Richard J. Arneson

Richard J. Arneson is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), holding the Valtz Family Chair in Philosophy since July 2011. He concurrently serves as a Research Professor at the University of Arizona’s Philosophy Department (2013–2018) and has held adjunct roles, including Adjunct Professor at the University of San Diego School of Law (2008). Arneson has also held visiting positions at Yale University, UC Davis, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Warwick. His career spans over four decades, starting as an Acting Assistant Professor at UCSD in 1973 and progressing through roles as Assistant Professor (1975–1980), Associate Professor (1980–1989), and Professor (1989–present).

Education: A.B. magna cum laude in History from Brown University (1967), with Phi Beta Kappa and Pell Award distinctions. Ph.D. in Philosophy from UC Berkeley (1975), focusing on John Rawls’s theory of justice under advisors Hans Sluga and John Searle.

Research interests include theories of social justice, distributive justice, equality, libertarianism, and the intersection of ethics with law and public policy. He has contributed to debates on luck egalitarianism, capabilities approach, and cosmopolitanism. His work frequently addresses themes like freedom, paternalism, and the moral dimensions of globalization.

Professional service includes roles as Vice-President and President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association (2017–2019), editorships of journals like Ethics, and leadership in UCSD’s graduate studies and academic personnel committees. He co-directs the Institute for Law and Philosophy at the University of San Diego Law School, organizing conferences on topics like global justice and capitalism.

Awards include the Chancellor’s Associates Award for Faculty Excellence (2016), Ford Foundation Fellowship (1967–1971), and multiple fellowships from the University of California system. His recent research projects involve collaborations on topics like basic equality, cosmopolitanism, and the ethics of capitalism.