Alastair Norcross
(Seen here declaring an end to
major combat operations in the war on kantianism)
I
arrived in Boulder in August 2007, after serving fifteen years in Texas (with
ten months off for good behavior in the 1999-2000 academic year at the University of Arizona, in
Tucson), first at Southern
Methodist University in Dallas, where I was the Easterwood
Professor of Philosophy from 1992 to 2002, and then at Rice University from
2002 to 2007. Before that, I taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in
Geneva, NY, while finishing my Ph.D. at Syracuse University, home of the mighty
Orangemen. Before that, I received my B.A. in Classics from Oxford
University. Before that, you don't want to know about (trust
me). Despite its most strenuous efforts, Texas never managed to break me.
I have never used the expression "y'all" (though I have mentioned it
plenty of times, usually in exasperation). I have never been to a rodeo, worn
cowboy boots, or owned a gun. I have never said, or thought, a good thing about
George W. Bush. I do, however, still miss Ann Richards and Molly Ivins.
My
research, which is primarily in ethical theory, is focused on the articulation and
defense of consequentialist ethical theories such as utilitarianism. I have
published articles in a wide range of philosophy journals, including The
Philosophical Review,The Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy & Public
Affairs, Philosophical Studies, Analysis, The Australasian Journal of
Philosophy, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Social Theory and
Practice, and The Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. I also
work in several areas of applied ethics, such as euthanasia, abortion, and animal
rights. I have edited (with Bonnie Steinbock) an anthology entitled Killing
and Letting Die (Fordham: 1994). I am currently working on a book, in which I
argue that consequentialist ethical theories should not be interpreted as
theories of either the rightness or goodness of actions, but instead as scalar
theories that evaluate actions as better or worse than possible alternatives.
Click
to see a curriculumvitae. (with
links to selected papers)
Spring
2008 Courses:
PHIL 3100
(Ethical Theory) Tu/Thur 12:30-1:45
PHIL 5100
(Proseminar in Ethics) Tu/Thur 3:30-4:45
Spring
2008 Office Hours: Tu 10:30-12 (except March 11), F 10-11:30 (except March 14 and 21, April 4),
and by appointment