William J. Prior | |
---|---|
Born | |
Children | 4 [1] |
Academic background | |
Education | Michigan State University (BA), University of Texas (PhD) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Philosophy |
Institutions | Santa Clara University |
Main interests | ancient philosophy,virtue ethics |
William J. Prior (born May 16,1946) is an American philosopher and professor emeritus of Philosophy at Santa Clara University. [2] His book Virtue and Knowledge:An Introduction to Ancient Greek Ethics was listed by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Book of 1991. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Plato,was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy,and was the founder of the Platonic Academy,a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information,with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy,religion,science,language,mathematics,and art,and is normally considered to be a distinguishing ability possessed by humans. Reason is sometimes referred to as rationality.
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects,including astronomy,epistemology,mathematics,political philosophy,ethics,metaphysics,ontology,logic,biology,rhetoric and aesthetics. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and later evolved into Roman philosophy.
John Henry McDowell is a South African philosopher,formerly a fellow of University College,Oxford,and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics,epistemology,ancient philosophy,nature,and meta-ethics,McDowell's most influential work has been in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. McDowell was one of three recipients of the 2010 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award,and is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts &Sciences and the British Academy.
Virtue ethics is a philosophical approach that treats virtue and character as the primary subjects of ethics,in contrast to other ethical systems that put consequences of voluntary acts,principles or rules of conduct,or obedience to divine authority in the primary role.
In Ancient Greek philosophy,Phronesis is a type of wisdom or intelligence concerned with practical action. It implies both good judgment and excellence of character and habits. Classical works about this topic are still influential today. In Aristotelian ethics,the concept was distinguished from other words for wisdom and intellectual virtues—such as episteme and sophia—because of its practical character. The traditional Latin translation is prudentia,which is the source of the English word "prudence".
Mary Beatrice Midgley was a British philosopher. A senior lecturer in philosophy at Newcastle University,she was known for her work on science,ethics and animal rights. She wrote her first book,Beast and Man (1978),when she was in her late fifties,and went on to write over 15 more,including Animals and Why They Matter (1983),Wickedness (1984),The Ethical Primate (1994),Evolution as a Religion (1985),and Science as Salvation (1992). She was awarded honorary doctorates by Durham and Newcastle universities. Her autobiography,The Owl of Minerva,was published in 2005.
Sir William David Ross,known as David Ross but usually cited as W. D. Ross,was a Scottish Aristotelian philosopher,translator,WWI veteran,civil servant,and university administrator. His best-known work is The Right and the Good (1930),in which he developed a pluralist,deontological form of intuitionist ethics in response to G. E. Moore's consequentialist form of intuitionism. Ross also critically edited and translated a number of Aristotle's works,such as his 12-volume translation of Aristotle together with John Alexander Smith,and wrote on other Greek philosophy.
Aristotle first used the term ethics to name a field of study developed by his predecessors Socrates and Plato which is devoted to the attempt to provide a rational response to the question of how humans should best live. Aristotle regarded ethics and politics as two related but separate fields of study,since ethics examines the good of the individual,while politics examines the good of the city-state,which he considered to be the best type of community.
Richard Clyde Taylor was an American philosopher renowned for his contributions to metaphysics and virtue ethics. He was also an internationally known beekeeper.
Jiyuan Yu was a Chinese moral philosopher noted for his work on virtue ethics. Yu was a long-time and highly admired Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo,in Buffalo,New York,starting in 1997. Prior to his professorship,Yu completed a three-year post as a research fellow at the University of Oxford,England (1994-1997). He received his education in China at both Shandong University and Renmin University,in Italy at Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa,and in Canada at the University of Guelph. His primary areas of research and teaching included Ancient Greek Philosophy,and Ancient Chinese Philosophy.
John Niemeyer Findlay,usually cited as J. N. Findlay,was a South African philosopher.
Julia Elizabeth Annas is a British philosopher who has taught in the United States for the last quarter-century. She is Regents Professor of Philosophy Emerita at the University of Arizona.
Hellenistic philosophy is Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period in Ancient Greece,from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The dominant schools of this period were the Stoics,the Epicureans and the Skeptics.
Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence,reason,knowledge,value,mind,and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions.
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve eudaimonia:a well-lived life. The Stoics identified the path to achieving it with a life spent practicing the four virtues in everyday life—wisdom,courage,temperance or moderation,and justice—as well as living in accordance with nature. It was founded in the ancient Agora of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE.
Mary Tiles is a philosopher and historian of mathematics and science. From 2006 until 2009,she served as chair of the philosophy department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She retired in 2009.
John Cottingham is an English philosopher. The focus of his research has been early-modern philosophy,the philosophy of religion and moral philosophy. He is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading,Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College,University of London,and Honorary Fellow of St John's College,Oxford. He is also a current Visiting Professor to the Philosophy Department at King's College,London.
Tamara Horowitz was an American philosopher who worked on epistemology,feminist philosophy and the philosophy of science. She spent much of her career at the University of Pittsburgh,and was appointed chair of the philosophy department there in September 1999,but died a few months later.
Alan Richard White was an analytic philosopher who worked mainly in epistemology,the philosophy of mind,and,latterly,legal philosophy. Peter Hacker notes that he was "the most skillful developer of Rylean ... ideas in philosophical psychology" and that "if anyone surpassed Austin in subtlety and refinement in the discrimination of grammatical differences,it was White." Richard Swinburne remarks that "during the heyday of 'ordinary language philosophy' no tongue practised it better."