Background
Railton, Peter Albert was born on May 23, 1950 in Elgin, Illinois, United States. Son of Arthur Roy and Marjorie Elizabeth Marks Railton.
(We struggle daily with the notions of why we do what we d...)
We struggle daily with the notions of why we do what we do and of assigning values to our actions, although it seems possible through experience to gain knowledge and understanding of such matters. In contrast to the world of facts, values and morality seem insecure, easily influenced by illusion or ideology. How can objectivity and accuracy be applied to values and morality? Peter Railton's study reveals how a naturalistically informed view of the world might incorporate objective values and moral knowledge.
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Railton, Peter Albert was born on May 23, 1950 in Elgin, Illinois, United States. Son of Arthur Roy and Marjorie Elizabeth Marks Railton.
He received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1980, writing a dissertation under the supervision of David K. Lewis.
He has also been a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2004. Although his dissertation concerned scientific explanation, on which he has published several articles, his main research since centers on contemporary metaethics and normative ethics, especially consequentialism.
He is the author of the book Facts, Norms, and Values (Cambridge University Press, 2003), a collection of his major papers in ethics, and a co-editor (with Stephen Darwall and Allan Gibbard) of Moral Discourse and Practice: Some Philosophical Approaches (Oxford University Press, 1996). A public lecture he gave concerning his own struggles with depression attracted widespread notice and praise in the academic community. Railton has playfully described himself as a "stark, raving moral realist".
However, unlike some moral realists, he thinks moral facts that make moral statements true are natural facts.
(We struggle daily with the notions of why we do what we d...)
1992, "Pluralism, Determinacy, and Dilemma," Ethics, Vol.
Member American Philosophical Association (various committees since 1978), American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, Philosophy of Sciences Association (committee member since 1978), Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Michigan Society Fellows (junior fellow 1979-1982, senior fellow since 2005).
Married Rebecca Jarvis Scott, April 21, 1978. Children: John Scott-Railton, Thomas Scott-Railton.