Department of Philosophy

Tristram McPherson

Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Ph.D. Princeton University, 2008
223 Major Williams Hall | Email | (540) 231-0991 | Personal Website
Metaethics, Normative Ethics, Epistemology

Tristram McPerson's research focuses on four philosophical questions in and about ethics:

(1) Is there a correct theory that tells us which actions are right and wrong, and helps to explain why?

(2) If so, what is the structure of that theory?

(3) How do our ethical commitments and practices fit into our larger conception of how the world works?

(4) What is the best way of going about answering the preceding questions?

Recent Articles and Book Chapters

  • "Ethical Non-naturalism and the Metaphysics of Supervenience," forthcoming in Oxford Studies in Metaethics.
  • "Against Quietist Normative Realism," Philosophical Studies 154(2), June 2011.
  • "Moorean Arguments and Moral Revisionism," Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 3(2), June 2009.
  • "Metaethics and the Autonomy of Morality," Philosophers' Imprint 8(6), July 2008.

Encyclopedia Entries

  • "The Open Question Argument," forthcoming in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  • "Quietism," forthcoming in International Encyclopedia of Ethics.
  • "A Priori Moral Knowledge," forthcoming in International Encyclopedia of Ethics.

Critical Notices and Book Reviews

  • "Review of Oxford Studies in Metaethics Vol. V," Ethics 121(4), July 2011.
  • "Mark Schroeder's Hypotheticalism," symposium contribution, Philosophical Studies, forthcoming.
  • "Unnatural Normativity? Critical Notice of Ralph Wedgwood's The Nature of Normativity," Philosophical Books 50(2), April 2009.
  • "Review of Mark Kalderon, Moral Fictionalism," Philosophical Review 117(3), July 2008.