b. 1946
Jonathan Dancy (born 1946) is a British analytic philosopher best known for developing and defending moral particularism, the view that features which count as reasons for action in one case may fail to do so—or even count against—in another. He has also contributed to epistemology, particularly on intuitionism and the theory of perception. He has held positions at the University of Keele, the University of Reading, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Developed and systematically defended moral particularism against principle-based ethical theories
Authored Ethics Without Principles (2004), the canonical statement of particularist ethics
Contributed to the epistemology of moral intuition and the nature of self-evident propositions
Authored Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (1985), a widely used textbook
Advanced debate on holism in the theory of reasons