Derek Parfit

Derek Parfit
FBA
Parfit at Harvard University in April 2015
Born(1942-12-11)11 December 1942
Chengdu, China
Died2 January 2017 (aged 74)
London, England
EducationBalliol College, Oxford (BA)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2010)​
AwardsRolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy (2014)
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford
Main interests
Notable ideas
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Derek Antony Parfit FBA (/ˈpɑːrfɪt/; 11 December 1942 – 2 January 2017[3][4]) was a British philosopher who specialised in personal identity, rationality, and ethics. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential moral philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[5][6][7]

Parfit rose to prominence in 1971 with the publication of his first paper, "Personal Identity". His first book, Reasons and Persons (1984), has been described as the most significant work of moral philosophy since the 1800s.[6][7] His second book, On What Matters (2011), was widely circulated and discussed for many years before its publication.

For his entire academic career, Parfit worked at Oxford University, where he was an Emeritus Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College at the time of his death. He was also a visiting professor of philosophy at Harvard University, New York University, and Rutgers University. He was awarded the 2014 Rolf Schock Prize "for his groundbreaking contributions concerning personal identity, regard for future generations, and analysis of the structure of moral theories."[8]

  1. ^ Parfit, Derek (1984). Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. vii. ISBN 019824908X.
  2. ^ Parfit, Derek (2011). On What Matters, vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. xlv. ISBN 9780199572809.
  3. ^ Grimes, William (4 January 2017). "Derek Parfit, Philosopher Who Explored Identity and Moral Choice, Dies at 74". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  4. ^ Dancy, Jonathan (28 April 2020). "Derek Parfit" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy. 19: 37–57.
  5. ^ "Derek Parfit" (PDF). The Times. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b Grimes, William (4 January 2017). "Derek Parfit, Philosopher Who Explored Identity and Moral Choice, Dies at 74". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Rolf Schock Prizes 2014: Rolf Schock – uniting philosophy, mathematics, music and art". Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2017.