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 Epistemology Feminist Philosophy History of Philosophy Philosophy of Science Theory of Value Philosophers at the University of Washington seek to explore the nature, scope, and application of human values. The goal of this activity is to bring insight to the practice of normative judgment, whether this judgment extends to individual action, artistic endeavor, or our shared social world. Moral philosophers address normative questions about goodness, rightness, and moral worth; metaphysical and epistemological questions about the status of ethical claims; and moral psychological questions about the nature of moral agency and the structure of practical reason. Our department has particular strengths in the areas of moral psychology and the history of moral philosophy. Steve Gardiner has wide interests in contemporary ethical theory and in the history of ethics. His dissertation explored an agent-centered account of Aristotle's ethical theory, and he has published on topics such as the reciprocity of the virtues and the role of moral rules in virtue ethics. He is the editor of Virtue Ethics: Old and New (Cornell, 2005). Michael Rosenthal works in the history of modern philosophy, particularly in ethics and political philosophy. He is currently completing a book on Spinoza’s political philosophy and has recently been asked to write the chapter on moral philosophy for the forthcoming Routledge Companion to Seventeenth Century Philosophy. He regularly teaches the survey course on History of Modern Ethics (PHIL 342) to undergraduates and works with graduate students who are interested in the topic as well. In addition to her work in traditional bioethics, Ingra Schellenberg is interested in how a person's psychological make-up informs her moral agency. She is especially concerned with how mental states that have been traditionally seen as pathological can play a role in a rich and valuable moral life. She is currently working on a series of papers that explore the moral significance and value of depression, anxiety and mania. Angela Smith's research focuses on the connections between moral agency, responsibility, and conceptions of the self. She has published a number of papers on the topic of responsibility for attitudes. She regularly teaches undergraduate courses in normative ethics and metaethics, and she has taught a number of graduate courses on issues in moral psychology. Cass Weller writes on topics dealing with moral psychology and practical reasoning in Aristotle, Hume, and Kant. He regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in the history of moral philosophy. |
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Political philosophers ask foundational questions about the ethical foundations of political life. Chief among these questions are the following: what could make the State just? Is economic inequality ethically wrong? How can we create a just democratic order in a multicultural society? Political philosophers at the University of Washington have a particular focus on the international aspects of these questions, including the concepts of human rights and the ethical dimensions of international development. Michael Blake’s work focuses on the ethical aspects of relationships between nations. This includes a primary focus on the morality of international poverty; he is currently writing a book – tentatively entitled International Political Justice – focusing upon the conceptual issues surrounding shared responsibility for poverty relief. He also has a research interest in the politics of multiculturalism, and has written on topics as divergent as hate crimes, antidiscrimination law, and cultural preservation. Steve Gardiner has written and taught on a number of issues in contemporary political philosophy. He is especially interested in the theoretical dimensions of global environmental issues such as climate change and human population, in intergenerational problems, and in contemporary Rawlsian and communitarian approaches to such concerns. Bill Talbott has done work in moral philosophy, the philosophy of law, and political philosophy, especially the philosophy of human rights. In his 2005 book (Which Rights Should Be Universal?), he provides a new kind of consequentialist (though not utilitarian) account of the importance of certain basic human rights. In the process of formulating an answer to the title question, he explores the metaphysics and epistemology of moral belief and presents a new way of being a moral realist. He is presently working on a companion volume, Human Rights and Human Well-Being, in which he more fully develops his consequentialist explanation of the importance of human rights and more fully addresses objections to his account. |
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