View source for Linda Zagzebski

{{Short description|American philosopher}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox academic
| name               = Linda Zagzebski
| image              = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Linda Trinkaus
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1946}}
| birth_place        = 
| death_date         = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place        = 
| nationality        = American
| other_names        = Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski
| spouse             = Ken Zagzebski{{sfn|Zagzebski|2016|p=124}}
| awards             = <!--notable national-level awards only-->
| alma_mater         = {{ubl | [[Stanford University]] | [[University of California, Berkeley]] | [[University of California, Los Angeles]]}}
| thesis_title       = Natural Kinds
| thesis_year        = 1979
| school_tradition   = [[Virtue epistemology]]
| doctoral_advisor   = [[Tyler Burge]]{{sfn|Zagzebski|2016|p=125}}
| academic_advisors  = 
| influences         = [[John Henry Newman]]
| era                = 
| discipline         = [[Philosophy]]
| sub_discipline     = {{hlist | [[Epistemology]] | [[ethics]] | [[philosophy of religion]]}}
| workplaces         = {{ubl | [[Loyola Marymount University]] | [[University of Oklahoma]]}}
| doctoral_students  = <!--only those with WP articles-->
| notable_students   = <!--only those with WP articles-->
| main_interests     = 
| notable_works      = 
| notable_ideas      = 
| influenced         = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source-->
| signature          = 
| signature_alt      = 
}}
'''Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski''' (born 1946) is an American [[philosopher]]. She is the Emerita George Lynn Cross Research Professor, as well as Emerita Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, at the [[University of Oklahoma]]. She writes in the areas of [[epistemology]], [[philosophy of religion]], and [[virtue theory]].

== Education and career ==
Zagzebski received her [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Stanford University]], her [[Master of Arts]] degree from [[University of California, Berkeley]], and her [[Doctor of Philosophy]] degree from [[University of California, Los Angeles]] in 1979 with a dissertation on "Natural Kinds" under the supervision of [[Tyler Burge]].<ref name="ou.edu">[https://www.ou.edu/cas/philosophy/people/faculty/linda-zagzebski/_jcr_content/contentpar/download/file.res/vita2021.pdf Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski CV] ou.edu</ref>  She taught at [[Loyola Marymount University]] from 1979 to 1999, before joining the [[University of Oklahoma]].<ref name="ou.edu"/>

She delivered the Wilde Lectures in Natural Religion at [[Oxford University]] in the spring of 2010 on epistemic authority. She was (2015–2016) president of the [[American Philosophical Association]] Central Division, and gave the [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of St Andrews|University of St. Andrews]] in the fall of 2015 on the topic of [[exemplarist virtue theory]]. She is past president of the [[American Catholic Philosophical Association]] (1997–1998), and past president of the [[Society of Christian Philosophers]] (2004–2007).<ref name="Archived copy">{{cite web |url=http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/Z/Linda.T.Zagzebski-1/ |title=University of Oklahoma |accessdate=2009-07-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721034218/http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/Z/Linda.T.Zagzebski-1/ |archivedate=2009-07-21}}</ref>

In 2022, she was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts & Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.amacad.org/new-members-2022 | title=New Members }}</ref>

==Philosophical work==

Her research in recent years has consisted of topics such as the intersection of [[ethics]] and [[epistemology]], [[religious epistemology]], religious ethics, virtue theory, and the varieties of [[fatalism]]. She delivered the Wilde Lectures in Natural Religion at [[Oxford University]] in the spring of 2010 on epistemic authority. She is (2015–2016) president of the [[American Philosophical Association]] Central Division, and gave the [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of St Andrews|University of St. Andrews]] in the fall of 2015 on the topic of [[exemplarist virtue theory]]. She is past president of the [[American Catholic Philosophical Association]] (1997–1998), and past president of the [[Society of Christian Philosophers]] (2004–2007).<ref name="Archived copy"/>

=== Epistemology ===
Zagzebski is a pioneer in the field of [[virtue epistemology]].{{sfn|Turri|Alfano|Greco|2019}} In ''Virtues of the Mind'' (1996), she sets out to solve certain problems in modern epistemology by developing an [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] version of [[virtue theory]], and in the course of this project she lays out a general analysis of virtue. In ''Divine Motivation Theory'' (2004) she deals extensively with problems in the relationship between reason, faith, and ethics.

