Roger Crisp

Roger Crisp
Born	(1961-03-23) 23 March 1961 Brentwood, Essex
Nationality	British
Alma mater	St Anne's College, Oxford
Website	Official website
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic philosophy
Institutions	University of Oxford
Main interests	Ethics
Influences J. S. Mill, Iris Murdoch

Roger Stephen Crisp (born 23 March 1961), is Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. He holds the university posts of Professor of Moral Philosophy and Uehiro Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy. His work falls principally within the field of ethics, in particular metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. In addition, he is Chairman of the Management Committee of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.

Education

Originally from Brentwood, Essex, Crisp began his higher education at St. Anne’s College, Oxford in 1979, where he read Literae Humaniores. He was amongst the first male cohort to study at this previously all-female college. He was taught by, amongst others, Margaret Howatson, Gabriele Taylor, Iris Murdoch, and Peter Derow. In 1983 he commenced the B.Phil, and from 1985 until 1988 he worked on his D.Phil, writing his thesis on utilitarianism.

Career

In 1986 Crisp began his first academic post, as a junior lecturer in philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford; he returned to St. Anne’s for two years beginning 1987 as a lecturer in philosophy, before taking up a lecturing post at Hertford College, Oxford in 1988-1989. 1989-1991 saw Crisp move to University College, Oxford, as a British Academy Research Fellow and Honorary Junior Research Fellow. Finally, Crisp returned once more to St. Anne’s in 1991, to take up a permanent post as Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, succeeding Gabriele Taylor. For the first time in his career, Crisp temporarily left Oxford and spent the academic year 2010-2011 at Boston University to explore his interest in the moral philosophy of Henry Sidgwick.

Arguably Crisp’s most significant work to date has been Reasons and the Good (Clarendon Press, 2006), in which he advances some novel approaches to the oldest questions in ethics. The central claim of this work is that a fundamental issue in normative ethics is what ultimate reasons might underlie our actions; Crisp argues that the best exposition of such reasons will not employ moral concepts. So far, Reasons and the Good has generally been very well received.

Crisp is currently editing an Oxford Handbook on the History of Ethics. Other major works include a translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and the Routledge Guidebook to Mill on Utilitarianism.

Personal life

Crisp is married with two daughters. Aside from his work, his interests include bluegrass guitar and wine tasting.

Select publications

This is a selection of Crisp's recent publications. For an exhaustive list download the PDF file on his page on the Oxford University Philosophy Faculty website.

External links

• Roger Crisp's page on the St. Anne's College website
• Roger Crisp's page on the Oxford University Philosophy Faculty website
• "Philosophy bites": a website where contemporary philosophers deliver podcasts on philosophical topics
• Roger Crisp's posts on an Oxford University practical ethics website