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The College of New Jersey Magazine
proponent of self-autonomy and individual liberty —
along with open immigration and free markets.
Taylor has spent a good chunk of his career
pondering what happens to the dead once they're
dead: What are our obligations to them? Do the dead
have rights once they've passed on? If so, is it possible
to trample over those rights? He's fascinated by the
notion of whether someone could be harmed by
their death, and if so, when. Right after dying? Or for
decades into the future? Can someone benefit from
their death? And, if so, should we honor deathbed
promises? What about wills?
Although he's spent years parsing what happens
after the living stop living, Taylor is quite clear about
LIKE ROBERTS, Taylor toyed with
the idea of going into law as an
undergraduate in his native
Scotland. But he became obsessed
with philosophy early on as a
high schooler in England when
he stumbled on some philosophy
journals in his headmaster's
office. He kept reading them, and
in so doing, found his life's work.
He considers himself a
"classical liberal," in that he
believes in the smallest form
of government. And he's a big
Philosophy
professor Taylor
