Background
Feinburg, Joel was born on October 19, 1926 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Feinburg, Joel was born on October 19, 1926 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
University of Illinois and University of Michigan (AB 1949. AM 1951, PhD 1957).
1955-1962, Ford Teaching Intern, Instructor then Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Brown University. 19626, Assistant then Associate Professor of Philosophy, Princeton University. 1966-1967, Professor of Philosophy, University of California at Los Angeles.
1967 77, Professor of Philosophy, Rockefeller University. Since 1977, Professor of Philosophy. University of Arizona.
Liberalism, the view that individual freedom is of preeminent value, has been the core topic of Feinburg’s very influential work. In particular, he has been concerned with liberal justifications for the state’s imposing criminal sanctions on individuals’ conduct. Feinberg adopts a moderate liberalism. Like strict liberals, he accepts that it is permissible to make it a crime for agents to cause wrongful harm to others, as for example, in rape, but goes further in arguing that the state may also impose criminal sanctions against causing extreme offence to others as, for example in the displaying of Nazi emblems. By contrast, he argues, that it is not permissible to have criminal sanctions against agents’ causing harm to themselves or simply acting immorally. Nor should there be criminal sanctions requiring some conduct just because of the benefits, to the agent or others, that arise from it. In developing his liberalism, Feinberg has also done important work on a large number of related topics, including those of freedom, harm, punishment, responsibility, rights, abortion and pornography.