Elizabeth Barnes is an American

philosopher 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 ...

working in

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 ...

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

social philosophy Social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social contexts for political, legal, moral and cultur ...

and

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

. Barnes is a professor of philosophy at the Corcoran Department of Philosophy,

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

Biography

Barnes was born in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, and was raised around

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

.Elizabeth Barnes
. What Is it Like to Be a Philosopher. Accessed 29 November 2016. Barnes holds a bachelor's degree from the

Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...

, where she graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', and a master's degree and PhD from the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, where she studied under Katherine Hawley and Daniel Nolan. After graduating from St Andrews, Barnes held posts in the philosophy department at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

from 2006, before joining the faculty at

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 2014. In 2012, she became editor-in-chief of the

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''Philosophy Compass''. Barnes has published across various fields in philosophy, and edited a volume entitled ''Current Controversies in Metaphysics'', which was published with

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 ...

in 2015. In 2016, her

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

''The Minority Body'' was published with

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. In the book, Barnes challenges the view of

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

common in

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...

, arguing instead that it is primarily a social phenomenon. Disabled persons, she argues, are not intrinsically worse off in virtue of being disabled, even though disability can be, in a restricted sense, a harm.

Personal life

She is married to the Scottish philosopher Ross Cameron; the pair met at St Andrews, and Cameron is also a professor at Virginia.Cameron, Ross.
Introduction
. Ross Cameron (Google Sites). Accessed 29 November 2016.

Selected publications

Books

* (2023) ''Health Problems: Philosophical Puzzles About the Nature of Health.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. * (2016) ''The Minority Body: A Theory of Disability''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * (2015, as editor) ''Current Controversies in Metaphysics''. London: Routledge.

Articles

* (2023)
Trust, Distrust, and ‘Medical Gaslighting’
,

The Philosophical Quarterly ''The Philosophical Quarterly'' is a quarterly academic journal of philosophy established in 1950 and published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Scots Philosophical Club and the University of St Andrews. Since 2014 its publisher is Oxford Acade ...

, Volume 73, Issue 3, July 2023, Pages 649–676. * (2014) "Going Beyond the Fundamental: Feminism in Contemporary Metaphysics", ''

Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy, more generally known as the Aristotelian Society, is a philosophical society in London. History Aristotelian Society was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Squar ...

'' 114 (3), pp. 335–51. * (2014) "Valuing Disability, Causing Disability", ''

Ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

'' 125 (1), pp. 88–113. * (2014) "Fundamental Indeterminacy", ''Analytic Philosophy'' 55 (4), pp. 339–62. * (2013) "Metaphysically Indeterminate Existence", ''

Philosophical Studies ''Philosophical Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal for philosophy in the analytic tradition. The journal is devoted to the publication of papers in exclusively analytic philosophy and welcomes papers applying formal techniques to phil ...

'' 166, pp. 495–510. * (2012) "Emergence and Fundamentality", ''

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 ...

'' 121 (484), pp. 873–901. * (2011) "Back to the Open Future". ''Philosophical Perspectives: Metaphysics'' (25), pp. 1–26. (with Ross Cameron) * (2011) "A Theory of Metaphysical Indeterminacy", '' Oxford Studies in Metaphysics'' (6), pp. 103–48. (with JRG Williams) * (2011) "Reply to Eklund", ''Oxford Studies in Metaphysics'' (6). (with JRG Williams) * (2010) "Ontic Vagueness: A Guide for the Perplexed", ''

Noûs ''Noûs'' is a quarterly Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal on philosophy published by Wiley-Blackwell. It was established in 1967 by Hector-Neri Castañeda and is currently edited by Ernest Sosa (Rutgers University). The journal is acc ...

'' 44 (4), pp. 607–27. * (2010) "Arguments Against Metaphysical Indeterminacy". ''Philosophy Compass'' (5), pp. 953–64. * (2009) "Disability and Adaptive Preference", ''

Philosophical Perspectives ''Philosophical Perspectives'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy. Each annual volume is dedicated to a specific theme addressing philosophical problems. The founding editor-in-chief was James E. Tomberlin, who edited the se ...

'' 23 (1), pp. 1–22. * (2009) "Vague Parts and Vague Identity", '' Pacific Philosophical Quarterly'' 90 (2), pp. 176–87. (with JRG Williams) * (2009) "The Open Future: Bivalence, Determinism, and Ontology", ''

'' 146 (2), pp. 291–309. (with Ross Cameron) * (2009) "Disability, Minority and Difference", ''

Journal of Applied Philosophy The ''Journal of Applied Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society for Applied Philosophy and co-edited by Avery Kolers (University of Louisville) and Tina Rulli (University of Californ ...

'' 26 (4), pp. 337–55. * (2009) "Indeterminacy, Identity, and Counterparts: Evans Reconsidered", ''

Synthese ''Synthese'' () is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the epistemology, methodology, and philosophy of science, and related issues. The name ''Synthese'' (from the Dutch for '' synthesis'') finds its origin in the intentions of its f ...

'' 168 (1), pp. 81–96. * (2007) "Vagueness and Arbitrariness: Merricks on Composition", ''

'' 116 (461), pp. 105–13. * (2005) "Vagueness in Sparseness: a study in property ontology", ''

Analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

'' 65 (4), pp. 315–21.

References

External links

Personal websiteElizabeth Barnes
at the University of Virginia
Elizabeth Barnes
at Google Scholar
Interview
at What Is it Like to Be a Philosopher? {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Elizabeth 21st-century American philosophers University of Virginia faculty Academics of the University of Leeds American ethicists American social philosophers American metaphysicians Scholars of feminist philosophy Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Davidson College alumni Alumni of the University of St Andrews People with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome People from Asheville, North Carolina American academic journal editors 21st-century American women academics 21st-century American academics American women ethicists