Michael R. Ridge
Curriculum Vitae
92 Myreside Road
Edinburgh
United Kingdom, EH10 5BZ
mridge@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
www.michaelridge.com
(Phone) +44 (0) 131 478-6087 		University of Edinburgh
Department of Philosophy
Dugald Stewart Building, George Square
Edinburgh
United Kingdom, EH8 9AD
(Phone) +44 (0) 131 650-3657

ACADEMIC POSITIONS
EDUCATION
  • Wake Forest University, B.A. in Philosophy (with distinction), 1992
  • Tufts University, M.A. in Philosophy, 1995
  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, M.A. in Philosophy, 1997
      Thesis Title: "Justice for All: The Circumstances of Justice from David Hume to Adam Smith."
      Committee: Geoffery Sayre-McCord, Simon Blackburn, Michael Smith.
  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, PhD in Philosophy, 1999
      Dissertation Title: "The Shape of Practical Reasons."
      Committee: Geoffery Sayre-McCord (director), Simon Blackburn, Thomas E. Hill, William Lycan, Gerald Postema
PhD STUDENTS SUPERVISED
  • At Edinburgh: Dan Dennis, Hasse Hamalainen (secondary), Zohar Kohavi, Hannah Wildman, Raymond Critch, Christos Kyriacou, Jessica Miller, Ana Barandalla, Sebastian Kohler, Ashley Taylor, John O'Connor, Emer O'Leary Diana Stewart, Diana Todea (tertiary), Selina Sadat
  • At the ANU: Campbell Brown, Daniel Cohen, Henry Fitzgerald
PUBLICATIONS
    Books
    1. Principled Ethics: Generalism as a Regulative Ideal, with Oxford University Press, 2006 (with Sean McKeever).
    2. Impassioned Belief, with Oxford University Press, 2014.
    Journal Articles
    1. "Hobbesian Public Reason," Ethics, April, 1998, pp. 538-568.
    2. "Humean Intentions," American Philosophical Quarterly, April, 1998, pp. 157-178.
    3. "How to Avoid Being Driven to Consequentialism: A Comment on Norcross," Philosophy and Public Affairs, Winter, 1998, pp. 50-58.
    4. "Modesty as a Virtue," American Philosophical Quarterly, July, 2000, pp. 269-284.
    5. "Taking Solipsism Seriously: Nonhuman Animals and Meta-Cognitive Theories of Consciousness," Philosophical Studies, 2001, 103: 315-340.
    6. "Agent-Neutral Consequentialism From the Inside-Out: Concern For Integrity Without Self indulgence," Utilitas (Special Issue on Character and Consequentialism), edited by Julia Driver, July 2001, 13: 236-254.
    7. "Saving Scanlon: Contractualism and Agent-Relativity," Journal of Political Philosophy, 2001, 9: 472-481.
    8. "Mill's Intentions and Motives," Utilitas, March, 2002, 14: 54-70.
    9. "Certitude, Importance and Robustness for Non-Cognitivists," Brown Electronic Article Review Service (BEARs), Symposium on Michael Smith's "Evaluation, Uncertainty and Motivation.".
    10. "Proportionality in Criminal Justice: If the Price is Right," APA Newsletter, Spring, 2004, (3.2), pp. 81-85.
    11. "What does Holism have to do with Particularism?" forthcoming in Ratio, 2005 (with Sean McKeever).
    12. "Contractualism and the New and Improved Redundancy Objection," Analysis, October, 2003, pp. 337-342.
    13. "Giving the Dead Their Due," Ethics, October, 2003, pp. 38-59.
    14. "How Children Learn the Meanings of Moral Words," Ethics, January, 2004, pp. 301-317.
    15. "Epistemology Moralized: David Hume's Practical Epistemology," Hume Studies, 2003, November (29: 2), pp. 165-204.
    16. "Universalizability for Collective Rational Agents: A Critique of Agent-Relativism," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2005, January (70: 1), pp. 34-66.
    17. "Non-Cognitivist Pragmatics and Stevenson's 'Do so as well!'," Canadian Journal of Philosophy, December, 2003, pp. 563-574.
    18. "The Many Moral Particularisms," Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2005, pp. 83-106 (with Sean McKeever).
    19. "Sincerity and Expressivism," Philosophical Studies, 2006, pp. 487-510.
    20. "Why Must We Treat Humanity With Respect? Evaluating the Regress Argument," European Journal of Analytic Philosophy, 2005, pp.57-74.
