College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Philosophy

Terence Cuneo

Professor; Marsh Chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy

Terence Cuneo's research focuses on metaethics, early modern philosophy, and philosophy of religion. He has strong interests in epistemology and political philosophy as well. He is presently plugging away at two book projects. The first, which is co-authored with John Bengson (University of Wisconsin, Madison) and Russ Shafer-Landau (University of Wisconsin, Madison), develops a version of moral nonnaturalism. It’s entitled Understanding Morality (Oxford, forthcoming). The second is a short book on Thomas Reid’s ethical theory. It’s entitled Active Ethical Agency (Cambridge, forthcoming).

Publications

Selected books:

Understanding Morality (with John Bengson and Russ Shafer-Landau) (Oxford, forthcoming)

Active Ethical Agency: Thomas Reid on Ethics and Action (Cambridge, forthcoming)

Ritualized Faith: Essays on the Philosophy of Liturgy (Oxford, 2016)

Speech and Morality: On the Metaethical Implications of Speaking (Oxford 2014)

The Normative Web: An Argument for Moral Realism, Oxford, 2007
Awarded Honorable Mention, American Philosophical Association Biennial Book Prize 2007-2009

Selected recent articles:

“Can Expressivism Have it All?” Philosophical Studies (forthcoming)

“Method in the Service of Progress” with (John Bengson and Russ Shafer-Landau) Analytic Philosophy (forthcoming)

“Methods, Goals, and Data in Metaethics” with (John Bengson and Russ Shafer-Landau). In Karen Jones, Mark Timmons, and Aaron Zimmerman, eds. The Routledge Companion to Moral Epistemology. Routledge, 2018: 387-404

“The Inaccessibility of Religion Problem.” Ergo, Vol. 4, 2017 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ergo/12405314.0004.023/--inaccessibility-of-religion-problem?rgn=main;view=fulltext

“Reid on the Autonomy of Ethics: From Active Power to Moral Nonnaturalism” (with Randall Harp). Journal of the American Philosophical Association 2, 2017: 523-41

“Destabilizing the Moral Error Theory.” In Martin Grajner, ed. Epistemic Reasons, Epistemic Norms, and Epistemic Goals. De Gruyter, 2016: 71-94

“Does Reid Have Anything to Say to (the new) Hume?” In Todd Buras and Rebecca Copenhaver, eds. Mind, Knowledge, and Action: Essays in Honor of Reid's Tercentenary. Oxford University Press, 2015: 232-48

“Reid on the First Principles of Morals.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 41, Supplement 1, 2014: 102-21

“The Moral Fixed Points: New Directions for Moral Nonnaturalism.” (with Russ Shafer-Landau) Philosophical Studies 171, 2014: 399-443

“Properties for Nothing, Facts for Free? Expressivism's Deflationary Gambit.” Oxford Studies in Metaethics, vol. 6, 2013: 223-51