J. David Velleman (born 1952) is Emeritus

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Philosophy and

Bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, m ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and Miller Research Professor of Philosophy at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. He primarily works in the areas of

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 ...

, moral psychology, and related areas such as the

philosophy of action Action theory (or theory of action) is an area in philosophy concerned with theories about the processes causing willful human bodily movements of a more or less complex kind. This area of thought involves epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, j ...

, and

practical reasoning In philosophy, practical reason is the use of reason to decide how to act. It contrasts with theoretical reason, often called speculative reason, the use of reason to decide what to follow. For example, agents use practical reason to decide whethe ...

Education and career

Velleman received his Ph.D. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1983 under the supervision of David K. Lewis. He taught previously for more than twenty years at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

before moving to NYU. He has received

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ships from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

and the Guggenheim Foundation. He is founding co-editor with Stephen Darwall of '' Philosophers' Imprint,'' an on-line, peer-refereed philosophy journal. Several of his former students are now established philosophers, including Connie Rosati at the

University of Texas, Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and Nishiten Shah at Amherst College.

Philosophical work

Velleman is a defender of constitutivism in ethics, arguing that moral standards arise from the nature of action.

Publications

Books

* ''Practical Reflection'' (Princeton University Press, 1989) * ''Self to Self'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006) * ''How We Get Along'' (Cambridge University Press, 2009) * ''Foundations for Moral Relativism'' (

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, 2013) * '' Konrad Morgen: The Conscience of a Nazi Judge'' (with Herlinde Pauer-Studer) (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) * ''The Possibility of Practical Reason'' (Second Edition, Maize Books, 2015) * ''Beyond Price: Essays on Life and Death'' (Open Book Publishers, 2015)

Selected articles

* (1985) "Practical Reflection" ''Philosophical Review'' 94(1):33–61. * (1989) "Colour as a Secondary Quality" ''Mind'' XCVIII(389):81–103. o-authored with Paul Boghossian* (1992) "What Happens When Someone Acts?" ''Mind'' 101(403):461–481. * (1992) "The Guise of the Good" ''Noûs'' 26(1):3–26. * (1999) "Love as a Moral Emotion" in ''Ethics'' 109, N° 2(January 1999):338–374.

Interviews

* Really Seeing'' Another' in Alex Voorhoeve
''Conversations on Ethics''
Oxford University Press, 2009. . (A conversation about Velleman's views on love and its relation to morality.)

References

External links

Velleman's profile
at NYU.
''So It Goes''
The Amherst Lecture in Philosophy 1 (2006), 1–23.mp3 and pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Velleman, J. David 1952 births Living people American philosophers Moral philosophers Moral psychologists New York University faculty Philosophers of identity Princeton University alumni University of Michigan faculty