E. Gabriele Taylor (born 11 October 1927) is a British philosopher and university teacher. She was fellow and tutor in philosophy at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

, until her retirement in 1996. She notably taught the philosophers

Roger Crisp Roger Stephen Crisp (born 23 March 1961) is fellow and tutor in philosophy at St. Anne's College, Oxford. He holds the university posts of Professor of Moral Philosophy and Uehiro Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy. His work falls principally wit ...

and Constantine Sandis, and the politicians

Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (' Cohen; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two year ...

and

Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...

. Since then she has continued work as a senior research fellow of the college, pursuing her own particular interests in

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 ...

Early life and education

Taylor was born in 1927 and grew up in Berlin. Her early education was disturbed by the war and at the conclusion of hostilities she and her family found themselves in the British sector of the occupied city. She worked for a while with the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

but ultimately was able to travel to England in 1947 to join a relative already in the country. She then worked part-time whilst also studying and then was successful in gaining a place at St Anne’s in 1952 to read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). She went on to study for the BPhil in philosophy, which she completed in 1957.

Academic career

On completing her BPhil, Taylor started her teaching career as a lecturer in philosophy at St Anne’s, working alongside

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her fi ...

, who had been a fellow of the college since 1948. Following a spell in Australia teaching at

Canberra University College Canberra University College was a tertiary education institution established in Canberra by the Australian government and the University of Melbourne in 1930. At first it operated in the Telopea Park School premises after hours. Most of the initi ...

, on her return to England she rejoined the college as a lecturer in 1962 and became a fellow of the college in 1964. During her career as fellow and tutor she taught undergraduates reading most of the Honour Schools involving philosophy as well as supervising graduate students. In the

Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford The Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford was founded in 2001. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. The faculty is located next to Somerville College on Woodstock Road. As of 2020, it is ranked 1st in the UK and 2nd in the English-s ...

, Taylor also examined and lectured on moral philosophy,

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemolo ...

and the

British Empiricists In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiri ...

and gave revision classes on the history of philosophy.

Academic interests

In her role as tutor for the PPE school, Taylor taught the general and moral philosophy courses and special papers for PPE final examinations, and also taught elementary

formal logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

to first year undergraduates. Her own research has focused on

moral psychology Moral psychology is a field of study in both philosophy and psychology. Historically, the term "moral psychology" was used relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. Moral psychology eventually came to refer more broadly to var ...

, with a particular interest in the ‘ordinary’ vices traditionally seen as death to the soul. Her best-known works are probably ''Pride, Shame and Guilt'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

1985) and ''Deadly Vices'' (

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

2006), which examine the beliefs involved in the experience of these emotions. Tom Hurka described ''Deadly Vices'' as 'deeply illuminating ... she takes the neo-Aristotelian view of virtue further than any other writer I know'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Gabriele British ethicists Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford Possibly living people 1927 births Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford 20th-century English philosophers English women philosophers 20th-century English women 20th-century English people