Eva Feder Kittay is an American
philosopher. She is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy (
Emerita) at
Stony Brook University.
Her primary interests include
feminist philosophy
Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in ...
,
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
, social and political theory,
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
, and the application of these disciplines to disability studies.
[ Kittay has also attempted to bring philosophical concerns into the public spotlight, including leading The Women's Committee of One Hundred in 1995, an organization that opposed the perceived punitive nature of the social welfare reforms taking place in the United States at the time.]
Education and career
Kittay received her bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 1967, and went on to receive her doctoral degree from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 1978. After receiving her doctorate, she accepted a position as visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
for the 1978–1979 year, before accepting a permanent position at Stony Brook University in 1979 as assistant professor.[ Kittay was promoted to associate professor in 1986, and full professor in 1993.][ Kittay received a distinguished professorship from Stony Brook in 2009.][ Kittay is also a senior fellow at the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook, and a women's studies associate.][ In addition to these permanent positions, Kittay has accepted a variety of temporary appointments, including ones at Sarah Lawrence College and Newcastle University.][ She has received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and NEH Fellowship, and the Lebowitz Prize for philosophical achievement and contribution from the ]American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...
and Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. She is the mother of a multiple disabled woman and has also been recognized for her writing on disability by the Institute Mensch, Ethiks, und Wissenshaft, The Center for Discovery and IncludeNYC. She was named Woman of the Year by the Society for Women in Philosophy 2003–2004. She served as the president of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, 2016–2017.
Research areas
Kittay's research has focused on feminist philosophy
Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in ...
, ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
, social and political theory, the philosophy of disability, metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
, and the application of these disciplines to disability studies.[ Her viewpoints on the ]ethics of care
The ethics of care (alternatively care ethics or EoC) is a normative ethical theory that holds that moral action centers on interpersonal relationships and care or benevolence as a virtue. EoC is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories t ...
are quite similar to those of Virginia Held
Virginia Potter Held (born October 28, 1929) is an American moral, social/political and feminist philosopher whose work on the ethics of care sparked significant research into the ethical dimensions of providing care for others and critiques of ...
and Sara Ruddick
Sara Ruddick (born Sara Elizabeth Loop; February 17, 1935 – March 20, 2011) was a feminist philosopher and the author of ''Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace''.
Education and career
Ruddick earned a B.A. at Vassar College in 1957 ...
– namely that human interactions occur between people who are unequal yet interdependent, and that practical ethics should be fitted to life as most people experience it. Kittay has also extended the work of 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 ...
to address the concerns of women and the cognitively disabled. In developing the ethics of care, her most significant contribution has been the emphasis on the inevitable fact of human dependency and the need to incorporate such dependency and dependency work into ethical and political theories. She has been one of the major voices in the emergent field of philosophy of disability, focusing in particular on cognitive disability.
Selected bibliography
Books
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Edited books
* Kittay, Eva; Licia Carlson (2010). Cognitive disability and its challenge to moral philosophy. New York, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. .
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Selected chapters in books
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittay, Eva
21st-century American philosophers
American women philosophers
American ethicists
Feminist philosophers
Political philosophers
Sarah Lawrence College alumni
Social philosophers
Presidents of the American Philosophical Association
Stony Brook University faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Disability studies academics
21st-century American women