She has done work on questions of [[epistemic value]] including the "espresso machine" thought experiment (a predecessor to the [[swamping problem]]) as a counter to [[reliabilism]].{{sfnm |1a1=Pritchard |1y=2007 |2a1=Pritchard |2a2=Turri |2a3=Carter |2y=2018}}

In her book, ''Epistemic Authority: A Theory of Trust, Authority, and Autonomy in Belief'' (2012), she defends a strong sense of epistemic authority including authority in moral and religious beliefs, and argues that belief on authority is a requirement of intellectual autonomy. This book arose out of her 2010 Wilde lectures at Oxford.

In the paper titled ''The Inescapability of Gettier Problems'',<ref name="Zagzebski_1994" /> Zagzebski argued that any modification of the last condition given in the [[Gettier problem#Knowledge as justified true belief (JTB)|Plato's definition of knowledge]] as justified true belief (JTB) unavoidably shall be reconducted to the unsolved case of the Gettier problem. This result is also true and valuable for any additional condition applied to the JTB.<ref name="Zagzebski_1994">{{cite journal|first=Linda|last1=Zagzebski|url=https://academic.oup.com/pq/article-abstract/44/174/65/1563539?redirectedFrom=PDF|title=The Inescapability of Gettier Problems|journal=The Philosophical Quarterly|volume =44|issue =174|date=January 1, 1994|pages= 65–73|doi=10.2307/2220147|oclc=5497630095|issn=	0031-8094|publisher=Oxford University Press|jstor=2220147|s2cid=170535616 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 1996, Zagzebski defined knowledge as a "state of true belief arising out of acts of intellectual virtue", where the word 'true' can be omitted.<ref name="Zagzebski_1996_135,271">{{cite book|first1=Linda|last1=Trinkaus Zagzebski|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-YC4foOSBwC&pg=PA271|pages=271, 137|title=Virtues of the mind : an inquiry into the nature of virtue and the ethical foundations of knowledge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 1996|location=New York, NY|oclc=33899952|doi=|access-date=May 30, 2021|isbn=9780521578264|series=Cambridge studies in philosophy}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Priyedarshi|last1=Jetli|url=https://philpapers.org/rec/JETKWT|title=Knowledge without Truth|doi=|journal=Proceedings of the XXII World Congress of Philosophy|location=Seoul|volume=53|pages=97–103|date=August 2008|oclc=	7006655335|via=researchgate.net]}}</ref>

According to the Aristotelian [[virtue theory#Phronesis and Eudaimonia|virtue theory]], she defined virtue as a "deep and enduring acquired excellence of a person, involving a characteristic motivation to produce a certain desired end and reliable success in bringing about that end."<ref name="Zagzebski_1996_135,271" /> Denying [[innatism]], she believes virtue is disposition plus ability<ref name="zhang.me">{{cite web|url=https://anthony-zhang.me/University-Notes/PHIL350/PHIL350.html|title=Lecture notes by Anthony Zhang|year=2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20151127165228/https://anthony-zhang.me/University-Notes/PHIL350/PHIL350.html|archive-date=November 27, 2015|url-status=live|access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref> and the universal human capability of achieving a good life and happiness.<ref name="khazaei_2013">{{cite journal|author=zahra khazaei|url=https://www.academia.edu/19334361|title=Epistemic Virtue from the Viewpoints of Mulla Sadra and Zagzebski|journal=Religious Inquiries|volume=2|issue=4|year=2013|pages=24, 37|access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref> Moral and intellectual virtues can't be separated<ref name="khazaei_2013" /> and, more particularly, knowledge is obtained from practicing intellectual virtues like responsibility, fairness, and courage.<ref name="zhang.me" /> True belief -in the forms of propositional knowledge and of cognitive contact with reality- are gained by a right disposition of the intellect to desire truth, and a good practice which sews the intellectual virtues on the personhood, like a new habit of the body.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Dru|last1=Johnson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-UfEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA251|title=Knowledge by Ritual: A Biblical Prolegomenon to Sacramental Theology|page=271|publisher=Penn State Press|date=February 18, 2016|isbn=9781575064321|oclc=	928023842|series=Journal of Theological Interpretation Supplements|volume=13|access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref> People who are rightly motivated to know the truth are also capable to develop specific skills, build up and assess the reliability of personal and well-formed procedures, rather than doing the same for good belief-forming processes shared between peers.<ref>{{cite book |author=Chun Wei Choo|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-3nCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|title=The Inquiring Organization: How Organizations Acquire Knowledge and Seek Information|chapter=5 - Epistemic virtues and vices|page=96|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|isbn=9780199782031|oclc=	988102850}}</ref>

