of the dilemma results in an argument in favour of the legal prohibition of the practice. This is a surprising result, since most liberal states do not restrict circumcision and since prohibition of circumcision might initially appear to be non-neutral or even illiberal; however it is consistent with the tenets of neutralist liberalism

Financial exclusion and banking regulation in the United Kingdom: A template analysis

This thesis examines the self-regulatory nature of the United Kingdom banking industry in relation to its effectiveness at promoting financial inclusion. This exploration is conducted through an examination of the changing culture of the banking industry from the 1600’s to the present day whilst considering the effect banking regulation has played on financial exclusion and exploring the expectation gap between bank delivery and customer expectation. The thesis also examines in detail the characteristics of financial exclusion within the United Kingdom in relation to the self-regulatory mechanism, which regulates the industry, namely the Banking Code. Furthermore the thesis questions whether banks have a social responsibility towards customers who experience financial exclusion or difficulties. This thesis uses template analysis in order to analyse data collected through interviews and surveys. Through template analysis the researcher has produced two main templates which can be used to illustrate the process of the development of financial exclusion and its relationship with banking regulation. Stemming from these templates the thesis puts forward four recommendations which could be adopted by the banking industry to help promote financial inclusion within the United Kingdom. The thesis makes two essential contributions to knowledge. The first is that financial exclusion has been explored using a novel methodology, namely, template analysis and a greater understanding of this social phenomenon has been uncovered. The second contribution to knowledge is that the research has shown there is an expectation gap between customer and banker which has arisen from the cultural evolution of the banking industry and in turn this has helped promulgate financial exclusion. Financial exclusion is therefore a complex and diverse problem. The findings in this thesis could be used for further research encompassing an international dimension as well as looking at other areas of the United Kingdom's financial service providers such as insurance. Therefore this piece of research can be used and adapted to examine further avenues of financial exclusion of a cross industry sector and global scale

Can You Ever Regulate the Virtual World Against Economic Crime?

The question of whether you can ever regulate the virtual world against economic crime is one which cannot be answered easily in practice or in theory. This paper examines this question as part of a much larger study into virtual economic crime. Economic crime and money laundering are occurring in many virtual worlds and to prevent them would have a positive impact on the negation of terrorist financing. However in order to prevent economic crime, the legal jurisdiction of virtual worlds must first be established. The paper examines the academic debate thriving between Internet separatist and inclusionist, outlining the philosophical approach of the paper in turn in order to discuss whether you can ever regulate against economic crime in virtual worlds.Â

Book review: virtual economies: design and analysis by Vili Lehdonvirta and Edward Castronova

Virtual Economies provides a comprehensive and thought provoking view of how economics is much more than its academic definition and how virtual world economies could be a starting point for rethinking the problems of the real world economies. This is an excellent and understandable approach to a dynamic and timely topic, writes Clare Chambers-Jones

Financial exclusion and banking regulations in the United Kingdom: a template analysis.

This thesis examines the self-regulatory nature of the United Kingdom banking industry in relation to its effectiveness at promoting financial inclusion. This exploration is conducted through an examination of the changing culture of the banking industry from the 1600's to the present day whilst considering the effect banking regulation has played on financial exclusion and exploring the expectation gap between bank delivery and customer expectation. The thesis also examines in detail the characteristics of financial exclusion within the United Kingdom in relation to the self-regulatory mechanism, which regulates the industry, namely the Banking Code. Furthermore the thesis questions whether banks have a social responsibility towards customers who experience financial exclusion or difficulties. This thesis uses template analysis in order to analyse data collected through interviews and surveys.Through template analysis the researcher hasproduced two main templates which can be used to illustrate the process of the development of financial exclusion and its relationship with banking regulation. Stemming from these templates the thqsis puts forward four recommendations which could be adopted by the banking industry to help promote financial inclusion within the United Kingdom. The thesis makes two essential contributions to knowledge. The first is that financial exclusion has been explored using a novel methodology, namely, template analysis and a greater understanding of this social phenomenon has been uncovered. The second contribution to knowledge is that the research has shown there is an expectation gap between customer and banker which has arisen from the cultural evolution of the banking industry and in turn this has helped promulgate financial exclusion. Financial exclusion is therefore a complex and diverse problem. The findings in this thesis could be used for further research encompassing an international dimension as well as looking at other areas of the United Kingdom's financial service providers such as insurance. Therefore this piece of research can be used and adapted to examine further avenues of financial exclusion of a cross industry sector and global scale

