Jeffrey Luk's Blog

Suppose I got plastic surgery to fix my nose. WhenI have a child and see my own features reflected in them, do I begin to resent them? Part of me thinks so. Cosmetic surgery is more than just a procedure to make me feel beautiful. It is also a rejection of my true authentic biological self (which, one can argue, is not me, in the sense that I am an embodied mind). But it says something about me — and even if I can’t put a finger on it, I doubt it is something positive.  Unconsciously, one might begin to imprint these insecurities onto his or her children. I think it’s sad that children are brought up to hate themselves in the same way that their parents do.  Note that this doesn’t just apply to cosmetic surgery. Certain flavors of interracial marriages, self-hatred of one’s own height/beautiful features, extreme misandry/mysogyny, internalized racism/hatred of their own race, or even genetic disabilities may have one developing insecurity such that one begins to become increas...

Corporate personhood is a legal/ethical concept in which organizations have the ability to own property, be held morally responsible, be allowed to go through due process, and enjoy civil rights that may previously have been exclusive to a nation's citizens.  I don't think this is coherent because corporations are certainly not moral persons.  But, interestingly enough, one can draw an analogy to Nozick's restrictions of a state's powers. Nozick believes the state to be made up of private actors, and because no organization can have more powers than its constituents, the state cannot have residual powers (the ability to tax or tariff, give welfare, or to conscript, or eminent domain). This in and of itself is controversial, but if corporations are also limited in power by their constituents (because they are made up of a contractual agreement by individuals), then corporations do not have residual powers. I wonder if corporations (or organizations in general) may be ove...