Richard Booker Brandt (17 October 1910 – 10 September 1997) was an American philosopher working in the utilitarian tradition in

moral philosophy Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

Education and career

Brandt was originally educated at Denison University, a Baptist institution he was shepherded to by his minister father, and graduated in 1930 with majors in

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 ...

and

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. In 1933 he earned another B.A., this time in the philosophy of religion, from Cambridge University. He received his Ph.D. in

from Yale University in 1936. He taught at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

before becoming Chair of the Department of Philosophy the University of Michigan in 1964, where he taught with

Charles Stevenson Charles Stevenson may refer to: *Charles Stevenson (philosopher) (1908-1979), American philosopher. *Charles Alexander Stevenson (1855–1950), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Charles A. Stevenson (1851–1929), Irish-born American stage and movie a ...

and William K. Frankena (1908–1994) and spent the remainder of his career. The expressivist moral philosopher Allan Gibbard has mentioned his great intellectual debt to Brandt. Brandt gave the John Locke Lectures at Oxford University in 1974-75, material that later appeared in ''A Theory of the Good and the Right'' (1979).

Philosophical work

Brandt wrote ''Ethical Theory'' (1959), an influential textbook in the field. He defended a version of rule utilitarianism in "Toward a credible form of utilitarianism" (1963) and performed cultural-anthropological studies in ''

Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...

Ethics'' (1954). In ''A Theory of the Good and the Right'', Brandt proposed a "reforming definition" of

rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an abil ...

, that one is rational if one's preferences are such that they survive cognitive psychotherapy in terms of all relevant information and logical criticism. He argued also that the morality such rational persons would accept would be a form of utilitarianism. Brandt believed that moral rules should be considered in sets which he called moral codes. A moral code is justified when it is the optimal code that, if adopted and followed, would maximise the

public good Public good may refer to: * Public good (economics), an economic good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous * The common good, outcomes that are beneficial for all or most members of a community See also * Digital public goods Digital pu ...

more than any alternative code would. The codes may be society-wide standards or special codes for a profession like engineering.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandt, Richard 1910 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American philosophers American ethicists American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American philosophy academics Analytic philosophers Consequentialists Meta-ethics Moral philosophers People from Wilmington, Ohio Philosophers of culture Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of mind Philosophers of psychology Philosophers of social science Philosophy teachers Philosophy writers Rationality theorists University of Michigan faculty Utilitarians 20th-century American male writers