Philip Noel Pettit (born 1945) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

philosopher and

political theorist A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be Academia, academics or independent scholars. Here the most notable political theorists are categorized b ...

. He is the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and also Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

Education and career

Pettit was educated at Garbally College, the

National University of Ireland, Maynooth The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It ...

(BA, LPh, MA) and

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

(PhD). He has been a lecturer at

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

, a research fellow at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, and professor at the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

. He was for many years professorial fellow in social and political theory at the Research School of Social Sciences,

before becoming a visiting professor of philosophy at Columbia University for five years, then moving to Princeton. He is the recipient of numerous honours, including an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the National University of Ireland. He was keynote speaker at Graduate Conference,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 2009, and a Corresponding Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

in 2013. He has also been a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

Philosophical work

Pettit defends a version of civic republicanism in political philosophy. His book ''Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government'' provided the underlying justification for political reforms in Spain under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Pettit detailed his relationship with Zapatero in his ''A Political Philosophy in Public Life: Civic Republicanism in Zapatero's Spain'', co-authored with José Luis Martí. Pettit holds that the lessons learned when thinking about problems in one area of philosophy often constitute ready-made solutions to problems faced in completely different areas. Views he defends in philosophy of mind give rise to the solutions he offers to problems in metaphysics about the nature of free will, and to problems in the philosophy of the social sciences, and these in turn give rise to the solutions he provides to problems in moral philosophy and political philosophy. His corpus as a whole was the subject of a series of critical essays published in ''Common Minds: Themes from the Philosophy of Philip Pettit'' (Oxford University Press, 2007).

Affiliations and honours

*Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009) *Honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy (2010) *Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy (2013) *Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1987) *Member of the scientific committee of the Fundacion IDEAS *Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the

2017 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia) The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours for Australia were announced on 12 June 2017 by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove. The Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and ...

Selected bibliography

Books

*''The Concept of Structuralism: a Critical Analysis'' (1975) *''Judging justice: an introduction to contemporary political philosophy'' (1980) *''Rawls: 'A Theory of Justice' and its critics'' (1990) with

Chandran Kukathas Chandran Kukathas (born 12 September 1957) is a Malaysian-born Australian political theorist and the author of several books. Until 2019 he was Head of the Department of Government at the London School of Economics, where he held a Chair in Pol ...

*''The Common Mind; an essay on psychology, society and politics'' (1993) *''Not Just Deserts. A Republican Theory of Criminal Justice'' () with John Braithwaite *''Republicanism: a theory of freedom and government'' (1997) *''Three Methods of Ethics: a debate'' (1997) with

Marcia Baron Marcia Baron (born 1955) is an American philosopher and the Rudy Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University Bloomington. Her main research interests include moral philosophy, moral psychology, and philosophical issues in criminal law. Baron is ...

and Michael Slote *''A Theory of Freedom: from psychology to the politics of agency'' (2001) *''Rules, Reasons and Norms: selected essays'' (2002) *'' The Economy of Esteem: an essay on civil and political society'' (2004) with Geoffrey Brennan *''Mind, Morality, and Explanation: Selected Collaborations'' (with Frank Jackson and Michael Smith) (Oxford University Press, 2004) *''Made with Words: Hobbes on Language, Mind, and Politics'' (2007) *"Joining the Dots" in ''Common Minds: Themes from the Philosophy of Philip Pettit'' (2007) edited by Geoffrey Brennan,

Robert E. Goodin Robert 'Bob' E. Goodin (born 30 November 1950) was Professor of Government at the University of Essex and is now Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Social and Political theory at the Australian National University. Biography Goodin atten ...

, Frank Jackson and Michael Smith *''A Political Philosophy in Public Life: Civic Republicanism in Zapatero's Spain'' (2010) with José Luis Martí *''Group Agency: The Possibility, Design, and Status of Corporate Agents.'' (2011) with Christian List *''On The People's Terms: A Republican Theory and Model of Democracy.'' (2012) *''Just Freedom: A Moral Compass for a Complex World.'' (2015) *''The Robust Demands of the Good: Ethics with Attachment, Virtue, and Respect.'' (2015)

Chapters in books

* *

References

External links

Profile: Philip Pettit
princeton.edu; accessed 13 March 2015.

i
Books and Ideas
accessed 13 March 2015.
Eye to Eye: an interview with Pettit by Petri Koikkalainen and Sami Syrjämäki
academia.edu; accessed 13 March 2015. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettit, Philip 1945 births Date of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Irish philosophers 21st-century Irish philosophers Australian ethicists Australian philosophers Australian political philosophers Australian republicans Consequentialists Irish ethicists Irish political philosophers Irish republicans Living people People from County Galway Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Political philosophers Princeton University faculty Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Recipients of the Centenary Medal Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Companions of the Order of Australia Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Garbally College