The Sources of Normativity, a 1996 volume adapted from Tanner Lectures on Human Values, solidified Christine Korsgaard’s standing in contemporary ethics. Born in 1952 in Chicago, this American philosopher has dedicated her career to exploring the intricate intersections of moral philosophy, personal identity, and the philosophy of mind, eventually attaining emeritus status at Harvard University.
Academic Trajectory
A 1970 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Korsgaard pursued her undergraduate studies at Eastern Illinois University before completing a B.A. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She moved to Harvard University for her doctoral studies, where she trained under John Rawls. Throughout her career, she has held teaching positions at Yale, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Chicago, and Harvard, where she served as the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy.
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Her body of work includes several pivotal texts. In 1996, she published Creating the Kingdom of Ends alongside her exploration of normativity. In 2002, she became the first woman to deliver the John Locke Lectures at the University of Oxford, a series that later formed the basis for her 2009 work, Self-Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity. Her research often addresses the history of moral philosophy and Kantian approaches to modern ethical dilemmas.
Animal Rights Advocacy
Korsgaard brings a Kantian perspective to animal rights, detailed in her 2018 book, Fellow Creatures: Our Obligations to Other Animals. She distinguishes between final goods—those which matter to a creature—and evaluative goods. Because animals possess the capacity to represent the world for self-maintenance, she argues they possess a final good. While she limits the category of persons to self-governed rational beings capable of duty, she contends that animals function as passive ends-in-themselves, requiring moral respect.
Professional Recognition
Her academic influence is marked by various memberships and honors. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Between 2008 and 2009, she presided over the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association. She also holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Illinois, awarded in 2004, and is an honorary doctor of the University of Groningen.
Fast facts
- Born: 1952, Chicago
- Undergraduate Education: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Doctoral Institution: Harvard University
- Notable Role: Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy Emerita
- Animal Rights Advocacy: Author of Fellow Creatures (2018)
- Professional Membership: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Languages: English
Questions readers ask
What is the core of Korsgaard's argument regarding animals?
She argues that because animals have a final good, they are passive ends-in-themselves and deserve moral consideration, even if they are not rational agents capable of duty.
Which universities has she taught at?
She has held positions at Yale, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University.
Achievements
- Held posts at Harvard University, University of Chicago and University of California, Santa Barbara
- Fields: philosophy, philosophy of mind and ethics
