Robert Merrihew Adams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Merrihew Adams
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| Born | September 8, 1937 |
| Died | April 16, 2024 (aged 86) Montgomery, New Jersey, U.S.
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| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Analytic |
| Doctoral students | Derk Pereboom |
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Main interests
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Notable ideas
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Divine command theory |
Robert Merrihew Adams was an important American philosopher. He was born in 1937 and passed away in 2024. He studied and wrote about big questions like what is real (called metaphysics), ideas about God and faith (called philosophy of religion), and what is right and wrong (called ethics). He also looked at the history of philosophy, especially from earlier times.
Contents
Life and Career
Robert Merrihew Adams was born on September 8, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He taught at several famous universities during his life.
Teaching and Leadership
For many years, Adams taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Later, in the early 1990s, he moved to Yale University. At Yale, he became the Clark Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics. He also helped lead the philosophy department there. He worked to make the department strong again after some disagreements among professors.
Adams retired from Yale in 2004. After that, he taught part-time in England at the University of Oxford. He was a senior research fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford. In 2009, he became a special research professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Family and Recognition
Adams's wife, Marilyn McCord Adams, was also a philosopher. She studied medieval philosophy and the philosophy of religion. In 2013, both Robert and Marilyn became visiting professors at Rutgers University. They helped start a new center there for the philosophy of religion.
Robert Adams was a past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers. This is a group for philosophers who are also Christians. In 1999, he gave a series of important talks called the Gifford Lectures. He was also chosen as a Fellow of the British Academy in 2006. In 1991, he became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. These are special honors given to people who have done important work.
Adams passed away in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, on April 16, 2024. He was 86 years old.
Philosophical Ideas
As a scholar, Adams wrote about the ideas of other famous philosophers. These included Søren Kierkegaard and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
Religion and Ethics
In the area of philosophy of religion, Adams wrote important essays. He explored the "problem of evil," which asks why bad things happen if God is good. He also wrote about how theism (belief in God) connects with ethics (what is right and wrong). One of his well-known ideas is the Divine command theory. This theory suggests that what is morally right is what God commands.
Metaphysics and Reality
In metaphysics, Adams explored the nature of reality. He supported a view called actualism. This idea is about what is real and what is possible. He also discussed "possible worlds." These are like different ways things could have been, even if they aren't real in our world.
See also
In Spanish: Robert Merrihew Adams para niños
