Faculty

neera badhwar

Neera Badhwar Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Toronto
Research areas: Ethics, Moral Psychology, Political Philosophy, International Ethics

nbad@ou.edu

My main project is a book for Oxford University Press on virtue and happiness, with the working title, Happiness as the Highest Good. My aim is to see how far the Aristotelian claim that virtue is necessary for happiness can be defended in light of our knowledge of human psychology. Whereas literature, everyday observation, clinical psychology, animal studies, and philosophical analysis all make valuable contributions to our knowledge of human nature, experimental social and cognitive psychology also play an indispensable part. Human evil is a major threat to happiness, so I am also interested in the question of how we should avoid evil ourselves and respond to it in others. Other research interests include International Ethics (on which I have directed two interdisciplinary conferences and published one paper), and the role of markets in promoting civic friendship and civility. Currently I am working on a paper on autonomy as a moral virtue.

I am now Philosopher-in-Residence at the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program in the Dept. of Economics at George Mason University. My research is supported by a fellowship from the Earhart Foundation.

Recent courses:

Introduction to Philosophy (Honors) (1013)
History of Ethics (3253/3853)
Philosophy and Literature (3033)
Philosophy and Film (3043)
Ethical Theory (4293/5293)
Happiness (6203)
Understanding Evil (6203)
Ethical Naturalism (6203)
Responses to Wrongdoing in Legal and Personal Ethics (6793)
Ethical Dimensions of the Self (6203)
Topics in Virtue Ethics (6203)

Selected awards:

Laurance S. Rockefeller Fellowship, University Center for Human Values,
Princeton University, 1996-97.
NEH Distinguished Visiting Professor, SUNY Potsdam, Fall 1999.
Visiting Scholar, Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Spring 2008.
Earhart Foundation Fellowship, 2010.

Selected articles:

Click here for full CV (.doc)

“The Milgram Experiments, Learned Helplessness, and Character Traits,” Journal of Ethics (special issue on Situationism), June 2009, 1-33 (online at www.springerlink.com); 257-289 (printed).

“Is Realism Really Bad for You? A Realistic Response,” The Journal of Philosophy, V. CV, No. 2, February 2008, 85-107. (.pdf)

“Friendship and Commercial Societies,” Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, August 2008, V. 7, No. 3, 301-326. (.doc)

"Carnal Wisdom and Sexual Virtue,” in Raja Halwani ed., Sex and Ethics: Essays on Sexuality, Virtue, and the Good Life (Palgrave MacMillan, 2007), 134-46. (.doc)

“Experiments in Living,” The Philosophers’ Magazine (the Mill bicentenary issue), Issue 35, 3rd quarter (2006), 58-61. (.doc)

“International Aid: When Giving Becomes a Vice,” Social Philosophy and Policy, issue on Justice and Global Politics, Vol. 23, Winter 2006, and in E. Paul, J. Paul, and F. Miller, eds. Justice and Global Politics (Cambridge University Press), 69-101. (.doc)

“Friendship and Sexuality,” in Alan Soble, ed. Sex from Plato to Paglia: A Philosophical Encyclopedia; 2005, 390-97. (.doc)

"Love," in Hugh LaFollete, ed. Oxford Handbook of Practical Ethics (OUP, 2003), pp. 42-69. (.pdf)

"Friendship," Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Routledge, 1998), 5,046 words (online). (.doc)

"Moral Agency, Commitment, and Impartiality," Social Philosophy and Policy, Vol. 13, 1996, 1-26, and in Community, Individual, and the State, ed. E. Paul (Cambridge University Press). (.doc)

“The Nature and Significance of Friendship,” in N. Badhwar, ed. Friendship: A Philosophical Reader (Cornell Univ. Press, 1993), pp. 1-36. (.doc)

"Altruism vs Self-Interest: Sometimes a False Dichotomy," Social Philosophy and Policy, V. 10, Jan. 1993, pp. 90-117 and in Altruism, ed. E. F. Paul (Cambridge University Press, 1993). (.doc)

"The Circumstances of Justice: Liberalism, Community, and Friendship" (pp. 208-34), Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. I, June 1993. (.doc)

"The Virtues of Benevolence: The Unnamed Virtues in the Fountainhead," presented at The Ayn Rand Society, APA Eastern Division Meetings, 1993. (.doc)

"Why It's Wrong to be Always Guided by the Best: Friendship and Consequentialism," Ethics, April 1991, pp. 483-504. (.doc)