Thomas Hurka (born 1952) is a Canadian philosopher who holds the Jackman Distinguished Chair in Philosophical Studies at the

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

and who taught previously, from 1978 to 2002, at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. He is a leading defender of

virtue ethics Virtue ethics (also aretaic ethics, from Greek ἀρετή arete_(moral_virtue).html"_;"title="'arete_(moral_virtue)">aretḗ''_is_an_approach_to_ethics_that_treats_the_concept_of_virtue.html" ;"title="arete_(moral_virtue)">aretḗ''.html" ;" ...

Education and career

After graduating from the

University of Toronto Schools University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by competitive ex ...

, he received a BA at the

and a BPhil and DPhil from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 2001.

Philosophical work

Hurka has published works on a number of topics, including the topics of goodness,

virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...

, and

ethics 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 m ...

. His philosophy focuses on the well-rounded life. He cited that goods, which come in four basic categories - pleasure, knowledge, achievement, and virtue - matter more the less of them you have. In his theory, he stressed that it is more appropriate to seek a balanced variety of them all instead of devoting oneself to one kind. His conception of virtue is different from the view that an agent ought to maximize their own good, which requires being virtuous. Instead, Hurka stressed that "agents ought to maximize the good of all, which requires conventionally right action, and as a side effect can maximize their own good." Hurka has also studied the ethics of fighting

Global Warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. He maintained that if we reject the notion that individuals should only pursue their own self-interest, then we can assign ethical standing to a wider range of beings besides ourselves. This is significant in addressing global warming because it morally pushes towards strategies of avoiding instead of adapting to climate change.

References

External links

Thomas Hurka homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurka, Thomas Living people University of Toronto faculty Alumni of the University of Oxford Canadian philosophers Canadian ethicists Place of birth missing (living people) 1952 births