Allan Gibbard (b. 1942) is the Richard B. Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... At many universities the honorary title of Distinguished Professor is given to a small number of members of the faculty who are recognized by colleagues throughout the world as leaders in their fields. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a public coeducational university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ...

Allan Gibbard has made several important contributions to contemporary ethical theory, in particular metaethics. He has also published articles in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and social choice theory. Ethics (from the Ancient Greek ethikos, meaning arising from habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of value or quality. ... In philosophy, ethics is commonly divided into two branches, normative ethics and meta-ethics. ... Philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy that studies language. ... Plato and Aristotle, by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... Social choice theory studies how individual preferences are aggregated to form a collective choice, such as, for example in voting systems. ...

Gibbard has written two books in ethical theory: Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment (1990) develops a general theory of moral judgment and judgments of rationality; Thinking How to Live (2003) offers an argument for reconfiguring the distinctions between normative and descriptive discourse. The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... A judgment or judgement (see spelling note below), in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. ... In philosophy, normative is usually contrasted with positive, descriptive or explanatory when describing types of theories, beliefs, or statements. ... In linguistics, prescription is the laying down or prescribing of normative rules for a language. ... Discourse is a term used in semantics as in discourse analysis, but it also refers to a social conception of discourse, often linked with the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and Jürgen Habermas The Theory of Communicative Action (1985). ...

Gibbard has been a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He served as President of the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association from 2001 to 2002. The House of the Academy, Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... The Econometric Society The Econometric Society, an International Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory in its Relation with Statistics and Mathematics was founded on December 29, 1930 at the Stalton Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. ... The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. ... The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Gibbard received his BA in mathematics from Swarthmore College in 1963 with minors in physics and philosophy. After teaching mathematics and physics in Ghana with the Peace Corps (1963-1965), Gibbard studied philosophy at Harvard University, earning his Ph.D. in 1971 under the direction of John Rawls. He served as professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago (1969-1974), and the University of Pittsburgh (1974-1977), before joining the University of Michigan. Gibbard chaired the University of Michigan's Philosophy Department (1987-1988) and has held the title of Richard B. Brandt Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy since 1994. A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B., from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, known today as the father of geometry; shown here in a detail of The School of Athens by Raphael. ... Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1450 students. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Physics (from the Greek, (phúsis), nature and (phusiké), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and understanding of the fundamental laws which govern matter, energy, space and time. ... Peace Corps volunteers usually serve for two years. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... John Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University and author of A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, and The Law of Peoples. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The University of Pittsburgh is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...

See also

• Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem

The Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem is a result about voting systems designed to choose a single winner from the preferences of certain individuals, where each individual ranks all candidates in order of preference. ...

References

• Allan Gibbard, Wise Choices, Apt Feelings, Harvard University Press, 1990 ISBN 0-674-95378-9
• ____, Thinking How to Live, Harvard University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-674-01167-8

External links

• Allan Gibbard's home page
• Wise Choices, Apt Feelings bk description w comments of John McDowell & Simon Blackburn

Scroll down to brief, deep James Ryan review

• Thinking How to Live, intimate 4+ page overview in Preface, & more, with comments