Philippa Foot

English philosopher (1920–2010) Philippa FootFBAFoot in 1939BornPhilippa Ruth Bosanquet(1920-10-03)3 October 1920Owston Ferry, Lincolnshire, EnglandDied3 October 2010(2010-10-03) (aged 90)Oxford, EnglandSpouse M. R. D. Foot ​ ​(m. 1945; div. 1960)​MotherEsther ClevelandEducationAlma materSomerville College, OxfordAcademic advisorsElizabeth AnscombeDonald M. MacKinnonPhilosophical workEra20th-century philosophyRegionWestern philosophySchoolAnalytic philosophyAretaic turnAristotelianismInstitutionsSomerville College, OxfordUCLAMain interestsEthics, aestheticsNotable ideasTrolley problem, modern revival of virtue ethics, critique of non-cognitivism Philippa Ruth Foot (née Bosanquet; 3 October 1920 – 3 October 2010) was an English philosopher and one of the founders of contemporary virtue ethics. Her work was inspired by Aristotelian ethics. Along with Judith Jarvis Thomson, she is credited with inventing the trolley problem. Biography Early life and education Born Philippa Ruth Bosanquet in Owston Ferry, North Lincolnshire, she was the daughter of Esther Cleveland (1893–1980) and Captain William Sidney Bence Bosanquet (1893–1966) of the Coldstream Guards of the British