Kimberley Brownlee, “Conscience and Conviction: The Case for Civil Disobedience” (Oxford UP, 2012)
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What is the central thesis of Kimberley Brownlee’s book on civil disobedience?
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Hello, and welcome to the New Books and Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talese. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I'm co-host of the channel, along with Carrie Figner, who is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. In our bi-monthly podcast, we talk to philosophers about their newly published books. Today, my guest is Kimberly Brownlee. We will be talking about her new book, Conscience and Conviction, The Case for Civil Disobedience, which was just published by Oxford University Press. Kimberly Brownlee is Associate Professor in Legal and Moral Philosophy at the University of Warwick. When confronted with a law that they find morally unconscionable, citizens sometimes engage in civil disobedience.
They publicly break the law with a view to communicating their judgment that it is unjust. Citizens in similar situations sometimes take a different stance. They engage in conscientious objection. They quietly disobey, seeking only to keep their own conscience clear. A common view of these matters has it that the conscientious objector is deserving of special respect and even accommodation, whereas the civil disobedient engages in a politically risky and morally questionable practice. In her new book, Kimberly reverses this picture. She contends that properly conducted civil disobedience is more deserving of accommodation and respect than conscientious objection. Her case turns on a detailed and subtle analysis of the very concepts of conviction and conscience.
This is a challenging and elegantly argued book. So let's turn now to the interview. Hello, Kimberly Brownlee.
Hi, Bob.
How are you doing today?
I'm fine. Thank you for the invitation.
Well, thank you for joining us today, folks, on New Books and Philosophy. My guest is Kimberly Brownlee. Her new book is titled Conscience and Conviction, The Case for Civil Disobedience, and it's just been published by Oxford University Press. Now, as the title of the book suggests, this book is a detailed examination and defense of civil disobedience. I recommend it highly to those interested in political and legal philosophy, of course. But the book will also be of interest, I think, to moral philosophers more generally, especially given that Kimberly offers several analyses on of important moral concepts, including the idea of moral conviction. But before we get into the details of the book, Kimberly, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to write it?
Okay, thanks, Bob. So just to give you a bit about my background, I'm Canadian. I grew up in the Fraser Valley, which is just outside Vancouver. And I'd always been interested in in big questions like, you know, who are we and how should we live?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central thesis of Kimberley Brownlee’s book on civil disobedience?
0:00–6:18
2
How does Brownlee distinguish between conscientious objection and civil disobedience?
6:18–16:18
3
What philosophical traditions (Aristotelianism, pluralism) shape Brownlee’s arguments?
16:18–25:07
4
What is the ‘conviction argument’ and how does it support a moral right to civil disobedience?
25:07–33:53
5
How does the ‘conscience argument’ differ from the conviction argument?
33:53–42:04
6
What legal defenses (demands‑of‑conviction, necessity) does Brownlee propose for civil disobedients?
42:04–51:52
7
Why does Brownlee argue for a moral right not to be punished for civil disobedience?
51:52–1:00:45
8
What future research does Brownlee plan on social deprivation and the ethics of sociability?
1:00:45–1:06:29
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