Peter Albert Railton is John Stephenson Perrin Professor of Philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1980. His research interests center on contemporary metaethics and normative ethics

Normative ethics

Normative ethics is the study of ethical action. It is the branch of philosophical ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to act, morally speaking...

, as well as consequentialism

Consequentialism

Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness of that conduct...

. He is the author of the book Facts, Norms, and Values and a co-editor (with Stephen Darwall and Allan Gibbard

Allan Gibbard

Allan Gibbard is the Richard B. Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Allan Gibbard has made several contributions to contemporary ethical theory, in particular metaethics...

) of Moral Discourse and Practice. He has also written several seminal papers on scientific explanation.

He has been a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University, and is a distinguished professor at the University of Michigan.

Selected publications

• 1984, "Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality," Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 134-171.
• 1986, "Moral Realism," The Philosophical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2, pp. 163-207.
• 1991, "Moral Theory As A Moral Practice," Noûs, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 185-190.
• 1992, "Some Questions About the Justification of Morality," Philosophical Perspectives, Vol. 6, pp. 27-53.
• 1992, "Pluralism, Determinacy, and Dilemma," Ethics, Vol. 102, No. 4, pp. 720-742.
• 1993, "Noncognitivism about Rationality: Benefits, Costs, and an Alternative," Philosophical Issues, Vol. 4, pp. 36-51.
• 1994, "Truth, Reason, and the Regulation of Belief," Philosophical Issues, Vol. 5, pp. 71-93.
• 1996, "Moral Realism: Prospects and Problems," in Sinnott-Armstrong and Timmons (eds.), Moral Knowledge?, Oxford University Press.
• 1996, Moral Discourse and Practice (co-edited with Stephen Darwall and Allan Gibbard), Oxford University Press.
• 2003, Facts, Values, and Norms, Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Video interview/discussion with Railton on Bloggingheads.tv