Lawrence C. Becker


Lawrence C. Becker was an American philosopher working mainly in the areas of ethics and social, political, and legal philosophy.

Work

Becker wrote books and journal articles on justice, Stoicism and Modern Stoicism, reciprocity, property rights, and metaethics. He was an associate editor of the journal Ethics from 1985–2000, and the editor, with the librarian Charlotte B. Becker, of two editions of the Encyclopedia of Ethics.
He was a Fellow of Hollins University, where he taught philosophy from 1965–1989, and was the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor in the Humanities and Philosophy at the College of William & Mary from 1989–2001, subsequently retiring as Professor Emeritus.
From 2000–2011 he was on the volunteer Board of Directors of Post-Polio Health International, and served as its President and Chair from 2006–2009.

Books authored

Books edited with Charlotte B. Becker

  • Encyclopedia of Ethics. Second edition in three volumes. New York: Routledge, 2001.
  • A History of Western Ethics. Second Edition, revised with expanded index and glossary. New York: Routledge, 2003..

Book edited with Kenneth Kipnis

  • Property: Cases, Concepts, and Critiques. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1984.

General editor for book series

  • Ethical Investigations: A Routledge Series of Article Collections. New York: Routledge, 2003. Two collections of classic journal articles. Carl Wellman, ed., Rights and Duties; Peter Vallentyne, ed., Equality and Justice.