Biography:David Boonin
David Boonin | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Isaac Boonin February 14, 1964 |
| Education | Yale University (BA) University of Pittsburgh (PhD) |
Notable work | A Defense of Abortion (2002) |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Clara Vail (m. 1989) |
| Institutions | University of Colorado Boulder Tulane University Georgetown University |
| Thesis | Thomas Hobbes and the Science of Moral Virtue (1994) |
Main interests |
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David Isaac Boonin[lower-alpha 1] is an American philosopher, ethicist, and professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Early life and education
David Isaac Boonin was born on February 14, 1964 to Leonard Boonin, who was a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, and Harriet Boonin, a public school coordinator.[3] He is Jewish.[4] In 1989, he married Martha Clara Vail at Temple Beth David in Cheshire, Connecticut.[1]
In 1986, Boonin graduated from Yale University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and history, and he received his Doctorate of Philosophy in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh in 1992. His doctorate dissertation was entitled "Thomas Hobbes and the Science of Moral Virtue" and was published in 1994.[5][6][1][7]
Academic career
 | This article is missing information about the breadth of Boonin's philosphical work beyond abortion. (August 2026) |
Boonin taught at Georgetown University from 1992 to 1994 and at Tulane University between 1994 and 1998, before he accepted a position at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1998. His academic interests are in applied ethics, ethical theories, and history of ethics.[7]
In 2002, Boonin published A Defense of Abortion, in which he critiques various anti-abortion arguments and defends abortion as morally permissible.[8] The book received honorable mention for the American Philosophical Assocation's Book Prize competition in 2005.[9] Francis J. Beckwith, a professor of philosophy at Baylor University, described the book in 2006 as a "significant contribution to the literature on this subject and arguably the most important monograph on abortion published in the past twenty years".[10] In 2017, Boonin debated Roman Catholic apologist Trent Horn on the ethics of abortion at Stanford University.[11] In 2019, Boonin released another book on abortion, Beyond Roe: Why Abortion Should be Legal—Even if the Fetus is a Person. In the book, he argues that abortion should be legal even if the fetus is a person; he discusses a court case McFall v. Shimp and argues that a right to life does not entail that one can use someone else's body to be sustained. The principle he appeals to is similar to Judith Jarvis Thomson's violinist analogy.[12][13]
Boonin has defended the claim that criminal punishment is morally impermissible.[14]
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Miss Vail Weds David I. Boonin". 24 December 1989. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/24/style/miss-vail-weds-david-i-boonin.html.
- ↑ "David Boonin-Vail's research works | Tulane University, New Orleans (TU) and other places" (in en). https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/David-Boonin-Vail-33836353.
- ↑ "MARC view › Boonin, David (Personal Name) › Vermont State Colleges Libraries catalog". https://catalog.libraries.vsc.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-authoritiesdetail.pl?authid=255427&marc=1&utm_source=chatgpt.com.
- ↑ Weinberg, Justin (14 May 2026). "A Jewish Philosopher Asks Other Jewish Philosophers to Reflect on Their Judaism and Philosophy - Daily Nous". https://dailynous.com/2026/05/14/a-jewish-philosopher-asks-other-jewish-philosophers-to-reflect-on-their-judaism-and-philosophy/.
- ↑ Boonin-Vail, David (30 September 1994). "Thomas Hobbes and the Science of Moral Virtue" (in en). Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.com/books/about/Thomas_Hobbes_and_the_Science_of_Moral_V.html?id=JcVyQgAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description.
- ↑ "Boonin, David | CU Experts | CU Boulder" (in en). https://experts.colorado.edu/display/fisid_113100#background.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "David Boonin | Philosophy | University of Colorado Boulder" (in en). https://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/people/faculty/david-boonin.
- ↑ Lee, Win-chiat (11 April 2003). "Review of A Defense of Abortion" (in en). https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/a-defense-of-abortion/.
- ↑ "CU-Boulder Philosophers' Books On Human Nature, Abortion Win Top National Awards | CU Boulder Today | University of Colorado Boulder" (in en). https://www.colorado.edu/today/2005/09/21/cu-boulder-philosophers-books-human-nature-abortion-win-top-national-awards?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
- ↑ BECKWITH, FRANCIS J. (1 May 2006). "Defending Abortion Philosophically: A Review of David Boonin's A Defense of Abortion". pp. 177–203. doi:10.1080/03605310600588723. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03605310600588723.
- ↑ Horn, Trent. "My Debate with a Pro-Abortion Philosopher at Stanford" (in en). https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/my-debate-with-a-pro-abortion-philosopher-at-stanford.
- ↑ Boonin, David. "Beyond Roe: Why Abortion Should be Legal--Even if the Fetus is a Person". https://philpapers.org/rec/BOOBRW.
- ↑ "Beyond Roe: Why Abortion Should be Legal--Even if the Fetus is a Person | Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine | University of Colorado Boulder" (in en). https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2020/04/02/beyond-roe-why-abortion-should-be-legal-even-if-fetus-person?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
- ↑ Boonin, David (2008). "Preface". Cambridge University Press. pp. ix–x. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/problem-of-punishment/preface/977A538FA878BA67BEE4F432ACC06793?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
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