    21. "Ecumenical Expressivism: Finessing Frege," Ethics, 2006, pp. 302-336.
    22. "How to be a Rule-Utilitarian: Introducing Variable-Rate Rule-Utilitarianism," Philosophical Quarterly, 2006, pp. 242-253.
    23. "Turning On Default Reasons," forthcoming, Journal of Moral Philosophy (with Sean McKeever).
    24. "Particularism and the Contingent A Priori," Act Analytica, 2006, pp. 3-11 (with Sean McKeever).
    25. "Ecumenical Expressivism: The Best of Both Worlds?" Oxford Studies in Metaethics, volume two, Oxford University Press, January, 2006, pp. 302-336.
    26. "Epistemology for Ecumenical Expressivists," Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.
    27. "Saving the Ethical Appearances," Mind, 2006, pp. 633-650.
    28. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," Impartiality and Partiality in Ethics, ed. Brian Feltham, John Cottingham and Philip Stratton-Lake, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    29. "The Truth in Ecumenical Expressivism," Reasons for Action, ed. David Sobel and Steven Wall, Cambridge University Press.
    30. "Anti-Reductionism and Supervenience," The Journal of Moral Philosophy, Autumn, 2007 (by invitation; special issue on metaethics).
    31. "Climb Every Mountain," special issue of Ratio devoted to Derek Parfit's new book, Climbing the Mountain.
    32. "Moral Assertion for Expressivists," Philosophical Issues, October, 2009.
    33. "Particularism," Philosophy Compass (with Sean McKeever), November, 2008.
    34. "Kantian Constructivism: Something Old, Something New," Constructivism and Practical Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2012, ed. J. Lenmann.
    35. "Consequentialist Kantianism," Philosophical Perspectives, 2009, Volume 23, Issue 1, pp. 421-438.
    36. "Supervenience and the Nature of Normativity," Ethical Naturalism: Current Debates, 2012, ed. Nuccetelli, S. and Seay, G., Cambridge University Press, pp. 144-168.
    37. "Particularism and Aesthetics," New Waves in Metaethics, Palgrave (ed. Michael Brady) (with Sean McKeever), 2011, 1, ed. Palgrave, pp. 264-285.
    38. "Elusive Reasons," Oxford Studies in Metaethics (with Sean McKeever), 2012, Volume 7.
    39. "David Hume, Paternalist?" Hume Studies, 2010, Volume 36, Number 2, pp. 149-170.
    40. "Getting Lost on the Road to Larissa," Nous, December, 2011.
    41. "Disagreement," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2013, Volume 86, Issue 1, pp. 41-63.
    42. "Revolutionary Expressivism," (with Sebastian Kohler), in Ratio, 2013: 428-449.
    43. "Why Holists Should Love Organic Unities," forthcoming in a collection of essays on the work of Jonathan Dancy.
    44. "A Defense of the Naïve Practical Reasoner," The Journal of Value Inquiry, 2015, 49 (1 - 2):17.
    45. "The Heroism Paradox: Another Parodox of Supererogation," Philosophical Studies, June, 2015, Volume 172, Issue 6, pp. 1575–1592.
    46. "I Might Be Fundamentally Mistaken," Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy (JESP), October, 2015, Volume 9, Issue 3.
    47. "Expressivism and Collectives," MIND, July, 2017.
    48. "Meeting Constitutivists Halfway," Philosophical Studies, October, 2017.
    49. "Normative Certitude For Expressivists," forthcoming in Synthese.
    50. "Internalists Relax! We Can't All Be Amoralists," forthcoming in Philosophia.
    51. “Relaxing Realism or Deferring Debate?” forthcoming in The Journal of Philosophy.
    52. "Games and Play," forthcoming in Philosophy Compass.
    53. "Games and the Good Life," forthcoming in Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy.
    54. "Voting for Less than the Best," forthcoming in The Journal of Political Philosophy.
    55. "Individuating Games," forthcoming in Synthese.
    56. "Illusory Attitudes and The Playful Stoic," forthcoming in Philosophical Studies.
    57. "Why So Serious? The Nature and Value of Play," forthcoming in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.
    58. "Fun and (striving) games: playfulness and agential fluidity," Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, June, 2021.
    59. "Normativity, Prudence and Welfare," forthcoming in Philosophical Studies.
    Review Articles
    1. "A Solution For Expressivists," Brown Electronic Article Review Service (BEARS), J. Dreier and D. Estlund, eds., World Wide Web, 10/5/99.
