Tamar Schapiro

Tamar Schapiro is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she contributes to the field of Philosophy. She earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University in 1997 and her B.A. in Philosophy, summa cum laude with distinction in the major, from Yale University in 1986. Schapiro's career includes serving as a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows from 1997 to 2000. She joined Stanford University in 2000 as Assistant Professor, advancing to Associate Professor with tenure in 2009, and remained there until 2015. In 2015, she moved to MIT as Visiting Associate Professor, became Associate Professor in 2016, and was promoted to full Professor in 2021.

Schapiro's research centers on ethical theory, the history of ethics with a focus on Kant and the British Moralists, moral psychology, philosophy of action, practical reasoning, and human agency. She is the author of Feeling Like It: A Theory of Inclination and Will (Oxford University Press, 2021) and co-editor of Normativity and Agency: Themes from the Philosophy of Christine M. Korsgaard (Oxford University Press, 2022, with Kyla Ebels-Duggan and Sharon Street). Key publications include “What is a Child?” (Ethics, 1999), “Compliance, Complicity, and the Nature of Nonideal Conditions” (The Journal of Philosophy, 2003), “The Nature of Inclination” (Ethics, 2009), “Kant’s Approach to the Theory of Human Agency” (The Routledge Handbook of Practical Reason, 2020), and “Imperatives” in Understanding Kant’s Groundwork (Hackett Publishing, 2023). Her fellowships include the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship (2011-2012), Hellman Junior Faculty Fellowship at Stanford University (2005-2006), Internal Fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center (2003-2004), and Whiting Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities (1996-1997). Schapiro serves on the editorial boards of Ethics and the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy. At MIT, she has held positions as Undergraduate Officer, Co-Chair of the Presidential Committee on Distinguished Fellowships, and Chair of the Committee on Discipline.

Professional Email: tamschap@mit.edu