Academic Papers 2014

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End of year navel-gazing exercises seem to be the norm on blogs. Here's the first of mine. It's a list of all the peer-reviewed papers I have had accepted for publication in the past year. Not as many as in 2013, but hey I couldn't keep that pace up forever. Two of these have already been published. The other two won't be published until 2015. You can follow links to copies of all four (if you are so inclined):

• The Normativity of Linguistic Originalism: A Speech Act Analysis (2015) Law and Philosophy, forthcoming - Originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation, according to which a constitution ought to be interpreted in light of its original meaning. This is my attempt to critique a certain type of originalism. Specifically, the linguistic originalism associated with the likes of Lawrence Solum and Jeffrey Goldsworthy. Both claim that the meaning of a constitution simply is its original meaning, not something else that we morally desire or wish it to be. I argue that this is wrong, even if we agree with the versions of originalism espoused by Solum and Goldsworthy: working out the communicated content of a constitution is not a purely factual/empirical affair; it is also a deeply normative and moral affair. (Official; Academia; Philpapers)

• Robotic Rape and Robotic Child Sexual Abuse: Should they be criminalised? (2015) Criminal Law and Philosophy, DOI 10.1007/s11572-014-9362-x - With sophisticated sex robots likely to become a reality in the not-too-distant future, this paper asks what happens when they are used to provide realistic facsimiles of rape and child sexual abuse. Should this be outlawed? This paper provides an extremely tentative argument for criminalisation, based on some leading theories of criminalisation. The argument is not intended to be conclusive, but rather to provide a framework for future debate. (Official; Academia; Philpapers)

• The Comparative Advantages of Brain-Based Lie Detection: the P300 Concealed Information Test and Pre-trial Bargaining (2015) 19(1) International Journal of Evidence and Proof  DOI: 10.1177/1365712714561189 - This paper looks at the possible forensic uses of the P300 Concealed Information Test. It argues that this technology could be used to empower innocent defendants during pre-trial plea bargaining in criminal cases. This is because it would offer a better solution to the "innocence problem" (the phenomenon whereby innocent defendants are incentivised to plead guilty) than any other currently-proposed solution. (Official; Academia; Philpapers)

• Sex Work, Technological Unemployment and the Basic Income Guarantee (2014) 24(1) Journal of Evolution and Technology 113-130 - This paper looks at the possible impacts of sex robots on the sex work industry. It considers the arguments for two competing hypotheses. The Displacement Hypothesis, which claims that human sex workers will eventually be displaced by robots; and the The Resiliency Hypothesis, which claims that human sex work will remain resilient to technological unemployment. It also looks at how these possibilities affect the case for the basic income guarantee. (Official; Academia; Philpapers)