== Selected works ==
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=1991
|title=The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge
|location=New York
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|isbn=978-0-19-510763-0
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=1996
|title=Virtues of the Mind: An Inquiry into the Nature of Virtue and the Ethical Foundations of Knowledge
|location=Cambridge, England
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139174763
|isbn=978-0-521-57826-4
}}
* ''Virtue Epistemology: Essays on Epistemic Virtue and Responsibility''. Edited with Fairweather, Abrol. New York: Oxford University Press. 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-19-514077-4}}.
* ''Intellectual Virtue: Perspectives from Ethics and Epistemology''. Edited with DePaul, Michael. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 2003. {{doi|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252732.001.0001}}. {{ISBN|978-0-19-925273-2}}.
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=2004
|title=Divine Motivation Theory
|location=Cambridge, England
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511606823
|isbn=978-0-521-53576-2
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=2007
|title=Philosophy of Religion: An Historical Introduction
|location=Malden, Massachusetts
|publisher=Blackwell Publishing
|isbn=978-1-4051-1872-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=2008
|title=On Epistemology
|location=Belmont, California
|publisher=Wadsworth Press
|isbn=978-0-534-25234-2
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=2012
|title=Epistemic Authority: A Theory of Trust, Authority, and Autonomy in Belief
|location=New York
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199936472.001.0001
|isbn=978-0-19-993647-2
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda Trinkaus
|display-authors=0
|year=2017
|title=[[Exemplarist Moral Theory]]
|location=New York
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190655846.001.0001
|isbn=978-0-19-065584-6
}}

== See also ==
* [[American philosophy]]
* [[List of American philosophers]]

== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist|22em}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Pritchard
|first=Duncan
|author-link=Duncan Pritchard
|year=2007
|title=Recent Work on Epistemic Value
|journal=American Philosophical Quarterly
|volume=44
|number=2
|pages=85–110
|jstor=20464361
|issn=2152-1123
}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|last1=Pritchard
|first1=Duncan
|author1-link=Duncan Pritchard
|last2=Turri
|first2=John
|last3=Carter
|first3=J. Adam
|year=2018
|title=The Value of Knowledge
|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/knowledge-value/
|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
|edition=spring 2018
|location=Stanford, California
|publisher=Stanford University
|issn=1095-5054
|access-date=July 28, 2020
}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|last1=Turri
|first1=John
|last2=Alfano
|first2=Mark
|last3=Greco
|first3=John
|author3-link=John Greco (philosopher)
|year=2019
|title=Virtue Epistemology
|journal=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2019/entries/epistemology-virtue/
|edition=fall 2019
|location=Stanford, California
|publisher=Stanford University
|issn=1095-5054
|access-date=July 28, 2020
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda
|year=2016
|title=The Joys and Sorrows of a Philosophical Life
|journal=Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association
|url=https://core.ac.uk/reader/215293668
|volume=90
|pages=114–128
|issn=2325-9248
|jstor=26622941
|access-date=July 28, 2020
}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Zagzebski
|first=Linda
|year=2001
|title=Religious Diversity and Social Responsibility
|journal=Logos
|volume=4
|issue=1
|pages=135–155
|doi=10.1353/log.2001.0012
|s2cid=170404567
|issn=1533-791X
}}
{{refend}}

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{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Society of Christian Philosophers]]|years=2004–2007}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zagzebski, Linda}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:American epistemologists]]
[[Category:American philosophers of religion]]
[[Category:American Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:American women philosophers]]
[[Category:American women religious writers]]
[[Category:Analytic philosophers]]
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[[Category:Loyola Marymount University faculty]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Society of Christian Philosophers]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:University of Oklahoma faculty]]
[[Category:Virtue ethicists]]