Philippa Foot

English moral philosopher — the revival of virtue ethics and the trolley problem

Somerville College, Oxford; later University of California, Los Angeles · United Kingdom · d. 3 October 1920 (Owston Ferry, Lincolnshire) — 3 October 2010 (Oxford)

A British moral philosopher at Somerville College, Oxford, who helped restore virtue ethics to analytic philosophy by grounding moral judgement in facts about human flourishing. Her 1967 essay on abortion and double effect introduced the trolley problem. Virtues and Vices (1978) gathered her early essays, and Natural Goodness (2001) set out her mature view. A granddaughter of US President Grover Cleveland, she died in Oxford on her 90th birthday.

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Record

Life: 3 October 1920 (Owston Ferry, Lincolnshire) — 3 October 2010 (Oxford)
Country: United Kingdom
Period: Contemporary
Affiliation: Somerville College, Oxford; later University of California, Los Angeles
Areas: Ethics, Moral philosophy, Virtue ethics
Major works: Moral Beliefs (1958)
The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect (1967)
Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives (1972)
Virtues and Vices and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy (1978)
Natural Goodness (2001)
Moral Dilemmas: And Other Topics in Moral Philosophy (2002)
Key concepts: The revival of virtue ethics, The trolley problem, Natural goodness, Morality as categorical rather than hypothetical, Critique of non-cognitivism, The doctrine of double effect, Thick ethical concepts
Influenced by: Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, G. E. M. Anscombe, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Immanuel Kant
Sources: Wikipedia, Philippa Foot
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Philippa Foot

Stories

This Day in Philosophy

The day Philippa Foot was born and died: 3 October, with Assisi and Morris

Philippa Foot was born on 3 October 1920 and died on 3 October 2010, her ninetieth birthday: the philosopher who devised the trolley problem and helped revive virtue ethics. The same date carries the deaths of Francis of Assisi in 1226 and William Morris in 1896, and German reunification in 1990.

Philippa Foot

Newsroom3 October 2026