Linda Zagzebski, “Exemplarist Moral Theory” (Oxford UP, 2017)
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What is the purpose and opening focus of this New Books in Philosophy episode?
Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps. So I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the best education podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author, Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share. A map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast at occulehyphenmundi.com while you listen.
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Thanks for joining me for this episode of New Books in Philosophy. I am Robert Talise. I am professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co-host the program with Carrie Figter. Carrie is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. My guest today is Linda Zegzebsky. Linda is George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Knight Fisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at the University of Oklahoma. Her new book, which is based on her twenty fifteen Gifford lectures, is titled Exemplarist Moral Theory. It's published by Oxford University Press. Now in this fantastic book, Linda develops a novel kind of moral theory. It's a theory according to which the phenomenon of admiring exemplars is fundamental to the theory.
This means in part that the moral theory that Linda recommands involves a good deal of empirical study. both of the lives of exemplars and the psychology of admiration. And it's also philosophically, meta ethically Very sophisticated and detailed. So as usual with philosophy there's a lot to talk about. But let's begin where we usually do, that is with greeting our guest. Hello, Linda. Hi Bob, how are you doing? I'm doing great. How are you today? Yes, fine. Well, thank you so much for writing the book and thank you for joining us on New Books in Philosophy. Well, before we start talking about exemplars and admiration and the rest, Linda, why don't you start us off by telling us a little bit about yourself?
Thanks. Well, um my work in philosophy actually started with philosophy of language in grad school in the seventies at UCLA. And I wrote a dissertation on direct reference on the semantics of natural kind terms. Which is ironic because I've come back to that in this book with a proposal to use direct reference in the semantics of moral terms. But for decades I did completely different things. So um, as some people know, I began in uh philosophy of religion, beginni with a book on freedom and foreknowledge. And then I was dragged into epistemology through work in philosophy of religion because in those days Yeah. In those days, meaning the eighties and early nineties, philosophy of religion was dominated by epistemology and I had to sit through paper after paper on religious epistemology at conferences and I found most of it very boring.
So I wrote Virtues of the Mind because I thought that there had to be a better way to approach epistemological issues. And what I did is to propose a virtue theory that would encompass intellectual virtues in the same theory as moral virtues. And then showed how I thought that the idea of intellectual virtue can advance discussions in epistemology. But that meant I was also working in ethics, particularly virtue ethics.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose and opening focus of this New Books in Philosophy episode?
0:00–8:48
2
How does Linda Zagzebski’s academic background shape her Exemplarist Moral Theory?
8:48–16:56
3
Why does Zagzebski compare a moral theory to a geographical map?
16:56–25:38
4
What are exemplars and how does the emotion of admiration work in her theory?
25:38–33:31
5
How does the ‘division of moral linguistic labor’ explain the use of moral terms?
33:31–42:24
6
What are the three kinds of exemplars (heroes, saints, sages) and their dominant virtues?
42:24–50:44
7
How does emulation link exemplarism to moral education and personal development?
50:44–59:08
8
What future projects is Zagzebski planning, including the ‘Two Greatest Ideas’ book?
59:08–1:00:37
Speakers
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