W. D. Ross

Sir
W. D. Ross
Born
William David Ross

(1877-04-15)15 April 1877
Thurso, Scotland
Died5 May 1971(1971-05-05) (aged 94)
Oxford, England
Education
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Balliol College, Oxford
Philosophical work
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic philosophy
Main interestsEthics, Greek philosophy
Notable ideasDeontological pluralism (ethical non-naturalism / ethical intuitionism / ethical pluralism), prima facie moral duties, criticism of consequentialism

Sir William David Ross KBE FBA (15 April 1877  5 May 1971), known as David Ross but usually cited as W. D. Ross, was a Scottish Aristotelian philosopher, translator, WWI veteran, civil servant, and university administrator. His best-known work is The Right and the Good (1930), in which he developed a pluralist, deontological form of intuitionist ethics in response to G. E. Moore's consequentialist form of intuitionism. Ross also critically edited and translated a number of Aristotle's works, such as his 12-volume translation of Aristotle together with John Alexander Smith, and wrote on other Greek philosophy.