Philippa Foot
Invented the trolley problem and defended a virtue ethics grounded in human nature.
Life
British philosopher (1920-2010), a fellow of Somerville at Oxford and one of the founders of contemporary virtue ethics. She argues that morality is not a matter of mere attitudes: calling a trait a virtue refers to what human beings need. She also devised the trolley problem (1967), now a classic of ethics.
Main works
Virtues are anchored in what every human being needs, not in mere preferences.
The paper in which the trolley problem appears.
Human goodness is understood like that of any living thing, according to its nature.
In his own words
« Hands and eyes, like ears and legs, play a part in so many operations that a man could only be said not to need them if he had no wants at all. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceMoral goodness is the excellence of human nature, like health in a living thing; virtues are what humans need.
Foot, Natural Goodness (2001)
Moral judgments rest on facts about human life, so they are not mere feelings.
Foot, Natural Goodness (2001)