Owen Flanagan

Philosopher, Neurobiologist; 2016-17 Berggruen Fellow at CASBS

Owen Flanagan is in the philosophy of mind, especially on the nature of consciousness, and in ethics and moral psychology. His method is to look for intersections between philosophy and work in psychology and anthropology. His is co-director of Duke’s Center for Comparative Philosophy. An aim of his recent work is to explore the diversity of moral systems across the earth for the sake of improving cross-cultural understanding as well as for learning from other traditions. Flanagan loves to learn from social scientists and fellow humanists about the contours of human nature and the unexplored possibility space for human development and moral and political improvement. His latest books are The Geography of Morals: Varieties of Moral Possibility (pub. October 2016; Oxford 2017), and How to Do Things with Emotions: The Morality of Anger and Shame Across Cultures, Princeton 2021.