David Lyons (philosopher)

{{Infobox philosopher

|region = Western philosophy

|era = Contemporary philosophy

|image =

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|name = David Lyons

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|02|6}}

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|school_tradition =

|main_interests = Philosophy of law, moral philosophy, political philosophy

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|education = Brooklyn College
Harvard University

|institutions = Cornell University
Boston University

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David Lyons (born February 6, 1935) is an American moral, political and legal philosopher who is emeritus professor of philosophy and of law at Boston University after having spent much of his career at Cornell University where he held joint appointment in the College and Arts and Sciences and School of Law.

Education and career

Lyons earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University, where he studied under John Rawls.

Lyons was one of the faculty members in the Susan Linn Sage School of Philosophy within the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences,{{cite web | url=http://static.as.cornell.edu/150/images/sage/History-of-the-Sage-School.pdf | title=History of the Susan Linn Sage School of Philosophy | first1=Sydney | last1=Shoemaker | first2=Derk | last2= Pereboom | publisher=Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences | date=n.d. | access-date=June 30, 2024}} joining it in 1964. Later he obtained a joint appointment with Cornell University School of Law. He also had a stint as chair of the Susan Linn Sage School (operationally the chair of the philosophy department). He taught at Cornell until 1995, when he joined the Boston University faculty.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bu.edu/philo/profiles/david-lyons/|title=David Lyons | Philosophy|publisher=Boston University|access-date=November 28, 2015}} His former students include David O. Brink.

Philosophical work

Lyons has had a lengthy career as a moral and legal philosopher, including such topics as the nature of rights and how they relate to concepts of the general welfare. He is particularly well known for his interpretation of the philosophy of John Stuart Mill, arguing that Mill's utilitarianism is compatible with recognizing the importance of rights.{{cite journal | last=Brink | first=David O. | journal=Philosophy and Phenomenological Research | volume=57 | number=3 | date=September 1997 | pages= 713–717 | url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2953764 | title=Critical Notices | doi=10.2307/2953764 | jstor=2953764 | url-access=subscription }}

In 2010, Lyons was honored by the Boston University School of Law with a two-day event, "Rights, Equality, and Justice: A Conference Inspired by the Moral and Legal Theory of David Lyons". The resulting papers from the conference were published in the Boston University Law Review.{{cite journal | url=https://www.bu.edu/law/journals-archive/bulr/documents/augeditorsforewordlyons.pdf | title=Rights, Equality, and Justice: A Conference Inspired by the Moral and Legal Theory of David Lyons | journal=Boston University Law Review | volume=90 | pages=1667–1668 | number=4 | date=August 2010}} See also [https://www.bu.edu/bulawreview/archives/volume-90-number-4-july-2010/ issue table of contents].

Books

Moral Aspects of Legal Theory : Essays on Law, Justice and Political Responsibility. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-521-43244-3}}
Translated into Spanish as Aspectos morales de la teoria juridica : ensayos sobre la ley, la justicia y la responsabilidad política {{ISBN|978-84-7432-601-7}}
Mill's Utilitarianism : Critical Essays (editor) Lanham (Md.) : Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-8476-8783-1}} {{oclc|37397916}}
Rights, Welfare, and Mill's Moral Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.{{ISBN|9780195082180}} {{oclc|28966786}}
Ethics and the Rule of Law. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1984. {{ISBN|978-0-521-27712-9}} Held in over 1000 worldCat libraries.{{oclc|009620294}}
Translated into Polish as Etyka i rządy prawa {{ISBN|978-83-7261-058-4}}
Rights. (editor) The Wadsworth series in social philosophy. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1979. {{ISBN|978-0-534-00600-6}} {{oclc|003933410}}
Translated into Spanish as Ética y derecho {{ISBN|978-84-344-1521-8}}
In the Interest of the Governed; A Study in Bentham's philosophy of utility and law. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1973. {{ISBN|978-0-19-824503-2}} {{oclc|000701215}}
Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. {{ISBN|978-0-19-824197-3}} {{oclc|000350922}}

References

External links

[https://www.bu.edu/philo/profile/david-lyons/ Page at Boston University Arts & Sciences]
[https://www.bu.edu/law/profile/david-b-lyons/ Page at Boston University School of Law]
[https://as.cornell.edu/people/david-lyons Page at Cornell University Arts & Sciences]
[https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/david-b-lyons/ Page at Cornell University School of Law]

Category:1935 births

Category:20th-century American essayists

Category:20th-century American philosophers

Category:21st-century American essayists

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American philosophers

Category:American ethicists

Category:American legal scholars

Category:American legal writers

Category:American male essayists

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American philosophy academics