Anton Ford joined the faculty in 2007. He is an Associate Professor in Philosophy and a Deputy Dean of the Humanities Division. His primary research and teaching interests are in Practical Philosophy, understood broadly to include Action Theory, Ethics, and Political Philosophy. Figures of special interest include Anscombe, Aristotle and Marx.
Selected Publications
“The Province of Human Agency” Noûs 52:3 (2018): 697–720.
“The Progress of the Deed,” in Process, Action and Experience, ed. Rowland Stout (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).
“Third Parties to Compromise,” in NOMOS: Compromise, ed. Jack Knight (New York: New York University Press, 2018).
“The Representation of Action,” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements 80 (2017): 217-233.
“On What is Front of Your Nose,” Philosophical Topics 44:1 (2016): 141-161.
“The Arithmetic of Intention,” The American Philosophical Quarterly 52:2 (2015): 129–143.
“Action and Passion,” Philosophical Topics 42:1 (2014): 13–42.
“Is Agency a Power of Self-Movement?” Inquiry 56:6 (2013): 597–610.
“Praktische Wahrnehmung,” Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 61:3 (2013): 403–418.
“Action and Generality,” in Essays on Anscombe’s Intention, ed. Anton Ford, Jennifer Hornsby and Frederick Stoutland (Harvard University Press, 2011).
Essays on Anscombe’s Intention, edited with Jennifer Hornsby and Frederick Stoutland (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011) ed. Anton Ford, Jennifer Hornsby and Frederick Stoutland (Harvard University Press, 2011).
“The Just and the Fine: A Reply to Irwin,” Classical Philology, Vol. 105, No. 4, 2010, 396–402.
Recent Courses
PHIL 55513 The Question What to Do
The question what to do is commonly said to articulate the fundamental concern of the practical intellect. But when it comes time to explain what it means, philosophers often substitute, for the original question, various other questions. Substitutes include, “What should I (or one) do?,” “What would it be good (or right) to do?,” “What is there most (or sufficient) reason to do?,” and “What is the best (or an adequate) option?” In this advanced research seminar, we will approach a range of foundational topics in practical philosophy—e.g., intention, action, agency, practical reason and normativity—by considering the question what to do in its natural habitat, an arbitrary moment of an ordinary day. Readings will include contemporary literature and a manuscript by the instructor. (I)
PHIL 21424 Marx in Paris
The third course will cover Marx’s “Paris Manuscripts” (aka “The 1844 Manuscripts,” aka “The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts”) and Marx’s historical writings about France, especially The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte and his writings on the Paris Commune.
Open to students who have been admitted to the Paris Humanities Program. This course will be taught at the Paris Humanities Program.
PHIL 21423 Introduction to Marx
This introduction to Marx’s thought will divide into three parts: in the first, we will consider Marx‘s theory of history; in the second, his account of capitalism; and in third, his conception of the state. (A)
PHIL 25510 Know How
What is it to know how to do something? And how, if at all, is it different from knowing that something is the case? The now-familiar distinction between "knowing-how" and "knowing-that" was first discussed by Gilbert Ryle in his 1949 book, The Concept of Mind. Though it soon became a standard piece of philosophical equipment, the Rylean distinction has recently come under vigorous attack. As time permits the course will examine (i) Ryle's original treatment of the topic and its development by Kenny and others; (ii) the recent critical discussion of this; and (iii) some ancient and modern sources of the idea that there is a kind of productive power—exemplified by, say, the "art" of medicine, or the "craft" of carpentry—that is not, or not simply, a knowledge of facts, but that nevertheless deserves to be called knowledge. (A)
PHIL 21491/31491 Anscombe’s Intention
G. E. M. Anscombe’s 1957 monograph, Intention, inaugurated the discipline known as the philosophy of action. We will study that work with occasional reference to the secondary literature. (A)
PHIL 21423 Introduction to Marx
This introduction to Marx’s thought will divide into three parts: in the first, we will consider Marx‘s theory of history; in the second, his account of capitalism; and in third, his conception of the state. (A)
For full list of Anton Ford's courses back to the 2012-13 academic year, see our searchable course database.