Philippa Foot
contemporaryVirtue Ethics, Analytic Philosophy1920 – 2010
Philippa Foot (1920–2010) was a British moral philosopher at Oxford University best known for reviving virtue ethics within analytic philosophy and for introducing the trolley problem as a philosophical thought experiment. Her later work developed a naturalistic account of ethics grounded in the biology and characteristic functioning of living things, arguing that moral goodness is a species of natural goodness.
Notable Achievements
1
Introduced the trolley problem thought experiment in 'The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect' (1967)
2
Helped revive virtue ethics as a serious program within analytic moral philosophy
3
Developed a naturalistic foundation for ethics in 'Natural Goodness' (2001), grounding moral evaluation in biological flourishing
4
Challenged Humean fact-value orthodoxy, arguing that moral conclusions can follow from factual premises
5
Co-founded the Oxford Moral Philosophy discussion group with Elizabeth Anscombe, helping shape post-war British ethics