    Book Reviews
    1. "Review of Gilbert Harman's Explaining Value and Other Essays in Moral Philosophy," Ethics, 2002, 113: 158-160.
    2. "Review of Judith Thomson's Goodness and Advice," Ethics, 2003, 113: 447-450.
    3. "Review of Russ Shaver-Landau's Moral Realism," Australasian Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming.
    4. "Review of Fred Feldman's Pleasure and the Good Life," Mind, 2005, 114:414-417.
    5. "Review of Jonathan Dancy's Ethics Without Principles," Philosophical Review, forthcoming (with Sean McKeever).
    6. "How to Make Something of Yourself Without Being All You Can Be: Critical Notice of Christine Korsgaard's The Constitution of Agency and Self-Constitution," Forthcoming in Analysis Reviews.
    Encyclopedia Entries
    1. "Hybrid Theories in Metaethics" Entry in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (with Sebastian Koehler), forthcoming.
    2. "Non-Naturalism in Meta-Ethics," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
    3. "Agent-Neutral vs. Agent-Relative Reasons," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
    4. "Moral particularism and generalism," forthcoming in the Routledge Companion to Ethics (with Sean McKeever)
    5. "Expressivism," Entry in the Blackwell International Encyclopedia of Ethics, forthcoming.
    6. "Particularism," Entry in the Blackwell International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Forthcoming (with Sean McKeever).
    7. "Reasons: Atomism versus Holism" Entry in Blackwell International Encyclopedia of Ethics (with Sean McKeever), forthcoming.
RECENT LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS
    Conference Papers
    1. "Reflective Endorsement and the Understanding in Hume's Treatise," 24th Hume Society Conference, Monterey, California, July 30, 1997.
    2. "General Rules in Hume's Treatise," comments on "General Rules and Justificational Criteria," by Jack Lyons, Hume Society Meeting, Pacific APA, Los Angeles, March 26, 1998.
    3. "Why Particularists Cannot Explain Supervenience," Central APA, New Orleans, 1999 (Winner of 1999 Graduate Student Travel Stipend).
    4. "Why Particularists Cannot Explain Supervenience," Australasian Association for Philosophy, Melbourne, July, 1999.
    5. "From Non-Cognitivism to Agent-Neutralism," Australasian Association for Philosophy, Brisbane, July, 2000.
    6. "Non-Cognitivism, Higher-Order Attitudes and Stevenson`s 'Do so as well!'," Australasian Association for Philosophy, Tasmania, 2001.
    7. "Giving the Dead Their Due," Central APA, Minneapolis, 2001
    8. "Epistemology Moralized: David Hume's Practical Epistemology," Scots Philosophy Club Meeting, Edinburgh University, 2001.
    9. "Universalizability for Collective Rational Agents: A Critique of Agent-Relativism," Paton Colloquium, Centre for Ethics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, St. Andrews, 2002.
    10. "Giving the Dead Their Due," The Moral Legacy of Slavery: Repairing Injustice, Bowling Green State University, October, 2002.
    11. "Proportionality in Criminal Justice: If the Price is Right," Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, Special Session on Economics and Law, December, 2002.
    12. "From Moral Knowledge to Moral Principles," Moral Epistemology Conference, University of Edinburgh, November, 2003.
    13. "Turning on Default Reasons," Moral Particularism Conference, University of Kent, December, 2004.
    14. "Hume's Circumstances of Justice and Paternalism", Hume Society Conference, Toronto, July 19-23, 2005.
    15. "Particularism and the Contingent A Priori," Particularism Conference, Bled, Slovenia, June, 2005.
    16. "Hume's Circumstances of Justice and Paternalism: A New Problem," Hume Society Conference, Toronto, July, 2005.
    17. "Ecumenical Expressivism: The Best of Both Worlds?", Second Annual Workshop in Metaethics, Madison, Wisconsin, September, 2005.
    18. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," Workshop on the Demandingness of Morality, Scottish Ethics Network (SEN), St. Andrews, August, 2005.
    19. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," Conference on Demandingness, University of Reading, December, 2005.
    20. "The Truth in Ecumenical Expressivism," Practical Reason and Moral Motivation Conference, Helsinki, Finland, December, 2005.
    21. "Climb Every Mountain?" Conference on Derek Parfit`s Climbing the Mountain, Reading University, October, 2006.
