William Frankena
contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy1908 – 1994
William K. Frankena (1908–1994) was an American analytic philosopher and ethicist, long associated with the University of Michigan. He is best known for his widely taught introductory text Ethics (1963) and for his influential 1939 critique of G.E. Moore's naturalistic fallacy argument, which helped shape the trajectory of 20th-century metaethics. His work systematized the central debates between teleological and deontological ethical theories.
Notable Achievements
1
Authored Ethics (1963), one of the most widely used introductory texts in moral philosophy
2
Published 'The Naturalistic Fallacy' (1939), a foundational critique of G.E. Moore's open-question argument
3
Developed a clear taxonomic framework distinguishing teleological from deontological ethical theories
4
Defended a moderate deontological theory of obligation combined with an axiological pluralism about intrinsic value
5
Contributed to debates on the relationship between morality, rationality, and religion