Thomas Hurka

Thomas Michael Hurka (born August 10, 1952) is a Canadian philosopher who holds the Jackman Distinguished Chair in Philosophical Studies at the University of Toronto. He taught previously, from 1978 to 2002, at the University of Calgary. He has published on metaethics, normative theory, political philosophy, and applied ethics.

Education and career

Hurka was born in Toronto, Ontario, on August 10, 1952, to Anthony Emmanuel Hurka (a manager) and Edith Dita née Heller (a social worker). Hurka's parents were both from Czechoslovakia. His mother arrived in London as a Jewish refugee from there in 1939.

After graduating from the University of Toronto Schools, he received a BA (honors) at the University of Toronto in 1975 and then a BPhil from Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1977. His 1980 DPhil from Oxford University was obtained with a thesis on “Perfectionist Ethics” that was supervised by R. M. Hare.

Philosophical work

Hurka has published works on a number of topics, including the topics of goodness, virtue, and ethics. His philosophy focuses on the well-rounded life. He cited that goods, which come in four basic categories - pleasure, knowledge, achievement, and virtue - matter more the less of them you have. In his theory, he stressed that it is more appropriate to seek a balanced variety of them all instead of devoting oneself to one kind.

Hurka has also studied the ethics of fighting global warming. He maintained that if we reject the notion that individuals should only pursue their own self-interest, then we can assign ethical standing to a wider range of beings besides ourselves. This is significant in addressing global warming because it morally pushes towards strategies of avoiding instead of adapting to climate change.