    22. "Anti-Reductionism and Supervenience," Cambridge University, November, 2006.
    23. "Epistemology for Ecumenical Expressivists," The Aristotelian Society, Bristol, July, 2007.
    24. "Assertion for Expressivists," Workshop on Epistemic Expressivism," University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, August, 2008.
    25. "Reply to LeBar," Central APA, Colloquium on Practical Reasoning, 2008. [with Sean McKeever]
    26. "A Defence of the Naïve Practical Reasoner: Simple Reasons for Simple People?" Workshop on the Philosophy of Stephen Darwall, University of Stirling, December, 2008.
    27. "An Opportunity for Expressivism?" Pettit and His Critics, University of Newcastle, March, 2009.
    28. "Getting Lost on the Road to Larissa," Invited paper at Bled Workshop on Epistemic Value, June, 2009.
    29. "Kantian Constructivism: Something Old, Something New," Invited paper at Sheffield Workshop on Constructivism and Practical Reasoning, June, 2009.
    30. "Particularism, Objectivity, and Aesthetics," Scottish Ethics Network, workshop on practical reason, Edinburgh, June, 2009 [with Sean Mckeever].
    31. "Williams, McDowell and Intuitionism': Critical Commentary," Respondent for Themes from the Ethics of Bernard Williams workshop, Leeds University, July, 2009.
    32. "Elusive Reasons," Madison Metaethics Workshop, 2010 (with Sean McKeever)
    33. "Relocating Normative Thought and Discourse", Keynote speaker for the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society (BUPS), 2010
    34. "The Flexibility of Expressivism", Workshop on Expression and Expressive Communication, London, 2011
    35. "The Flexibility of Expressivism", Huw Price Conference, University Pecs, Hungary, May 2010.
    Departmental Papers
    1. "Non-Cognitivist Rationalism," ANU Staff Seminar Series, November 18, 1999.
    2. "Giving the Dead Their Due," LaTrobe University Seminar Series, March, 2000.
    3. "From Non-Cognitivism to Agent-Neutralism," Monash University Seminar Series, March, 2000.
    4. "From Non-Cognitivism to Agent-Neutralism," Macquarie University, August, 2000.
    5. "Disagreement In Attitude," ANU Staff Seminar Series, February 8, 2001.
    6. "Giving the Dead Their Due," Social and Political Theory Group Series, ANU, RSSS, March 6, 2001.
    7. "Non-Cognitivism, Higher-Order Attitudes, and Stevenson's "Do so as well!"," Sydney University Seminar Series, March 30, 2001.
    8. "How Non-Cognitivists Should Avoid the Frege-Geach Problem," Glasgow University, 2001.
    9. "How Non-Cognitivists Should Avoid the Frege-Geach Problem," Oxford University, 2001.
    10. "Disagreement," Stirling Philosophy Staff Seminar, October, 2002.
    11. "Sincerity, Acceptance Conditions and Non-Cognitivism," St. Andrews, December, 2002.
    12. "Generalist Non-Cognitivism and the Frege-Geach Problem," Cambridge Moral Sciences Club, February, 2003.
    13. "Non-Cognitivism and Agent-Centered Value," Aberdeen, February, 2003.
    14. "Betting on Hedges: A Defense of Default Principles," Florida State University, October, 2003 (co-authored with Sean McKeever)
    15. "Are the Victims of Racial Injustice Owed Reparations?" Ithaca College, October, 2003.
    16. "Principled Reasons and Reasons for Principles," University of Reading, Jan. 13, 20004 (co-authored with Sean McKeever)
    17. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," York Political Theory Workshop, February 10, 2004.
    18. "Betting on Hedges: A Defense of Default Principles," (co-authored with Sean McKeever) University of Reading, January 13, 2004.
    19. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," Dartmouth College, July 16, 2004.
    20. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," Wake Forest University, September 9, 2004.
    21. "Expressivism, Agent-Relativity and Disagreement," University of Wisconsin Madison, September 22, 2004.
    22. "How to Be a Rule-Consequentialist," Leeds, February 17, 2005
    23. "Ecumenical Expressivism: The Best of Both Worlds?" Oxford, Jowett Society, May, 2005.
    24. "Ecumenical Expressivism," Glasgow Philosophy Department, 2005.
    25. "Ecumenical Expressivism," York Philosophy Seminar, November, 2005.
    26. "Ecumenical Expressivism," Sheffield Philosophy Seminar, December, 2005.
