Rosalind Hursthouse
| Rosalind Hursthouse | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Mary Rosalind Hursthouse 10 November 1943 Bristol, England |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | Analytic Philosophy |
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Main interests
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Virtue ethics Philosophy of mind |
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Notable ideas
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Practical value of virtue ethics |
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Influences
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Mary Rosalind Hursthouse (born 10 November 1943) is a moral philosopher noted for her work on virtue ethics.
Born in Bristol, England, in 1943, Hursthouse spent her childhood in New Zealand. Her aunt Mary studied philosophy and when her father asked her what that was all about, he could not understand her answer. Rosalind Hursthouse, 17 at the time, knew immediately that she wanted to study philosophy, too, and enrolled the next year. She taught for many years at the Open University in England. She was head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland from 2002 to 2005. Though she had written a substantial amount previously, Hursthouse entered the international philosophical scene for the first time in 1990–91, with three articles:
Hursthouse is currently a professor of philosophy at the University of Auckland.
Hursthouse, who was mentored by Elizabeth Anscombe and Philippa Foot, is best known as a virtue ethicist. Her work is deeply grounded in the history of philosophy, and especially in Aristotle's ethics, about which she has written extensively. Hursthouse's article "Virtue Theory and Abortion" argues that whereas most discussions of abortion focus on the issue of who has rights to make decisions regarding the foetus, a decision made within one's rights could still be callous or cowardly, meaning that it would be ethically problematic and potentially devastating for the person making it, whatever the status of the foetus and the reproductive rights of women.
Hursthouse has also emphasised the practical nature of virtue ethics in her books Beginning Lives and Ethics, Humans, and Other Animals. Hursthouse's most substantial contribution to modern virtue ethics is her book On Virtue Ethics, which explores its structure as a distinctive action-guiding theory, the relationship between virtue, the emotions and moral motivation, and the place of the virtues within an overall account of human flourishing. It also expands her formulation of right action in terms of what a virtuous person would characteristically do.
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