View source for Biography:Allen W. Wood

{{Infobox philosopher
|image =
| region           = [[Philosophy:Western philosophy|Western philosophy]]
| era              = [[Philosophy:Contemporary philosophy|Contemporary philosophy]]
| name             = Allen William Wood
| birth_date       = 1942
| birth_place      = Seattle, United States
| school_tradition = [[Philosophy:Kantian ethics|Kantian ethics]]
| main_interests   = Trolley problems, [[Biography:Immanuel Kant|Kant]], [[Philosophy:Ethics|ethics]], [[Philosophy:German idealism|German idealism]], [[Philosophy:Social philosophy|social philosophy]]
| influences       = [[Biography:Immanuel Kant|Immanuel Kant]], [[Biography:Karl Marx|Karl Marx]], [[Biography:Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]], [[Biography:Johann Gottlieb Fichte|Johann Gottlieb Fichte]]
}}
{{Immanuel Kant}}
'''Allen William Wood'''<ref>https://stanfordwho.stanford.edu/SWApp/detailAction.do?key=DS091M316&search=allen&soundex=&stanfordonl</ref> (born October 26, 1942)<ref>https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K5P8-SX3</ref> is an American philosopher specializing in the work of [[Biography:Immanuel Kant|Immanuel Kant]] and German Idealism, with particular interests in ethics and social philosophy. He is the Ruth Norman Halls professor of philosophy at [[Organization:Indiana University|Indiana University]]<ref name = "bio" /> and has held professorships and visiting appointments at numerous universities in the United States and Europe. In addition to popularising and clarifying the ethical thought of [[Biography:Immanuel Kant|Immanuel Kant]], Wood has also mounted arguments against the validity of 'trolley problems' in moral philosophy.<ref name = "ke" /><ref name = "trolley" />

== Life and career ==

Born in Seattle, WA,<ref name = "bio">[http://www.indiana.edu/~phil/people/allen-wood.shtml Cornell University faculty page] accessed 12 April 2012</ref> he has held professorships at Cornell University,<ref name = "Hegel">Hegel, G.W.F. ''Elements of the Philosophy of Right'', ed. Allen W. Wood, trans. H.B. Nisbet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.</ref> Yale University,<ref name = "ket">Wood, Allen W. ''Kant's Ethical Thought'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.</ref> Stanford University,<ref name = "groundwork">Kant, Immanuel. ''Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals'', tr. Allen W. Wood, with essays by J.B. Schneewind et al. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.</ref> where he is now Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor emeritus, and at Indiana University since 2008<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.philosophy.indiana.edu/people/Allen%20Wood%20CV%20July%202016.pdf|title=Vita Allen W. Wood|last=|first=|date=July 2016|website=philosophy.indiana.edu|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=November 8, 2017}}</ref>.<ref name = "bio" /> Additionally, he has held visiting appointments at the University of Michigan, University of California at San Diego and Oxford University,<ref name = "bio" /> where he was Isaiah Berlin Visiting Professor in 2005,<ref>[http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/lectures/isaiah_berlin_lectures/past_lectures Isaiah Berlin Lectures webpage] accessed 3 June 2013</ref> and has been affiliated with the Freie Universität Berlin in 1983-84 and the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn in 1991-1992.<ref name = "bio" />

== Philosophical work ==

Wood has written prolifically on many subjects in moral and social philosophy, and publications he has authored include: ''Kant's Moral Religion'' (1970),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Kant's Moral Religion'', Ithaqa, NY: Cornell University Press, 1970.</ref> ''Kant's Rational Theology'' (1978),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Kant's Rational Theology'', Ithaqa, NY: Cornell University Press, 1978.</ref> ''Karl Marx'' (1981),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Karl Marx'', London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981.</ref> ''Hegel's Ethical Thought'' (1990),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Hegel's Ethical Thought'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.</ref> ''Kant's Ethical Thought'' (1999),<ref name = "ket" /> ''Unsettling Obligations'' (2002),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Unsettling Obligations: Essays on Reason, Reality and the Ethics of Belief'', Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications, 2002.</ref> ''Kant'' (2004),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Kant (Blackwell Great Minds)'', Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2004</ref> ''Kantian Ethics'' (2007)<ref name = "ke">Wood, Allen W. ''Kantian Ethics'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007</ref> and ''The Free Development of Each: Studies in Freedom, Right and Ethics in Classical German Philosophy''.<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''The Free Development of Each: Studies in Freedom, Right and Ethics in Classical German Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 2014.</ref> He is also working on a book continuing his 'Ethical Thought' series entitled ''Fichte's Ethical Thought'',<ref name = "bio" /> fulfilling his earlier suggestion that "having written a book on ''Hegel's Ethical Thought'' and a book on ''Kant's Ethical Thought'', I should... write a book... on ''Fichte's Ethical Thought''.<ref name = "Interview1">McComb, Geordie (2008). "An Interview with Allen W. Wood", ''Sophia: Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy'', vol 11, pp. 2–14.</ref>