    27. "Fairness and Non-Compliance," Edinburgh Law Seminar, January, 2006.
    28. "How to combine non-cognitivism about reasons with cognitivism about reason," Jowett Society, Cambridge University, April, 2008.
    29. "Getting Lost on the Road to Larissa," Lund Departmental Seminar, March, 2009.
    30. "Getting Lost on the Road to Larissa," Manchester Departmental Seminar, March, 2009.
    31. "Getting Lost on the Road to Larissa," Epistemology Workshop, University of Edinburgh, April, 2009.
    32. Relocating Normative Thought and Discourse," Oxford, 2010.
    Guest Lecturing
    1. Introducing Ecumenical Expressivism," Invited Lecturer for a week-long workshop on Expressivism hosted by St. Andrews and Arché.
PRIZES, GRANTS AND AWARDS
  • Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Grant, 2003-2004.
  • Philip Leverhulme Prize, awarded in 2003.
  • Carnegie Grant for a series of workshops on normativity, awarded in 2008 [co-applicant]. (this grant spans three univerisities – Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling and is the successor to the Scottish Ethics Network)
  • Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Grant, 2011-2012.
CONFERENCES ORGANISED
  • Moral Epistemology Conference, University of Edinbirgh, November 21-22, 2003 (with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong).
  • Utilitarianism Conference, University of Edinburgh, October 24, 2004 (with Elinor Mason)
  • Conference on the Demandingness of Morality, 2006 (funded by the Scottish Ethics Network)
  • British Society for Ethical Theory Annual Meeting, 2008 (with Elinor Mason and David McCarthy)
  • Member of the Advisory Board for a large AHRC Grant on Constructivism (organized through Sheffield University).
PROFFESIONAL SERVICES
  • Referee for the Leverhulme Trust.
  • External Assessor for all grant applications in philosophy for The Academy of Finland, 2008.
  • External Assessor for all grant applications for the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (Barcelona), Academia Call, 2009.
  • Referee for the AHRC.
  • Referee for the Standard Research Grants program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
  • Referee for The Annual Metaethics Workshop, Madison WI, 2008 and 2009.
  • Referee for the following journals: American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, European Journal of Philospohy, Ethics, Hume Studies, The Journal of Moral Philosophy, Journal of Political Philosophy, Nous, Philosophy and Biology, The Philosopher's Imprint, Social Theory and Practice, Philosophical Quarterly, and Theoria.
  • Referee for Brian Leiter's Philosophical Gourmet Report.
  • Book Referee for Cambridge University Press.
  • Book Referee for Oxford University Press.
  • Referee for Oxford Bibliographies Online (OUP).
  • External Examiner for PhD candidate, Sheffield University, 2008
  • External Examiner for PhD candidate, University of Reading, 2009.
  • External Assessor for grant applications in philosophy to the Greek government (Ministry of Education)
EDITORIAL WORK
  • Guest Editor for a special issue of Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, forthcoming, 2009.
  • Editorial Board Member, Wiley-Blackwell's International Encyclopedia of Ethics
  • Editorial Board Member, Ethics, 2007-2010.
  • Editorial Board Member, Philosophical Quarterly, 2007-present.
  • Editorial Board Member, The Journal of Political Philosophy, 2002-2008.
  • Editorial Board Member, The European Journal of Analytic Philosophy, 2005-present.
OUTREACH/KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
  • Member, Advisory Board, Project on Religion and Ethics in the Making of War and Peace.
  • Commentary on Brian Leiter's "Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement: Developing an Argument From Nietzsche," for the On the Human project [with outreach of philosophy to non-specialists]: http://onthehuman.org/2010/03/moral-skepticism-and-moral-disagreement-developing-an-argument-from-nietzsche/
  • Consultation with the National Theatre of Scotland (with regard to a play focusing on a controversial case ["Ashley X"] in bioethics), 2009.
  • Consultation with Dr. Daniel Heard (NHS) with regards to a research grant on care for the elderly with dementia, their stigmatization and related issue, 2009.
  • Consultation with the Royal Society of Edinburgh to prepare a statement on proposed assisted suicide legislation.
REFERENCES
  • Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy, Cambridge
  • Jonathan Dancy, Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading
  • Julia Driver, Professor of Philosophy, Dartmouth College
  • Thomas E. Hill, William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor of Philosophy, UNC
  • Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor of Philosophy, UNC
  • Michael Smith, Professor of Philosophy, Princeton University