Elizabeth S. Radcliffe

Research Interests

Radcliffe's areas of special interest include early modern philosophy, especially Hume and his contemporaries; moral philosophy and metaethics; and action theory and motivational psychology.

Background

Elizabeth S. Radcliffe received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Before coming to William & Mary, she was Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University. Professor Radcliffe’s publications have appeared in many philosophy journals and collections. She is author of Hume on the Nature of Morality (Cambridge University Press, Elements Series, 2022) and of Hume, Passion, and Action (Oxford University Press, 2018). Radcliffe is also editor of Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature: A Critical Guide (Cambridge University Press, in progress) and of A Companion to Hume (Blackwell, 2008); and co-editor of Late Modern Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary (Blackwell, 2007).

Radcliffe is co-editor of the journal Hume Studies, with Mark Spencer (Brock University), from 2021-2025, and was its co-editor, with Ken Winkler (Wellesley), from 2000-2005. Radcliffe has served on the editorial boards of Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Philosophy Compass, and Hume Studies. She is past President of The Hume Society.

Radcliffe co-directed the NEH Institute, "Hume in the 21st Century," with Angela Coventry (Portland State University) in the summer of 2022. She has also been the recipient of two NEH Research Fellowships, an NEH Summer Stipend, and a Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence at W&M.

Professor Radcliffe taught classes in ethics, early modern philosophy, and the relation between emotion and value. She served as Chair of the Philosophy Departments at both Santa Clara University and William & Mary.