Michael Huemer (; born December 27, 1969) is an American professor of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has defended

ethical intuitionism Ethical intuitionism (also called moral intuitionism) is a view or family of views in moral epistemology (and, on some definitions, metaphysics). It is foundationalism applied to moral knowledge, the thesis that some moral truths can be known n ...

direct realism Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), ...

, metaphysical libertarianism, phenomenal conservatism,

substance dualism Substance may refer to: * Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space Chemistry * Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition * Drug, a chemical agent affecting an organism Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ' ...

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

, the repugnant conclusion, and philosophical anarchism.

Education and career

Huemer graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and earned his Ph.D. at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1998 under the supervision of Peter D. Klein.

Philosophical work

Huemer is a philosophical dualist and an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

. His 2005 book, ''

Ethical Intuitionism Ethical intuitionism (also called moral intuitionism) is a view or family of views in moral epistemology (and, on some definitions, metaphysics). It is foundationalism applied to moral knowledge, the thesis that some moral truths can be known n ...

'', was reviewed in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'', '' Philosophy and Phenomenological Research'', and ''

Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

.'' In 2013, he published '' The Problem of Political Authority'', in which he argues that modern arguments for

political authority In political philosophy and ethics, political authority describes any of the moral principles legitimizing differences between individuals' rights and duties by virtue of their relationship with the state. Political authority grants members of ...

fail and that society can function properly without state coercion.

Phenomenal conservatism

Huemer has defended phenomenal conservatism, the

epistemological Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowled ...

view that it is reasonable to assume that things are as they appear, except when there are positive grounds for doubting this.

Problem of evil

Huemer has stated that the presence of evil in the world, such as children with terrible diseases, is strong evidence that an

omnipotent Omnipotence is the property of possessing maximal power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as ...

omniscient Omniscience is the property of possessing maximal knowledge. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, it is often attributed to a divine being or an all-knowing spirit, entity or person. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any ...

, and

omnibenevolent Omnibenevolence is the property of possessing maximal goodness. Some philosophers, such as Epicurus, have argued that it is impossible, or at least improbable, for a deity to exhibit such a property alongside omniscience and omnipotence, as a res ...

God does not exist.

Reincarnation

Huemer defended

in his 2021 paper "Existence Is Evidence of Immortality". He has argued that immaterial

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

s exist, and in 2022, he debated

Graham Oppy Graham Robert Oppy (born 1960) is an Australian philosopher whose main area of research is the philosophy of religion. He is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Research at Monash University, CEO of the Australasian Association of Phi ...

on the topic.

Animal ethics

On the

ethics of eating meat Conversations regarding the ethics of eating meat are focused on whether or not it is moral to eat non-human animals. People who abstain from eating meat are generally known as " vegetarians" and people who avoid all animal by-products are known ...

, Huemer has commented that "In the overwhelming majority of actual cases, meat eaters do not have any reasons that could plausibly be claimed to justify the pain and suffering caused by their practice." In 2016, he debated

Bryan Caplan Bryan Douglas Caplan (born April 8, 1971) is an American economist and author. He is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a former c ...

on the ethical treatment of animals, including insects. Regarding killing insects, he has argued that they are not raised in horrible conditions like animals in factory farms and that animal farming requires killing more insects, claiming that it is "much less likely that insects feel pain".Huemer, Michael. (2019). ''Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism''. Routledge. pp. 74–75. His 2019 book, ''Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism'', is a series of dialogues on the

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher who is Emeritus Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Singer's work specialises in applied ethics, approaching the subject from a secu ...

, who wrote the foreword to the book, commented that "In the future, when people ask me why I don't eat meat, I will tell them to read this book."

Ostroveganism

Huemer is an advocate of ostroveganism, a

plant-based diet A plant-based diet is a diet consisting mostly or entirely of plant-based foods. It encompasses a wide range of dietary patterns that contain low amounts of animal products and high amounts of fiber-rich plant products such as vegetables ...

with the addition of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s and other

bivalves Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...

. In a 2023 interview, Huemer stated that it is "fair game" to eat animals without brains such as

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve molluscs in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famili ...

s and that he also occasionally eats pasture-raised eggs. He has argued that is impossible to inflict pain on bivalves, because they do not have a brain.

Personal life

Huemer is married to Iskra Fileva, who teaches philosophy at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Books

Authored

* ''Skepticism and the Veil of Perception'' (

Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, 2001) * ''

'' (

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

, 2005) * '' The Problem of Political Authority'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) * ''Approaching Infinity'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) * ''Paradox Lost'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) * ''Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism'' (

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 2019) * ''Knowledge, Reality, and Value: A Mostly Common Sense Guide to Philosophy'' (independently published, 2021) * ''Justice Before the Law'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) * ''Understanding Knowledge'' (independently published, 2021) * ''Progressive Myths'' (independently published, 2024)

Co-authored

* ''Is Political Authority an Illusion?: A Debate'' (with Daniel Layman, Routledge, 2022) * ''Can We Know Anything?: A Debate'' (with Bryan Frances, Routledge, 2023)

Edited

* ''Epistemology: Contemporary Readings'' (Routledge, 2002)

References

External links

*
Faculty webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huemer, Michael 1969 births Living people 21st-century American philosophers American agnostics American anarcho-capitalists American animal rights scholars American libertarians American political philosophers American philosophy academics Animal ethicists Dualists Rutgers University alumni Scholars of veganism University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty