Annette Baier

Annette Baier
Born	Annette Claire Stoop 11 October 1929 New Zealand
Died	2 November 2012(2012-11-02) (aged 82) Dunedin, New Zealand
Alma mater	University of Otago Somerville College, Oxford
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic philosophy
Main interests	Ethics, feminist philosophy, philosophy of mind
Notable ideas	Giving trust a significant role in ethics
Influences David Hume, Wilfrid Sellars

Annette Claire Baier (née Stoop; 11 October 1929 – 2 November 2012) was a New Zealand philosopher and Hume scholar, focused in particular on Hume's moral psychology. She was well known also for her contributions to feminist philosophy and to the philosophy of mind, where she was strongly influenced by her former colleague, Wilfrid Sellars.

Biography

Baier studied at the University of Otago and from 1952 onwards at Somerville College, Oxford, where she met fellow philosophers Philippa Foot and G.E.M. Anscombe. For most of her career she taught in the philosophy department at the University of Pittsburgh, having moved there from Carnegie Mellon University. She retired to her native Dunedin, New Zealand, where she graduated from the University of Otago.

She was former President of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, an office reserved for the elite of her profession. Baier received an honorary Doctor of Literature from the University of Otago in 1999.

Her husband was the philosopher Kurt Baier.

Ethics

Baier's approach to ethics is that women and men make their decisions about right and wrong based on different value systems: men take their moral decisions according to an idea of justice, while women are motivated by a sense of trust or caring. The history of philosophy having been overwhelmingly compiled by men, she suggests, leads to a body of thought which apparently ignores the role of nurture and trust in human philosophy.

Bibliography

Books

• Baier, Annette (1985). Postures of the Mind: Essays on Mind and Morals.
• Baier, Annette (1991). A Progress of Sentiments: Reflections on Hume's Treatise.
• Baier, Annette (1995). Moral Prejudices., including especially "What Do Women Want in an Ethical Theory?" and "The Need For More Than Justice".
• Baier, Annette (1997). The Commons of the Mind. Paul Carus lectures.
• Baier, Annette (2008). Death and Character: Further Reflections on Hume. Harvard University Press.
• Baier, Annette (2009). Reflections on How We Live. Oxford University Press.
• Baier, Annette (2011). The Pursuits of Philosophy: An Introduction to the Life and Thought of David Hume. Harvard University Press.

Chapters in books

• Baier, Annette (1983), "Knowing Our Place in the Animal World", in Miller, Harlan B.; Williams, William H. (eds.), Ethics and Animals, Clifton, New Jersey: Humana Press, pp. 61–77, ISBN 978-0-89603-053-4.
• Baier, Annette (2005), "The need for more than justice", in Cudd, Ann E.; Andreasen, Robin O. (eds.), Feminist theory: a philosophical anthology, Oxford, UK Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 243–250, ISBN 9781405116619.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Trust 1991 Tanner Lecture by Annette Baier
• Obituary: Annette C. Baier in the University Times of the University Of Pittsburgh
• Annette Baier, 1929-2012 In Memoriam posted by The Hume Society