Virginia Potter Held (born October 28, 1929) is an American moral, social/political and

feminist philosopher Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in ...

whose work on the

ethics of care The ethics of care (alternatively care ethics or EoC) is a normative ethical theory that holds that moral action centers on interpersonal relationships and care or benevolence as a virtue. EoC is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories tha ...

sparked significant research into the ethical dimensions of providing care for others and critiques of the traditional roles of women in society.

Beliefs

Held defends care ethics as a moral framework distinct from

Kantian Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...

and

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" ;" ...

. She holds that care is fundamental to human institutes and practices, indeed to our survival. Tong and Williams quote: "There can be no ju ice without care…for without care no child would survive and there would be no persons to respect." Held's work on the morality of political violence viewed through the window of ethics of care has also been significantly influential.

Career

Held was named Distinguished Professor at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

– Graduate Center and

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

in 1996. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1968 and worked at Hunter College as lecturer (1965–69), assistant professor (1969–72), associate professor (1973–77) and full professor from 1977 to her retirement in 2001. Held was affiliated with the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the Ci ...

in 1973, and served as deputy executive officer of the Philosophy program at the CUNY Graduate Center from 1980 to 1984. She also served as president of the Eastern Division of the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly ...

in 2001–2002.

Selected works

Books

* * * * * * *

Chapters in books

Journal articles

Encyclopedia articles

* ''Feminism and Political Theory'' in ''The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy'' * ''Rights: Moral and Legal'' from ''A Companion to Feminist Philosophy'' * ''Feminist Social and Political Philosophy'' in ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy Supplement'' (1997). * "Power" in ''Blackwell Dictionary of Business Ethics * ''Mass Media'', ''Moral Pluralism'' in ''Encyclopedia of Ethics''Held, Virginia. "Mass Media" and "Moral Pluralism", in ''Encyclopedia of Ethics'', New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1992. For further works see C.V.

References

External links

Virginia Held Papers
- Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University {{DEFAULTSORT:Held, Virginia 1929 births 20th-century American philosophers American feminists American women philosophers Feminist philosophers Women's studies academics Presidents of the American Philosophical Association Living people 20th-century American women 21st-century American women