Michael Huemer | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 27, 1969 |
| Education | B.A., University of California, Berkeley Ph.D., Rutgers University |
| Notable work |
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| Era | Contemporary philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | |
| Institutions | University of Colorado, Boulder |
Main interests | |
Notable ideas | Phenomenal conservatism |
Influences | |
| Website | https://www.owl232.net/ |
| Part of a series on |
| Libertarianism in the United States |
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| Part of a series on |
| Anarcho-capitalism |
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Michael Huemer (/ˈhjuːmər/; born 27 December 1969) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder.[1] He has defended ethical intuitionism, direct realism, libertarianism, veganism, and philosophical anarchism.
Huemer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and earned his Ph.D. at Rutgers University in 1998 under the supervision of Peter D. Klein.[2]
Huemer's book Ethical Intuitionism (2005) was reviewed in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews,[3] Philosophy and Phenomenological Research[4] and Mind.[5]
Huemer is the author of The Problem of Political Authority (2013) which argues that the modern arguments for political authority fail and that society can function properly without state coercion. In a review, philosopher Aeon J. Skoble stated that Huemer "joins the ranks of twenty-first-century philosophical defenders of an anarchist position that is rooted in a conception of the efficacy of voluntary and competitive institutions."[6]
Huemer is an advocate of ethical vegetarianism (veganism). In 2016, Huemer debated Bryan Caplan on the ethical treatment of animals, including insects.[7] In 2018, Huemer commented "In the overwhelming majority of actual cases, meat eaters do not have any reasons that could plausibly be claimed to justify the pain and suffering caused by their practice."[8]
His Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism (2019) is a series of dialogues on the ethics of eating meat. Peter Singer who wrote the foreword to book commented that "In the future, when people ask me why I don’t eat meat, I will tell them to read this book.”[9][10]