Along with [[Biography:Paul Guyer|Paul Guyer]], Wood is general editor of the ''Cambridge Edition of Kant's Writings in English Translation'',<ref>[http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/series/series_display/item3937353/?site_locale=en_US ''The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant'' page, Cambridge University Books website] accessed 3 June 2013</ref> having contributed to six volumes.<ref name = "bio" /> He has also edited ''Self and Nature in Kant's Philosophy'' (1984),<ref>Wood, Allen W. ''Self and Nature in Kant's Philosophy'', Ithaqa, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984</ref> ''Hegel: Elements of the Philosophy of Right'' (1991),<ref name = "Hegel" /> ''Kant: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals'' (2002),<ref name = "groundwork" /> ''Fichte: Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation'' (2010),<ref>Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, ''Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation'', ed. Allen W. Wood, trans. Garrett Green, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010</ref> and the ''Cambridge History of Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century (1790-1870)'', with Songsuk Susan Hahn (2012).<ref>Wood, Allen W. and Hahn, Songsuk Susan, ''Cambridge History of Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century (1790-1870)'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012</ref>

=== Kantian ethics ===

Wood is a leading scholar of Kant's moral philosophy.<ref name = "Interview2">[http://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_game/2012/10/allen-wood-on-ethics-1-kant-and-mutual-respect.html ''Allen Wood on Ethics (1): Kant and Mutual Respect'', ''Only a Game''] accessed 3 June 2013</ref> He has worked extensively to revise public and professional perspectives of Kant's moral philosophy, and to elucidate the "proper aims and structure of a moral theory and the way moral theories relate to ordinary moral decisions."<ref name = "Interview1" /> He has suggested that [[Biography:John Rawls|John Rawls]] and [[Biography:Onora O'Neill|Onora O'Neill]] have "made people pay more serious attention to Kantian ethical theory."<ref name = "Interview2" /> He suggests that many of the problems reported in respect of Kantian ethics are shared by all ethical theories, and that in the context of the problems concerning free will "no rival theory has a satisfactory solution to it."<ref name = "Interview1" />

=== ''Groundwork to the Metaphysics of Morals'' ===

Wood edited and produced his own translation to Kant's [[Philosophy:Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals|''Groundwork to the Metaphysics of Morals'']],<ref name = "groundwork" /> which is the book he always uses to introduce Kantian ethics to students, and the only text he teaches in general course on ethical theory.<ref name = "Interview1" /> He has suggested that "the first fifty times I read the Groundwork I did not understand it at all, but accepted many of the common errors, because they were easy to commit and had become hallowed by generations of misreading by others."<ref name = "Interview2" />

=== Other ethical theories ===

Although critical of consequentialist moral theories,<ref name = "ket" /> he has nonetheless engaged with representatives of this tradition and has mentioned that he and renowned consequentialist [[Biography:Shelly Kagan|Shelly Kagan]] were "always very friendly colleagues at Yale".<ref name = "Interview2" /> He has claimed that contemporary virtue ethics has "added another valuable perspective", and traced this to G.E.M. Anscombe's "rather incendiary article"<ref name = "Interview2" /> ''Modern Moral Philosophy''.<ref>Anscombe, G.E.M. "Modern Moral Philosophy", Philosophy, vol. 33, no. 124, 1958</ref>

