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1 Biography  





2 Selected publications  



2.1  Books  





2.2  Articles  







3 References  





4 External links  














Peter Unger






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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Peter Unger
Born (1942-04-25) April 25, 1942 (age 82)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSwarthmore College
Oxford University
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic philosophy

Main interests

Metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of mind

Notable ideas

Effective altruism

Peter K. Unger (/ˈʌŋɡər/; born April 25, 1942) is a contemporary American philosopher and professor in the Department of PhilosophyatNew York University. His main interests lie in the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of mind.

Biography[edit]

Unger attended Swarthmore College at the same time as David Lewis, earning a B.A. in philosophy in 1962,[1] and Oxford University, where he studied under A. J. Ayer[2] and earned a doctorate in 1966.[3]

Unger has written a defense of profound philosophical skepticism. In Ignorance (1975), he argues that nobody knows anything and even that nobody is reasonable or justified in believing anything.

InPhilosophical Relativity (1984), he argues that many philosophical questions cannot be definitively answered.

In the field of applied ethics, his best-known work is Living High and Letting Die (1996). In this text, Unger argues that the citizens of first-world countries have a moral duty to make large donations to life-saving charities (such as Oxfam and UNICEF), and that once they have given all of their own money and possessions, beyond what is needed to survive, they should give what belongs to others, even if having to beg, borrow, or steal in the process.

In "The Mental Problems of the Many" (2002), he argues for substantial interactionist dualism on questions of mind and matter: that each of us is an immaterial soul. The argument is extended and fortified in his 2006 book All the Power in the World.

InEmpty Ideas (2014), he argues that analytic philosophy has delivered no substantial results as to how things are with concrete reality.

Selected publications[edit]

Books[edit]

Articles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Swarthmore College :: Philosophy :: Department Alumni with PHIL Ph.D.s". Swarthmore College. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  • ^ "UPI Article: Thinking about life: Peter Unger". UPI. 2001. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
  • ^ "NYU > Philosophy > Unger, Peter". New York University. Retrieved 2009-03-05. - dead link, see: Internet Archive copy of 22.05.2009, access: 29.05.2023.
  • External links[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Unger&oldid=1229979559"

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