Terence Irwin is a scholar and philosopher specializing in ancient Greek philosophy and the history of ethics (i.e. the history of Western moral philosophy in ancient, medieval, and modern times).

Since 2007, he has been the Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

, and Fellow of Keble College, Oxford

Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...

, where he succeeded Michael Frede

Michael Frede

Michael Frede was a prominent professor and researcher on ancient philosophy.- Education and career :Frede earned his Ph.D...

. From 1975 until 2007, he was at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, where he has been Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy and Humane Letters (from 1995), Professor of Classics (from 1992), and Professor of Philosophy (from 1982). Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 (1972–1975). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 and the British Academy.

He has trained many well-known scholars of ancient philosophy, including Jennifer Whiting at the University of Toronto, Susan Sauve Meyer at the University of Pennsylvania, and Christopher Shields at Oxford University. He is married to Gail Fine, Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 and Visiting Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Merton College, Oxford

Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

.

Education

Terence Irwin was an undergraduate at Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

, where he graduated with a BA (first-class honours) in Literae Humaniores

Literae Humaniores

Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...

 (Classics, Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1969. He then studied at Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, where he graduated with a PhD in Philosophy in 1973 under the supervision of Gregory Vlastos

Gregory Vlastos

Gregory Vlastos was a scholar of ancient philosophy, and author of several works on Plato and Socrates. He was also a Christian and has written on Christian faith as well.-Life and works:...

.

Publications

• Plato's Moral Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-19-824614-5
• Plato's Gorgias (translation and notes). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-19-872087-4
• Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (translation and notes). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0-915145-65-0
• Aristotle's First Principles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-824717-6
• Classical Thought. OPUS Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-219196-9
• Plato's Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-19-508644-9
• The Development of Ethics, Vol. 1 (from Socrates to the Reformation). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-824267-3
• The Development of Ethics, Vol. 2 (from Suarez to Rousseau). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-954327-4
• The Development of Ethics, Vol. 3 (from Kant to Rawls). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-957178-9

In addition, Irwin has published almost 100 essays and articles in journals and volumes of conference proceedings.

External links

• Terence Irwin’s home page at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Philosophy
• Terence Irwin’s home page at Keble College, Oxford