Michael Andrew Smith

McCosh Professor of Philosophy. Michael Smith has been a major contributor to metaethics, where he is one of the leaders of the field internationally. His 1994 book The Moral Problem has influenced a generation of moral philosophers. At the heart of his work is a struggle with the question: what moves us to act morally? We have moral beliefs that can be true or false. But actual action requires a desire. How do the two connect? Smith holds that a moral judgment involves the commitment that were I fully rational and informed, I would want myself to adopt that course of action under the circumstances in which I actually find myself. The connection between moral judgment and motivation derives from the fact that it would be a rational failure to hold that I would want myself to do something were I fully rational and informed and yet not actually to have such a desire. Smith's blending of Humean approaches to motivation and action with a priori, rationalist normative principles opened up new territory in the realm of metaethics. His work has continued to develop, challenging a number of traditional dualisms in normative ethics, the theory of action, and the theory of value.