Foot, Philippa (1920—)

British philosopher. Born Philippa Ruth Foot on October 3, 1920; daughter of Esther Cleveland Bosanquet ; graduated B.A. Somerville College, Oxford University, 1942, M.A., 1946.

Lecturer in Philosophy, Somerville College (1947); fellow and tutor (1950–69); visiting professor, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley, Princeton University, City University of New York; fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (1981–82); senior research fellow, Somerville College (1970—); professor of philosophy, University of California at Los Angeles (1974—).

Selected works:

"The Philosopher's Defence of Morality," in Philosophy (October 1952, pp. 311–328); "Freewill as Involving Determinism," in Philosophical Review (October 1957, pp. 439–450); "Moral Arguments," in Mind (October 1958, pp. 502–513); (ed.) Theories of Ethics (London: Oxford University Press, 1967); "The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect," in Oxford Review (Trinity, 1967); Morality and Art (Henrietta Hertz Trust, Annual Philosophical Lecture, London: Oxford University Press, 1970); "In Defence of the Hypothetical Imperative," in Philosophic Exchange (Summer 1971, pp. 137–145); "Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives," in Philosophical Review (July 1972); "Euthanasia," in Philosophy and Public Affairs (Winter 1977, pp. 85–112); Virtues and Vices and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy (Berkeley: CA: University of California Press, 1978); Moral Relativism (Lindley Lecture, 1978, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1979); "Killing, Letting Die and Euthanasia: A Reply to Holly Smith Goldman," in Analysis (June 1981, pp. 159–160); "Moral Realism and Moral Dilemma," in Journal of Philosophy (July 1983, pp. 379–398); "Utilitarianism and the Virtues," in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Association (November 1983, pp. 273–283); "Nietzsche's Immoralism," in The New York Review of Books (June 13, 1991, pp. 18–22); Justice and Charity (The Gilbert Murray Memorial Lecture, 1992, Oxford: Oxfam, 1993; "Does Moral Subjectivism Rest on a Mistake?," in Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (1995, pp. 1–14); The Grammar of Goodness (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

Philippa Foot has spent most of her life in England, particularly at Oxford University, but in her later career she has been associated with some of the more prestigious American academic institutions, including Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley, Princeton University, City University of New York, and Stanford University. In 1974, she became a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, but continued to reside in Oxford, England. Foot has published prolifically in philosophical journals during her career as an academic philosopher, especially on the subject of ethics.

Catherine Hundleby , Guelph, Ontario, Canada