Robert Myers
Professor
University Professor
Office: Ross Building, S423
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 77556
Email: rmyers@yorku.ca
Primary website: http://www.yorku.ca/professor/rmyers/
Accepting New Graduate Students
My early work was mainly concerned to develop a theory that would reveal impartial beneficence, prerogatives and restrictions to be equally fundamental components of morality.
More recently, I have been working on metaethical questions concerning the possible objectivity of value, and especially on the question whether philosophers have been hindered in their thinking here by inadequate conceptions of what desires are.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of California, BerkeleyB.A., Queen's University
Appointments
Faculty of Graduate StudiesResearch Interests
Donald Davidson on Action, Mind and Value, S. C. Yang and R. H. Myers, eds. Singapore: Springer, 2021.
Donald Davidson's Triangulation Argument (with Claudine Verheggen). New York: Routledge, 2016. (Paperback edition, 2018.)
Self-Governance and Cooperation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. (Paperback edition, 2003.)
"Davidson's Meta-Normative Naturalism and the Rationality Requirement" in S. C. Yang and R. H. Myers, eds., Donald Davidson on Action, Mind and Value. Singapore: Springer, 2021.
"Holism in Action", in C. Verheggen, ed., Witgenstein and Davidson on Language, Thought, and Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
"Interpretation and Value", in A Companion to Davidson, E. Lepore and K. Ludwig, eds., Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Paul Hurley, Beyond Consequentialism, reviewed in Ethics 121 (Jan. 2011), pp. 444-449.
Robert Nozick, Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World, reviewed in Philosophy of the Social Sciences 33 (December 2003), pp. 514-518.
Robert Adams, Finite and Infinite Goods, reviewed in Ethics 112 (January 2002), pp. 351-354.
Peter Rijpkema, State Perfectionism and Personal Freedom, reviewed in Ethics 107 (Oct. 1996), p. 178.
David Cooper, Value Pluralism and Ethical Choice, reviewed in Ethics 105 (Jan. 1995), p. 447.
“Replies to Kirk Ludwig and Paul Hurley,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review 59 (June 2020), pp. 255-69.
“Davidson’s Meta-Normative Naturalism,” Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 7 (April 2019), pp. 48-58.
"Desires and Normative Truths: A Holist's Response to the Sceptics." Mind 121 (April 2012), pp. 375-406.
“Cooperating to Promote the Good,” Analyse und Kritik (2011), pp. 123-139.
“Reply to Anton Leist: Keeping Constructivism in Its Place,” Analyse und Kritik (2011), pp. 149-153.
“Finding Value in Davidson,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 34 (March 2004), pp. 107-136.
“The Inescapability of Moral Reasons,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59 (June 1999), pp. 281-307.
“On the Explanation, the Justification and the Interpretation of Action,” Nous 29 (June 1995), pp. 212-231.
“Prerogatives and Restrictions from the Cooperative Point of View,” Ethics 105 (Oct. 1994), pp. 128-152.
“Davidson on Desire and Value,” in Language and World, V. Munz, K. Puhl, J. Wang, eds., Proceedings of the 32nd International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria, 2009.
“Radical Interpretation and Moral Theory,” in The Role of Pragmatics in Contemporary Philosophy, P. Weingartner, G. Schurz and G. Dorn, eds., Proceedings of the 20th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria, 1997, pp. 661-665.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2024 | GS/PHIL6390 3.0 | M | Philosophy of Action | SEMR |
| Fall/Winter 2023 | GS/PHIL6850 6.0 | A | PhD Research Seminar | SEMR |
My early work was mainly concerned to develop a theory that would reveal impartial beneficence, prerogatives and restrictions to be equally fundamental components of morality.
More recently, I have been working on metaethical questions concerning the possible objectivity of value, and especially on the question whether philosophers have been hindered in their thinking here by inadequate conceptions of what desires are.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of California, BerkeleyB.A., Queen's University
Appointments
Faculty of Graduate StudiesResearch Interests
All Publications
"Davidson's Meta-Normative Naturalism and the Rationality Requirement" in S. C. Yang and R. H. Myers, eds., Donald Davidson on Action, Mind and Value. Singapore: Springer, 2021.
"Holism in Action", in C. Verheggen, ed., Witgenstein and Davidson on Language, Thought, and Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
"Interpretation and Value", in A Companion to Davidson, E. Lepore and K. Ludwig, eds., Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Paul Hurley, Beyond Consequentialism, reviewed in Ethics 121 (Jan. 2011), pp. 444-449.
Robert Nozick, Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World, reviewed in Philosophy of the Social Sciences 33 (December 2003), pp. 514-518.
Robert Adams, Finite and Infinite Goods, reviewed in Ethics 112 (January 2002), pp. 351-354.
Peter Rijpkema, State Perfectionism and Personal Freedom, reviewed in Ethics 107 (Oct. 1996), p. 178.
David Cooper, Value Pluralism and Ethical Choice, reviewed in Ethics 105 (Jan. 1995), p. 447.
Donald Davidson on Action, Mind and Value, S. C. Yang and R. H. Myers, eds. Singapore: Springer, 2021.
Donald Davidson's Triangulation Argument (with Claudine Verheggen). New York: Routledge, 2016. (Paperback edition, 2018.)
Self-Governance and Cooperation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. (Paperback edition, 2003.)
“Replies to Kirk Ludwig and Paul Hurley,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review 59 (June 2020), pp. 255-69.
“Davidson’s Meta-Normative Naturalism,” Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 7 (April 2019), pp. 48-58.
"Desires and Normative Truths: A Holist's Response to the Sceptics." Mind 121 (April 2012), pp. 375-406.
“Cooperating to Promote the Good,” Analyse und Kritik (2011), pp. 123-139.
“Reply to Anton Leist: Keeping Constructivism in Its Place,” Analyse und Kritik (2011), pp. 149-153.
“Finding Value in Davidson,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 34 (March 2004), pp. 107-136.
“The Inescapability of Moral Reasons,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59 (June 1999), pp. 281-307.
“On the Explanation, the Justification and the Interpretation of Action,” Nous 29 (June 1995), pp. 212-231.
“Prerogatives and Restrictions from the Cooperative Point of View,” Ethics 105 (Oct. 1994), pp. 128-152.
“Davidson on Desire and Value,” in Language and World, V. Munz, K. Puhl, J. Wang, eds., Proceedings of the 32nd International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria, 2009.
“Radical Interpretation and Moral Theory,” in The Role of Pragmatics in Contemporary Philosophy, P. Weingartner, G. Schurz and G. Dorn, eds., Proceedings of the 20th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria, 1997, pp. 661-665.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2024 | GS/PHIL6390 3.0 | M | Philosophy of Action | SEMR |
| Fall/Winter 2023 | GS/PHIL6850 6.0 | A | PhD Research Seminar | SEMR |
