Leslie Stevenson

contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy

b. 1943

Leslie Stevenson is a British analytic philosopher best known for his influential survey text 'Seven Theories of Human Nature' (1974), later expanded to 'Thirteen Theories of Human Nature.' His work spans philosophy of mind, epistemology, and the comparative study of philosophical and religious accounts of what it means to be human. He spent much of his academic career at the University of St Andrews.

Notable Achievements

Authored 'Seven Theories of Human Nature,' a widely used introductory text comparing Plato, Kant, Marx, Freud, Sartre, Christianity, and behaviorism

Expanded the work to 'Thirteen Theories of Human Nature,' incorporating feminist, Confucian, Darwinian, and neuroscientific perspectives

Contributed to epistemology of testimony, examining how justification propagates through chains of transmission

Helped establish comparative philosophy of human nature as a pedagogically tractable field

Positions & Arguments(1)

Truth & Knowledge

claim

Testimonial justification can be generated through a chain of testimony even when the transmitting testifier lacks justified belief