Natural law, natural philosophy, natural rights

Who or what is the creator (and how is that we can presume to read his mind and know his intentions) and how do we know there are inalienable rights? As will become clear in the pages below, the idea of the creator is a powerful concept that permeates western thought from at least the period of ancient Greeks to Jefferson\u27s day. In fact, it is the confluence of ancient pagan philosophy (here represented by Cicero)and seventeenth century science, with only a dollop of Christian thought, that combines to create the ideas so fundamental to the American civil experience

The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Consumer Brand Engagement

The use of social media by businesses as a communication tool has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite this rapid adoption, little is known about the use of social media among consumers and its effect on brand behavior. This research study aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between social media use and consumer brand engagement. To conduct this research, an on-line survey was administered through Survey Monkey to 60 undergraduates ranging in age from 18-24 through a snowball method. Survey questions included: extent of social media use, willingness to engage with brands, views on online vs. offline retailers, and demographic questions. Results showed that 72.1% of respondents interacted with the social media platform, “Facebook,” on a daily basis. Furthermore, the primary reason for using social media was; “to keep in touch with friends”. Respondents indicated that they were more likely to engage with a brand using social media when they were extrinsically rewarded (coupon, gift card, etc.) by a company. Also, results showed that there was no significant difference in “tendency to engage with” an online vs. offline retailers. Results of this study will help businesses use social media more effectively and increase participation by consumers. Despite the wide use of social media among college students, future research should extend this demographic to older populations and include comparisons among the different generations. Future research could also include more specific real world examples, to give less active social media users a feel for the benefits and/or complications of using social media to engage with brands

Decarbonizing Light-Duty Vehicles

Reducing the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% from 1990 levels by 2050 will require multiple legal pathways for changing its transportation fuel sources. The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP) authors characterize transforming the transportation system as part of a third pillar of fundamental changes required in the U.S. energy system: “fuel switching of end uses to electricity and other low-carbon supplies.” The goal is to shift 80%-95% of the miles driven from gasoline to energy sources like electricity and hydrogen. Relying upon the DDPP analysis, this Article, excerpted from Michael B. Gerrard & John C. Dernbach, eds., Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (forthcoming in 2018 from ELI Press), addresses that challenge as applied to light-duty vehicles such as cars and SUVs

Individuating Goods on Markets with a View Towards Ethics and Economics

This paper proposes that goods (the things exchanged in financial transactions and an object of study in economics) should be individuated according to a two-place relation constituted by an object and a description. Several of the problems in contemporary philosophy of economics involve shifting focus from objects to descriptions, while certain phenomena central to micro-economics, market regulation, and political economy require consideration of one of the two places. The paper argues thatby considering both constituents in a relation, many of those issues can be more effectively addressed, communicated, and even resolved. The issues that may be so resolved include the seminal discussions of transformable goods, or goods whose existenceor relevant properties are impacted by their means of acquisition (e.g., buying, giving, awarding, etc.). The two-place approachto individuation shows how the cases of transformable goods can be more effectively addressed without incurring problematicmetaphysical commitments which may spiral out into confusion in the ethical and social scientific literature. The paper thenargues that the two-place approach can be leveraged into more fruitful discussion in microeconomics and the ongoing literature inthe metaphysics and ethics of markets