The Department of Philosophy of the University of Toronto is proud to announce that University Professor Thomas Hurka has won a prestigious 2017 Killam Prize – one of five presented to top Canadian Scholars by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, in a ceremony at Rideau Hall on May 30, 2017.
Thomas Hurka is a philosopher whose highly respected research and teaching are about moral and political philosophy, especially normative ethical theory and asking the question “What makes a good life?” According to Dr. Hurka, the answer is pleasure, knowledge, achievement, virtue, and friendship.
He is a Chancellor Henry N. R. Jackman Professor of Philosophical Studies at the University of Toronto, where he has taught since 2002; previously he was at the University of Calgary. He is the author of many works in moral and political philosophy, including Perfectionism (1993), Virtue, Vice, and Value (2001), The Best Things in Life (2011), and British Ethical Theorists From Sidgwick to Ewing (2014).
Much of his research has concerned the human good, or which states and activities make our lives most desirable. He was for a time a weekly columnist at the Globe and Mail, has received both Guggenheim and Killam Research Fellowships, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
More information:
- University of Toronto philosopher awarded 2017 Killam Prize in the Humanities (U of T Arts & Science News)
- Three U of T scholars receive Killam awards (U of T News)
- Killam Prizes (Canada Council for the Arts)
