Michael A. Slote is a professor of
ethics at the
University of Miami and an author of a number of books.
He was previously professor of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at the
University of Maryland, and at
Trinity College Dublin. He received his Ph.D. from
Harvard University.
He argues that
virtue ethics, in a particular form which draws on the concept of an
ethics of care, offers significant intuitive and structural advantages over
deontology,
utilitarianism, and common-sense morality. He has also recently endorsed the
meta-ethical 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 (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 and the
Enlightenment
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
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 psychology
21st-century American philosophers
Academics of Trinity College Dublin
University of Maryland, College Park faculty
Harvard University alumni