Overview
Ruth Grant is a Professor of Political Science at Duke University, specializing in political theory with a particular interest in early modern philosophy and political ethics. She is the author of John Locke's Liberalism and of Hypocrisy and Integrity: Machiavelli, Rousseau and the Ethics of Politics. Her most recent book is Strings Attached: Untangling the Ethics of Incentives. She is also the editor of two collections of essays; Naming Evil, Judging Evil and In Search of Goodness. Her work originally focused on the historical study of liberal thought and has moved increasingly toward contemporary ethics. Her articles have appeared in a variety of journals including APSR, Political Theory, Journal of Politics, and Politics and Society. She has received fellowship awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Humanities Center, and the Russell Sage Foundation, and a teaching award from Duke University.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Professor Emerita of Political Science
·
2019 - Present
Political Science,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Recent Publications
How Could They Let This Happen? Cover Ups, Complicity, and the Problem of Accountability
Journal Article Res Publica · June 1, 2024 Sexual abuse by clergymen, poisoned water, police brutality—these cases each involve two wrongs: the abuse itself and the attempt to avoid responsibility for it. Our focus is this second wrong—the cover up. Cover ups are accountability failures, and they s ... Full text Open Access CiteReflections on a Career
Journal Article Perspectives on Political Science · January 1, 2021 Full text CiteIncentives and praise compared: the ethics of motivation
Journal Article International Review of Economics · March 14, 2019 Full text CiteEducation, Training & Certifications
The University of Chicago ·
1984
Ph.D.
The University of Chicago ·
1975
M.A.
The University of Chicago ·
1971
B.A.