| Region: | Western philosophy |
| Era: | 21st-century philosophy |
| Talbot Brewer | |
| School Tradition: | Analytic |
| Institutions: | University of Virginia |
| Main Interests: | ethical theory, moral psychology |
| Thesis Title: | Character, Desire and Moral Commitment |
| Thesis Url: | https://www.proquest.com/openview/6d75f074f4c3c99a73fc004e90f9dd05/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y |
| Thesis Year: | 1998 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Thomas M. Scanlon |
| Academic Advisors: | Christine Korsgaard Stanley Cavell John Rawls Fred Neuhouser Richard Moran |
| Notable Ideas: | dialectical activity |
| Education: | Harvard University (PhD), Tufts University (MA) |
Talbot Brewer is an American philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. He is known for his works on moral philosophy.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Brewer is known for his idea of "dialectical activity," arguing that contemporary moral philosophy is hindered by a production-oriented conception of human agency and action. He tries to retrieve a different "dialectical" conception of human agency drawing on classical moral philosophy (mainly Aristotle). He believes that our ritual activities show our presence in and to the world. Christopher Cordner provided a criticism of Brewer's idea and argued that this picture of ritual activities is not fully recognised in the dialectical conception of human agency.[11]
Lorraine Besser-Jones argues that Brewer's idea of human agency is incompatible with empirical evidence on motivation and concludes that proposing the good life as a unified dialectical activity is implausible.[12] Mark LeBar describes Brewer's work as saving moral philosophy from "the grip of bad questions and worse answers" and calls it an "ambitious aim."[13]
In her book Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming, Agnes Callard (from the University of Chicago) proposes her aspirational theory of morality and distinguishes it from Brewer's dialectical theory.[14] Jon Garthoff (from the University of Tennessee) proposes a “dynamic approximation” model of virtues based on Brewer’s dialectical idea of virtue acquisition and Rawl's theory of justice. In this model, emphasis and focus on a value gradually enables more engagement with it and more acknowledgement of it.[15] In a paper on teleological hospitality, Melissa Fitzpatrick (from Boston College) provides a critical interpretation of Brewer's work and argues that a crucial component of human flourishing is hospitality towards others.[16] Christopher Bennett (from the University of Sheffield) uses Brewer's idea of dialectical activity to provide an interpretation of Wenders' film Paris, Texas.[17]