b. 1942
John McDowell is a South African-born British philosopher whose work spans philosophy of mind, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of language. He is best known for his influential book 'Mind and World' (1994), which argues against the dualism of conceptual scheme and empirical content, and for his contributions to moral realism and the philosophy of perception.
Developed a naturalized Kantian epistemology in 'Mind and World' reconciling reason and nature
Advanced a disjunctivist theory of perceptual experience against sense-data and representationalist views
Defended a sensibility-based moral realism drawing on Aristotelian virtue ethics
Produced highly influential interpretive work on Wittgenstein's rule-following considerations
Contributed major scholarship on ancient philosophy through translations and commentary on Plato's Theaetetus
Wrongness can be explicated in terms of fitting resentment, and resentment can in turn be understood partly in terms of wrongness, supporting a no-priority view for this pair.
claimTestimonial justification can be generated through a chain of testimony even when the transmitting testifier lacks justified belief