Evelyn B. Pluhar-Adams (born July 8, 1947) is an American philosopher specialising in

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

and the philosophy of mind, especially concerning the

moral status of animals The intrinsic value of a human or any other sentience, sentient animal comes from within itself. It is the value it places on its own existence. Intrinsic value exists wherever there are beings that value themselves. Intrinsic value is consider ...

Biography

Evelyn Pluhar studied for a bachelor's degree in philosophy at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

before going on to read for a doctorate in philosophy at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Her doctoral thesis was entitled ''The Ontological Status of Colour''. She has spent much of her career at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, Fayette Campus, where she was an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

of philosophy from 1978 to 1984, an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of philosophy from 1984 to 1996, and a professor of philosophy from 1996. She is the author of the 1995 book ''Beyond Prejudice: The Moral Significance of Human and Nonhuman Animals'', which was published by

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

. In ''Beyond Prejudice'', Pluhar explores the

argument from marginal cases The argument from marginal cases (also known as the argument from species overlap) is a philosophical argument within animal rights theory regarding the moral status of non-human animals. Its proponents hold that if human infants, senile people, t ...

, rejecting arguments that present humans as uniquely morally significant, and argues for an account of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

built upon ethical rationalism.

References

Living people 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers American animal rights scholars American ethicists American women philosophers Animal ethicists Pennsylvania State University faculty American philosophers of mind University of Denver alumni University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American women 21st-century American women 1947 births {{philosopher-stub