Sometimes a constitutional right to do a particular thing is accompanied by a right not to do that thing. The First Amendment, for example, guarantees both the right to speak and the right not to ...speak This Article asks whether the Second Amendment should likewise be read to encompass both the right to keep or bear arms for self-defense and the inverse right to protect oneself by avoiding arms, and what practical implications, if any, the latter right would have. The Article concludes—albeit with some important qualifications—that a right not to keep or bear arms is implied by what the Supreme Court has called the "core "and "central component'' of the Second Amendment: self-defense, especially in the home. Recognizing such a right might call into question the constitutionality of the growing number of "anti-gun control" laws that make it difficult or illegal for private individuals to avoid having guns in their actual or constructive possession.
Invisibility makes privilege powerful. Especially when it remains unexposed, privilege perpetuates inequity by giving unearned advantages to certain groups over others. However, recent social ...movements (e.g., Occupy) attempt to expose class-based privilege, threatening its invisibility. Across 8 experiments, we show that beneficiaries of class privilege respond to such exposure by increasing their claims of personal hardships and hard work, to cover privilege in a veneer of meritocracy. Experiments 1a-c show that when people are provided evidence of their own class privilege, they claim to have suffered more personal life hardships. Experiment 2 suggests that these claims are driven in part by threats to self-regard. Experiment 3 finds that such self-defense is motivated specifically by a desire to attribute positive outcomes to the self (i.e., sense of personal merit). When given the chance to first bolster their sense of personal merit, those benefitting from privilege no longer claim hardships in response to evidence of privilege. Experiments 4 and 5 further suggest self-concerns are at play: only self-relevant privilege evokes defensive responses, and self-affirmation reduces hardship claims more than does system-affirmation. Finally, Experiment 6 suggests that people claim hardships because they believe these imply personal merit on their part. Preventing the privileged from claiming hardship leads them to claim increased effort in the workplace and to increase effort on a difficult task. Overall, results suggest that even when those benefitting from class privileges are confronted with evidence of their "invisible knapsack," ideologies of personal merit help them cover the privileges of class once again.
When can states justly make ultimatums? How should the recipients of ultimatums respond to them? This manuscript argues that because bargaining behavior like ultimatums and redlines causes war by ...generating bargaining failure, these behaviors should be scrutinized in the same ways that overtly aggressive acts like invasion are examined. It then argues that parties have a general duty to avoid eliminating alternatives to war. Ultimatums can only be justified if they satisfy the just war criteria of just cause, necessity, and proportionality. Likewise, the decisions to reject ultimatums can impair later claims that a state is fighting justly if they do not reflect the same criteria.
Whether or not women should physically resist a male attacker has been a long-contested issue. This article enters this debate drawing on findings from an evaluation of a feminist self-defense ...course. It locates these data within a broader historical context to question dominant discourses around ideal femininity and explore the potential for empowerment such courses can offer, particularly for women deemed at high risk. It draws on qualitative data from interviews with course participants (n = 15), community stakeholders (n = 15), and self-defense instructors (n = 7), as well as quantitative data from pre–post course evaluations (n = 115). Findings are presented to demonstrate how participants and stakeholders from a diverse range of women’s groups experienced the program. Evidence is presented that the participation not only resulted in increased self-defense skills but importantly also the confidence and attitude to put these skills into action, if required. Factors identified as critical to the success of these courses are explored, and the implications are assessed in relation to both prevention and empowerment.
I argue that lying in business negotiations is pro tanto wrong and no less wrong than lying in other contexts. First, I assert that lying in general is pro tanto wrong. Then, I examine and refute ...five arguments to the effect that lying in a business context is less wrong than lying in other contexts. The common thought behind these arguments—based on consent, self-defence, the “greater good,” fiduciary duty, and practicality—is that the particular circumstances which are characteristic of business negotiations are such that the wrongness of lying is either mitigated or eliminated completely. I argue that all these “special exemption” arguments fail. I conclude that, in the absence of a credible argument to the contrary, the same moral constraints must apply to lying in business negotiations as apply to lying in other contexts. Furthermore, I show that for the negotiator, there are real practical benefits from not lying.
