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Thinker · TH-0395

Susan Wolf

Susan Wolf is an American moral philosopher who has taught at Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is…

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Also known as Susan R. Wolf

b. 1952 · United States (Johns Hopkins; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Traditions: Analytic

Susan Wolf is an American moral philosopher who has taught at Johns Hopkins and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is known for work on free will and responsibility, for the essay "Moral Saints", which questions whether moral perfection is a fitting ideal for a human life, and above all for her account of meaning in life. On her view, meaning arises when subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness: a life is meaningful when a person is actively engaged with projects that are genuinely worthwhile.

Key ideas

  • Meaning arises when subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness.
  • Meaning is a dimension of a good life distinct from both happiness and morality.
  • A life wholly devoted to moral sainthood may lack other important personal goods.
  • Responsibility depends on the ability to act in accordance with the True and the Good.

Major works

  • "Moral Saints" (1982)
  • Freedom Within Reason (1990)
  • Meaning in Life and Why It Matters (2010)
  • The Variety of Values: Essays on Morality, Meaning, and Love (2015)

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The questions in The Coordinates of Thought where Susan Wolf takes a place.