Can you ever regulate the virtual world against virtual economic crime

The question of whether you can ever regulate the virtual world against economic crime is one which cannot be answered easily in practice or in theory. This paper examines this question as part of a much larger study into virtual economic crime. Economic crime and money laundering are occurring in many virtual worlds and to prevent them would have a positive impact on the negation of terrorist financing. However in order to prevent economic crime, the legal jurisdiction of virtual worlds must first be established. The paper examines the academic debate thriving between Internet separatist and inclusionist, outlining the philosophical approach of the paper in turn in order to discuss whether you can ever regulate against economic crime in virtual worlds

What kind of dialogue do we need? Gender, deliberation and comprehensive values

Recent branches of political theory, including feminism, communitarianism, identity theory and difference theory, have criticised liberalism and liberal democratic politics for failing to recognise the importance of group diversity and identity. In response, political and democratic theorists have increasingly appealed to public deliberation as a means of resolving political questions. Deliberative democrats, for example, have sought to move beyond traditional understandings of democracy as a merely representative system by recasting it as a regime in which individual citizens determine policy outcomes and political decisions through their active participation in public dialogue with one another. Many liberals, meanwhile, have increasingly sought to ground liberal principles in agreements struck between participants in some form of deliberative process. That is, having taken on board claims about the importance of difference and identity to the ways in which people think and the values they hold, many liberal political theorists have felt the need to retreat from controversial commitments to substantive principles such as autonomy, and have instead grounded their theories in a more general commitment to public dialogue. Where liberalism was generally seen as either a perfectionist theory which stipulated the supremacy of certain values over others or a contractualist theory premised upon some appropriately modelled agreement between individuals bound by common standards of rationality, it is now increasingly seen as a deliberative theory rooted in inclusive dialogue among situated individuals. In making the transition from contractualism to deliberation, many liberals feel that they have developed a more effective way of justifying liberal principles in circumstances of diversity, by foregrounding inclusive, collective dialogue over hypothetical contracts and agreement models which require everyone to act and think in the same way

Financial exclusion and banking regulations in the United Kingdom : a template analysis

This thesis examines the self-regulatory nature of the United Kingdom banking industry in relation to its effectiveness at promoting financial inclusion. This exploration is conducted through an examination of the changing culture of the banking industry from the 1600's to the present day whilst considering the effect banking regulation has played on financial exclusion and exploring the expectation gap between bank delivery and customer expectation. The thesis also examines in detail the characteristics of financial exclusion within the United Kingdom in relation to the self-regulatory mechanism, which regulates the industry, namely the Banking Code. Furthermore the thesis questions whether banks have a social responsibility towards customers who experience financial exclusion or difficulties. This thesis uses template analysis in order to analyse data collected through interviews and surveys.Through template analysis the researcher hasproduced two main templates which can be used to illustrate the process of the development of financial exclusion and its relationship with banking regulation. Stemming from these templates the thqsis puts forward four recommendations which could be adopted by the banking industry to help promote financial inclusion within the United Kingdom. The thesis makes two essential contributions to knowledge. The first is that financial exclusion has been explored using a novel methodology, namely, template analysis and a greater understanding of this social phenomenon has been uncovered. The second contribution to knowledge is that the research has shown there is an expectation gap between customer and banker which has arisen from the cultural evolution of the banking industry and in turn this has helped promulgate financial exclusion. Financial exclusion is therefore a complex and diverse problem. The findings in this thesis could be used for further research encompassing an international dimension as well as looking at other areas of the United Kingdom's financial service providers such as insurance. Therefore this piece of research can be used and adapted to examine further avenues of financial exclusion of a cross industry sector and global scale.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Coercive redistribution and public agreement: re-evaluating the libertarian challenge of charity

In this article, we evaluate the capacity of liberal egalitarianism to rebut what we call the libertarian challenge of charity. This challenge states that coercive redistributive taxation is neither needed nor justified, since those who endorse redistribution can give charitably, and those who do not endorse redistribution cannot justifiably be coerced. We argue that contemporary developments in liberal political thought render liberalism more vulnerable to this libertarian challenge. Many liberals have, in recent years, sought to recast liberalism such that it is more hospitable to cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity. This move has resulted in increased support for the claim that liberalism should be understood as a political rather than comprehensive doctrine, and that liberal institutions should draw their legitimacy from agreements made among members of an appropriately conceived deliberative community, rather than from controversial liberal principles like individual autonomy. We argue that, while this move may indeed make liberalism more compatible with cultural diversity, it also makes it more vulnerable to the libertarian challenge of charity. Not all versions of liberalism are troubled by the challenge, but those that are troubled by it are increasingly dominant. We also discuss G. A. Cohen’s claim that liberal equality requires an ‘egalitarian ethos’ and argue that, if Cohen is right, it is difficult to see how there can be an adequate response to the libertarian challenge of charity. In general, our argument can be summarised as follows: the more that liberalism is concerned accurately to model the actual democratic wishes and motivations of the people it governs, the less it is able to justify coercively imposing redistributive principles of justice