Michael A. Slote is a professor of
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 ...
at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
and an author of a number of books.
He was previously 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 Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, and at
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
. He received his Ph.D. from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.
He argues that
virtue ethics
Virtue ethics (also aretaic ethics, from Greek []) is a philosophical approach that treats virtue and moral character, character as the primary subjects of ethics, in contrast to other ethical systems that put consequences of voluntary acts, pri ...
, in a particular form which draws on the concept of an
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 th ...
, offers significant intuitive and structural advantages over
deontology
In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek language, Greek: and ) is the normative ethics, normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a ...
,
utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
, and common-sense morality. He has also recently endorsed the
meta-ethical
In metaphilosophy and ethics, metaethics is the study of the nature, scope, ground, and meaning of moral judgment, ethical belief, or Value_(ethics), values. It is one of the three branches of ethics generally studied by philosophers, the others ...
view of moral
sentimentalism in opposition to
moral rationalism (see his articles from 2003, 2004, 2005a and his books (2007 and 2010)).
Most recently he expanded his work on sentimentalism into a
philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world.
The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...
(book 2014). In his latest work he also stresses the importance of receptivity as a virtue, a value and as a psychological characteristic (article 2014 and book 2013). The significance of receptivity feature was first considered by
Nel Noddings in 1984, but did not receive further attention in the ethics of care neither was it used to criticize typical Western philosophical values. In ''The Impossibility of Perfection'', he argues against moral perfection as it was endorsed by
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
and the
Enlightenment and defends a more realistic view of moral issues.
Bibliography
Books
*
* ''Common-Sense Morality and Consequentialism'' (1985), Routledge and Kegan Paul.
* ''Beyond Optimizing: A Study of Rational Choice'' (1989), Harvard University Press.
* ''From Morality to Virtue'' (1992), Oxford University Press.
* ''Morals From Motives'' (2001), Oxford University Press.
* ''The Ethics of Care and Empathy'' (2007), Routledge.
* ''Essays on the History of Ethics'' (2009), Oxford University Press.
* ''Moral Sentimentalism'' (2010), Oxford University Press.
* ''The Impossibility of Perfection: Aristotle, Feminism and the Complexities of Ethics'' (2011), Oxford University Press.
* ''From Enlightenment to Receptivity: Rethinking our Values'' (2013), Oxford University Press
* ''A Sentimentalist Theory of Mind'' (2014), Oxford University Press.
* ''Human Development and Human Life'' (2016), Springer.
* ''Between Psychology and Philosophy: East-West Themes and Beyond'' (2020), New York: Palgrave MacMillan
Essays and chapters
* "The Morality of Wealth" (1977) in ''World Hunger and Moral Obligation'' Prentice Hall
* "Sentimentalist Virtue and Moral Judgment: Outline of a Project" (2003) in ''Metaphilosophy'' 34(1/2), pp. 131–143; reprinted in ''Moral and Epistemic Virtues'', Michael Brady & Duncan Pritchard (eds.), (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004).
* "Moral Sentimentalism" (2004), ''Ethical Theory and Moral Practice'', vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 3–14.
* "Moral Sentimentalism and Moral Psychology" (2005a) in ''The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory'', David Copp (ed.), Oxford University Press.
* "The Dualism of the Ethical" (2005b), ''Nous-Supplement: Philosophical Issues'', vol. 15, pp. 209–217.
* '"The Virtue of Receptivity" (2014), ''Revue internationale de philosophie'', vol. 68, pp. 7–19.
* "Sentimentalist Virtue Epistemology: Beyond Responsibilism and Reliabilism" (2019). In Heather Battaly (ed.)''Routledge Handbook of Virtue Epistemology'', New York: Routledge: 105-114.
Critical studies and reviews
*
References
External links
Review of ''Morals from Motives''nbsp;– reviewed by N. Athanassoulis in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews''.
nbsp;– at the Philosophy Department of the University of Miami.
nbsp;– at the Philosophy Department of the University of Miami.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slote, Michael
University of Miami faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
American ethicists
Virtue ethicists
Moral psychologists
21st-century American philosophers
Academics of Trinity College Dublin
University of Maryland, College Park faculty
Harvard University alumni