Peter Albert Railton (born May 23, 1950) is an American philosopher who is Gregory S. Kavka Distinguished University Professor and John Stephenson Perrin Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he has taught since 1979.
Education and career
He earned his Ph.D. from
Princeton in 1980, writing a
dissertation under the supervision of David K. Lewis.
He was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2004[ 4 U-M scholars named AAAS fellows] and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 2016.
A public lecture he gave concerning his own struggles with depression attracted widespread notice and praise in the academic community.
Philosophical work
His dissertation concerned scientific explanation. His main research since centers on contemporary
metaethics and
normative ethics (especially
consequentialism). He is the author of the book
Facts, Values and Norms (Cambridge University Press, 2003), a collection of his major papers in ethics, and a co-editor (with
Stephen Darwall and
Allan Gibbard) of
Moral Discourse and Practice: Some Philosophical Approaches (Oxford University Press, 1996).
Railton has playfully described himself as a "stark, raving moral realist".[
"Moral Realism", The Philosophical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2 (April 1986), p. 165] However, unlike some moral realists, he thinks moral facts that make moral statements true are natural facts.
Bibliography
-
1984, "Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality," Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 134–171.
-
1986, "Moral Realism," The Philosophical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2, pp. 163–207.
-
1991, "Moral Theory As A Moral Practice," Noûs, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 185–190.
-
1992, "Some Questions About the Justification of Morality," Philosophical Perspectives, Vol. 6, pp. 27–53.
-
1992, "Pluralism, Determinacy, and Dilemma," Ethics, Vol. 102, No. 4, pp. 720–742.
-
1993, "Noncognitivism about Rationality: Benefits, Costs, and an Alternative," Philosophical Issues, Vol. 4, pp. 36–51.
-
1994, "Truth, Reason, and the Regulation of Belief," Philosophical Issues, Vol. 5, pp. 71–93.
-
1996, "Moral Realism: Prospects and Problems," in Sinnott-Armstrong and Timmons (eds.), Moral Knowledge?, Oxford University Press.
-
1996, Moral Discourse and Practice (co-edited with Stephen Darwall and Allan Gibbard), Oxford University Press.
-
2003, Facts, Values, and Norms, Cambridge University Press.
Sources
External links