With power comes responsibility: as robots become more advanced and prevalent, the role they will play in human society becomes increasingly important. Given that violence is an important problem, ...the question emerges if robots could defend people, even if doing so might cause harm to someone. The current study explores the broad context of how people perceive the acceptability of such robot self-defense (RSD) in terms of (1) theory, via a rapid scoping review, and (2) public opinion in two countries. As a result, we summarize and discuss: increasing usage of robots capable of wielding force by law enforcement and military, negativity toward robots, ethics and legal questions (including differences to the well-known trolley problem), control in the presence of potential failures, and practical capabilities that such robots might require. Furthermore, a survey was conducted, indicating that participants accepted the idea of RSD, with some cultural differences. We believe that, while substantial obstacles will need to be overcome to realize RSD, society stands to gain from exploring its possibilities over the longer term, toward supporting human well-being in difficult times.
I trace the evolution of gun culture in the U.S., starting with the prehistorical normality and significance of projectile weaponry among Homo sapiens, then turning to the largely practical use of ...firearms as tools in the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Early Republic eras (ca. 1607–1850). I highlight the emergence of Gun Culture 1.0, which centered on sport hunting, recreation, and collecting and was the core of American gun culture from approximately 1850 to 2010. I then show the roots of Gun Culture 2.0, which began in the 1960s and 1970s and centered on self-defense. I use various indicators to document that, by 2010, armed self-defense had become the core of American gun culture. In the penultimate section of the article, I use the great gun-buying spree of 2020+ to show the diversity that exists within Gun Culture 2.0, a theme that carries over to the conclusion, where I consider possible future directions of gun culture.
Somatotype is a parameter used to determine criteria based on body type. However, not many have taken somatotype measurements when selecting prospective athletes. The purpose of this study is to ...examine the somatotype of fighters in Tarung Derajat Martial Arts. In this study, tests and measurements of somatotype were carried out using manual anthropometric measurements, including height, weight, skinfold measurements at five points (biceps, triceps, suprailliaca, subscapula, and calf), arm circumference, calf circumference, and measurement of the width of the humerus bone and femur. The purposive sampling technique is used in determining the sample. In this study, 15 Tarung Derajat martial arts athletes, consisting of seven men and eight women, were sampled. The results of this study showed that 7 athletes had a mesomorph endomorph somatotype with a percentage of 46%, 1 athlete had an endomorph somatotype with a 7% percentage, 6 central athletes had a percentage of 40%, and 1 athlete had an ectomorph endomorph somatotype with a percentage of 7%. Finally, the dominant body type in Tarung Derajat Fighter athletes is mesomorph endomorph (46%), followed by central (40%). This study's data provide physical characteristics of degree fighters, which can be used to establish a reference for systematic sports medicine research.
I defend the view that a significant ethical distinction can be made between justified killing in self-defense and police use of lethal force. I start by opposing the belief that police use of lethal ...force is morally justified on the basis of self-defense. Then I demonstrate that the state's monopoly on the use of force within a given jurisdiction invests police officers with responsibilities that go beyond what morality requires of the average person. I argue that the police should primarily be concerned with preserving public safety. As a consequence, police have additional moral permissions to use lethal force. But this also means that the principle of restraint is inherent to the policing function and therefore police are obliged to go to greater lengths to avoid killing. I concede that the just use of police force can be made difficult in extreme situations such as a mass riot. In such cases, police should take proportionate actions necessary to protect the lives of inhabitants by restoring order, which might include calling on military support. I conclude with a cautionary note opposing militarization of the policing role.
This article examines self-defense as an inherently spatial phenomenon that evidences an assumed right to the individual self and the creation and occupation of space. I argue that self-defense and ...its claims to space are conceptually and historically denied to Black diasporic populations, as gratuitous violence and the assumption of Black aspatiality void Black claims to self and space. I draw on U.S. laws and legal decisions from the antebellum era through the present to show how anti-Blackness has manifested itself in the legal realm through repeated legal denials of Black self-defense. I argue that at the core of this prohibition of Black self-defense is a societal need to preserve gratuitous violence and aspatiality as tenets of modern humanity. I further argue that, despite this long-standing prohibition, organized Black self-defense has remained important to Black social and political movements throughout the history of the United States. Examining Black movements from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, I show how different movements have used self-defense to realize larger goals and establish and protect spaces in which Black life is fostered.
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