David Lyons (born February 6, 1935) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

and

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

who is

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

Education and career

Lyons earned his Ph.D. in

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

where he studied under

John Rawls John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral, legal and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in ...

. He taught at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

from 1964 until 1995, when he joined the BU faculty. His former students include David O. Brink.

Philosophical Work

He is particularly well known for his interpretation of the philosophy of

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

, arguing that Mill's

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different chara ...

is compatible with recognizing the importance of

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

br>

Books

*''Moral Aspects of Legal Theory : Essays on Law, Justice and Political Responsibility.'' Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN **Translated into Spanish as ''Aspectos morales de la teoria juridica : ensayos sobre la ley, la justicia y la responsabilidad política'' *''Mill's Utilitarianism : Critical Essays'' (editor) Lanham (Md.) : Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. *''Rights, Welfare, and Mill's Moral Theory''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. *''Ethics and the Rule of Law.'' Cambridge ambridgeshire Cambridge University Press, 1984. Held in over 1000 worldCat libraries. **Translated into Polish as ''Etyka i rządy prawa'' *''Rights.'' (editor) The Wadsworth series in social philosophy. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1979. ** Translated into Spanish as ''Ética y derecho'' *''In the Interest of the Governed; A Study in Bentham's philosophy of utility and law.'' Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973. *''Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. WorldCat
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, David 1935 births 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American philosophers American ethicists American legal scholars American legal writers American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American philosophy academics Analytic philosophers Boston University faculty Continental philosophers Cornell University faculty Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people Moral philosophers Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of law Philosophers of social science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Social philosophers