Michael Huemer (; born 27 December 1969) is a 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. ...
at the
University of Colorado, Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado s ...
. He has defended
ethical intuitionism,
direct realism
Direct may refer to:
Mathematics
* Directed set, in order theory
* Direct limit of (pre), sheaves
* Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces
Computing
* Direct access (disambiguation), ...
,
libertarianism
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
,
veganism
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...
, and
philosophical anarchism.
Education and career
Huemer graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
and earned his Ph.D. at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
in 1998 under the supervision of
Peter D. Klein
Peter David Klein (born September 17, 1940) is an American philosopher specializing in issues in epistemology who spent most of his career at Rutgers University.
Education and career
He received a BA at Earlham College (1962), and an MA (1964 ...
.
Philosophical work
Huemer's book ''
Ethical Intuitionism'' (2005) was reviewed in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'', ''
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
''Philosophy and Phenomenological Research'' (''PPR'') is a bimonthly philosophy journal founded in 1940. Until 1980, it was edited by Marvin Farber, then by Roderick Chisholm and since 1986 by Ernest Sosa. It considers itself open to a variety ...
'' and ''
Mind
The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...
.''
Huemer is the author of ''
The Problem of Political Authority'' (2013) which argues that the modern arguments for
political authority
In political philosophy and ethics, political authority describes any of the moral principles legitimizing differences between individuals' rights and duties by virtue of their relationship with the state. Political authority grants members ...
fail and that society can function properly without state coercion. In a review, philosopher Aeon J. Skoble stated that Huemer "joins the ranks of twenty-first-century philosophical defenders of an anarchist position that is rooted in a conception of the efficacy of voluntary and competitive institutions."
Veganism
Huemer is an advocate of ethical vegetarianism (veganism). In 2016, Huemer debated
Bryan Caplan
Bryan Douglas Caplan (born April 8, 1971) is an American economist and author. Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, research fellow at the Mercatus Center, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and former contributor ...
on the ethical treatment of animals, including insects. In 2018, Huemer commented "In the overwhelming majority of actual cases, meat eaters do not have any reasons that could plausibly be claimed to justify the pain and suffering caused by their practice."
His ''Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism'' (2019) is a series of dialogues on the
ethics of eating meat
Conversations regarding the ethics of eating meat are focused on whether or not it is moral to eat non-human animals. Ultimately, this is a debate that has been ongoing for millennia, and it remains one of the most prominent topics in food ethic ...
.
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular ...
who wrote the foreword to book commented that "In the future, when people ask me why I don’t eat meat, I will tell them to read this book.”
"Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism"
Routledge.com. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
Books
Authored
*''Skepticism and the Veil of Perception'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001)
*'' Ethical Intuitionism'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
*'' The Problem of Political Authority'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)
*''Approaching Infinity'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)
*''Paradox Lost'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
*''Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism'' (Routledge, 2019)
*''Knowledge, Reality, and Value: A Mostly Common Sense Guide to Philosophy'' (Independently published, 2021)
*''Justice Before the Law'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021)
Edited
* ''Epistemology: Contemporary Readings'' (Routledge, 2002)
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Faculty webpage
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huemer, Michael
1969 births
Living people
21st-century American philosophers
American anarcho-capitalists
American animal rights scholars
American libertarians
American political philosophers
American veganism activists
Moral philosophers
Philosophy academics
Rutgers University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of Colorado faculty