He has raised doubts over whether moral intuitions are credible data in moral epistemology,<ref name = "Interview1" /> and raised especial objections to the use of 'trolley problems' in ethical theory.<ref name = "ke" /><ref name = "trolley">Wood, Allen (2011). “Humanity as an End in Itself” in ''On What Matters'', Volume 2, Derek Parfit, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.</ref><ref name = "Interview3">[http://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_game/2012/11/allen-wood-on-ethics-2-political-realities.html "Allen Wood on Ethics (2): Political Realities", ''Only a Game''] accessed 3 June 2013</ref> Furthermore, Wood's objections can be understood as equally indicting the work of [[Philosophy:Moral psychology|moral psychologists]] such as Joshua Greene and [[Biography:Jonathan Haidt|Jonathan Haidt]] whenever their work depends upon such trolley problems.<ref name = "Chaos Ethics">Bateman, Chris. ''Chaos Ethics'', Winchester and Chicago: Zero Books, 2014</ref>

Wood has suggested that "all ethical theories are uncertain, questionable, and not apt for justified belief",<ref name = "Interview1" /> suggesting that foundational principles for ethics (such as those developed by Kant) remain useful because they allow people with different viewpoints to frame their arguments cogently.<ref name = "Interview3" /> He has suggested that basic ethical values, such as human flourishing and the dignity of human persons, "have a role to play in helping people to think better about the terribly problematic situations that face us."<ref name = "Interview3" />

In his keynote address to the Cape Town University Law School in 2007, Wood compared Kant's [[Philosophy:Kingdom of Ends|realm of ends]] to the African ideal of ''ubuntu'', suggesting that although the two ideas were not the same "I do think they represent very much the same response to the human condition, as manifested in different cultural and historical conditions."<ref name = "ubuntu">Wood, Allen. “Human Dignity, Right and the Realm of Ends”, Keynote Address to the Conference on Dignity and Law, Cape Town University Law School, 2007.</ref>

== Selected writings ==
=== Authored volumes ===
*''Kant's Moral Religion'', Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1970.
*''Kant's Rational Theology'', Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1978.
*''Karl Marx'', London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981.
*''Hegel's Ethical Thought'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
*''Kant's Ethical Thought'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
*''Unsettling Obligations: Essays on Reason, Reality and the Ethics of Belief'', Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications, 2002.
*''Immanuel Kant: Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten: Ein einführender Kommentar'' (with Dieter Schönecker), Paderborn, Germany: Schöningh-Verlag (UTB Wissenschaft),  2002
*''Kant (Blackwell Great Minds)'', Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2004
*''Karl Marx (expanded second edition)'', London: Taylor and Francis, 2004.
*''Kantian Ethics'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
*''The Free Development of Each: Studies in Freedom, Right and Ethics in Classical German Philosophy'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
*''Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commentary'' (with Dieter Schönecker), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
*''Fichte's Ethical Thought'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

=== Edited volumes ===
*''Self and Nature in Kant's Philosophy'', Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984
*Hegel, G.W.F. ''Elements of the Philosophy of Right'', ed. Allen W. Wood, trans. H.B. Nisbet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991
*Kant, Immanuel. ''Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals'', trans. Allen W. Wood, with essays by J.B. Schneewind (1930-), et al. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
*Fichte, Johann Gottlieb, ''Attempt at a Critique of All Revelation'', ed. Allen W. Wood, trans. Garrett Green, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
*''Cambridge History of Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century (1790-1870)'' (with Songsuk Susan Hahn), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012
*''Cambridge Edition of Kant's Writings in English Translation'', eds. Robert B. Louden, Allen W. Wood, Robert R. Clewis, G. Felicitas Munzel, 2013

=== Journal articles ===
* {{Cite journal | last = Wood | first = Allen W. | title = Kant on duties regarding nonrational nature | journal = [[Philosophy:Aristotelian Society#Publications|Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes]] | volume = 72 | issue = 1 | pages = 189–210 | publisher = [[Company:Wiley-Blackwell|Wiley]] | doi = 10.1111/1467-8349.00042 | jstor = 4107017 | date = June 1998 | url = https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8349.00042 | ref = harv | postscript = .}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.indiana.edu/~phil/people/allen-wood.shtml Allen W. Wood's faculty page at Indiana University]
* [http://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_game/2012/11/allen-wood-on-ethics.html Interview at ''Only a Game'']


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[[Category:20th-century philosophers]]

{{Sourceattribution|Allen W. Wood|1}}