Peggy DesAutels

Peggy DesAutels is an American academic working as a professor of philosophy at the University of Dayton. Her research focuses on moral psychology, feminist philosophy and philosophy of mind and cognitive science.

Education

DesAutels received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Washington University of St. Louis in 1995 after earning an M.S. in computer science and an M.A. in philosophy.

Career

From 2010 to 2013, DesAutels served as the chair of the Committee on the Status of Women of the American Philosophical Association; she currently serves as an ex officio member of the committee as the Director of the Site Visit Program.

As chair of the Committee on the Status of Women of the American Philosophical Association, DesAutels was outspoken against the problems facing women philosophers, criticizing the lack of gender parity in philosophy, as well as the prevalence of sexual harassment in academia, the underrepresentation of women philosophers in tenure-track positions, and the number of philosophy conferences with all-male lineups. DesAutels was named Distinguished Woman in Philosophy for 2014 by the Eastern Division of Society for Women in Philosophy.

DesAutels was also a research leader on a $3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE grant, awarded to a consortium including University of Dayton, aimed at advancing the recruitment and advancement of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

Publications

DesAutels is the editor of several volumes in feminist ethics and moral psychology.

• DesAutels, Peggy; Waugh, Joanne (2001). Feminists doing ethics. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9780742512115. Selected as a Choice outstanding academic title for 2003.
• DesAutels, Peggy; Walker, Margaret Urban (2004). Moral psychology: feminist ethics and social theory. Feminist Constructions. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9780742534803.
• DesAutels, Peggy; Whisnant, Rebecca (2008). Global feminist ethics: feminist ethics and social theory. Feminist Constructions. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742559103.