A. John Simmons named 2008 NEH Distinguished Visiting Professor of Philosophy

Dr. A. John Simmons, Commonwealth Professor of Philosophy and professor of law at the University of Virginia, will be the NEH Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Richmond during the fall 2008 semester.

Professor Simmons has taught at the University of Virginia since 1976. He received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1972 and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University in 1977.

Simmons has been an editor of the Journal of Philosophy & Public Affairs since 1982. He is the author of Moral Principles and Political Obligations (Princeton, 1979); The Lockean Theory of Rights (Princeton, 1992); On the Edge of Anarchy: Locke, Consent, and the Limits of Society (Princeton, 1993); Justification and Legitimacy: Essays on Rights and Obligations (Cambridge, 2000); Is There a Duty to Obey the Law? For and Against (with C.H. Wellman, Cambridge, 2005); Political Philosophy (Oxford, 2008) and many papers on topics in moral, political and legal philosophy, two of which have been selected for inclusion in The Philosopher's Annual.

Simmons has edited the books International Ethics (Princeton, 1985) and Punishment (Princeton, 1995). He has chaired the University of Virginia's Department of Philosophy and its Program on Political and Social Thought, and he received Virginia's All-University Teaching Award in the award’s inaugural year. He taught ethics as a special consultant for six years at the F.B.I. National Academy and has given the Becker Distinguished Alumnus Lecture at Cornell University.

Posted November 1, 2007