L. W. Sumner Explained

L. W. Sumner
Birth Name:	Leonard Wayne Sumner
Birth Date:	18 May 1941
Nationality:	Canadian
Alma Mater:	Princeton University
Awards:	Molson Prize
Institutions:	University of Toronto
Main Interests:	Law and philosophy
Influences:	Stuart Hampshire, Joel Feinberg

Leonard Wayne Sumner (born 18 May 1941)^[1] is a Canadian philosopher notable for his work on normative and applied ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law.Sumner is University Professor Emeritus of Law and Philosophy at the University of Toronto.^[2]

Education and career

Educated at the University of Toronto Schools, Sumner received his bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1962 and his doctoral degree from Princeton University in 1965, with a thesis supervised by Stuart Hampshire and Joel Feinberg.^[3]

Since 2002, he has been a University Professor, the highest academic honour that the university accords its faculty.^[4] In 1990 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.^[5] In 2009 he was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts.^[6]

Philosophical work

Sumner is the author of four books, including Welfare, Happiness and Ethics.^[7]

Selected bibliography

Books

• Book: Sumner, L.W. . Abortion and moral theory . . Princeton, New Jersey . 1981 . 9780691072623 .
• Book: Sumner, L.W. . The moral foundations of rights . . New York . 1987 . 9780198247517 . registration .
• Book: Sumner, L.W. . Welfare, happiness and ethics . Oxford University Press . New York . 1996 . 9780198244400 .
• Book: Sumner, L.W. . The hateful and the obscene: studies in the limits of free expression . . Toronto . 2004 . 9780802042392 .

Journal articles

• Sumner . L.W. . A matter of life and death . . 10 . 2 . 145–171 . . May 1976 . 2214573 . 10.2307/2214573 .

Further reading

• William R. Carter. "Is There Life after Sumner-Death?" The Southern Journal of Philosophy 21 (1983), pp. 159–176.
• James Woods. "Utilitarian Abortion: Sumner on Abortion", Dialogue 24 (Fall 1985), pp. 671–682.
• David Sobel. "Sumner on Welfare", Dialogue 37 (Summer 1998), pp. 571–577.
• Toni Rønnow-Rasmussen. "L.W. Sumner’s Account of Welfare" in (Eds.) Juan José Acero, Francesc Camós Abril, Neftalí Villanueva Fernández Actas del III Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Filosofía Analítica, Granada (2001), 281–285.
• Krister Bykvist. "Sumner on Desires and Well-being", Canadian Journal of Philosophy 32 (2002), pp. 475–490.
• John G. Slater. Minerva's Aviary: Philosophy at Toronto, 1843-2003, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005,, pp. 458–466.
• Christopher Hugh Toner. "Aristotelian Well-Being: A Response to L. W. Sumner's Critique", Utilitas 18 (September 2006), pp. 218–231.

External links

• Academic home page

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sumner, L. W. . Library of Congress . 5 March 2015 . [Sumner, Leonard Wayne;] [b. May 18, 1941] .
2. http://philosophy.utoronto.ca/people/profile.html?id=308 University of Toronto, Philosophy Department
3. 'Normative Ethics and Metaethics', Princeton University, 1965, 269 pages; available from ProQuest.
4. http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/English/Complete-Index-of-University-Professors.html Complete index of University Professors
5. http://www.rsc.ca/index.php?page_id=96&lang_id=1&first_name=&last_name=sumner&academy=&institute_name=&year_election=&submit=Search List of Fellows
6. Sumner Wins Molson Prize . Philosophy News . University of Toronto, Department of Philosophy . Fall 2009 . 1 . January 13, 2022.
7. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, .