Topic · Philosophical Ethics and Theory
Most cited papers in Philosophical Ethics and Theory
What are the most cited papers in Philosophical Ethics and Theory?
The most cited paper in Philosophical Ethics and Theory is "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation" (Emmanuelle de Champs, 2017), with 6,667 citations. Next come "Equity, Equality, and Need: What Determines Which Value Will Be Used as the Basis of Distributive Justice?" (2,784) and "Modern Moral Philosophy" (2,456).
Showing 50 of 100 papers. Every paper with more than 326 citations is listed.
| # | Paper | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation Emmanuelle de Champs · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) | 2017 | 6,667 |
| 2 | Equity, Equality, and Need: What Determines Which Value Will Be Used as the Basis of Distributive Justice? Morton Deutsch · Journal of Social Issues | Jul 1975 | 2,784 |
| 3 | Modern Moral Philosophy G. E. M. Anscombe · Philosophy | 1958 | 2,456 |
| 4 | TRUTH AND OTHER ENIGMAS C. J. F. Williams · Philosophical Books | Oct 1979 | 1,913 |
| 5 | Libertarian Paternalism Richard H. Thaler, Cass Robert Sunstein · American Economic Review | Apr 2003 | 1,873 |
| 6 | The Possibility of Naturalism: A Philosophical Critique of the Contemporary Human Sciences. Gilly Cantor, Roy Bhaskar · The Philosophical Quarterly | Jul 1982 | 1,655 |
| 7 | The Reasons We Can Share: An Attack on the Distinction Between Agent-Relative and Agent-Neutral Values Christine M. Korsgaard · DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) | 1993 | 1,608 |
| 8 | Conflict, Decision and Dissonance José Luís, Léon Festinger · Revue Française de Sociologie | Oct 1965 | 1,355 |
| 9 | Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction Jonathan Wolff · Philosophical Books | 1992 | 1,233 |
| 10 | A Darwinian Dilemma for Realist Theories of Value Sharon Street · Philosophical Studies | 23 Oct 2005 | 1,210 |
| 11 | Insight and Responsibility Fred H. Frankel, Erik Homburger Erikson · Psychosomatic Medicine | May 1965 | 1,067 |
| 12 | PHILOSOPHICAL HERMENEUTICS J. E. Llewelyn · Philosophical Books | Oct 1977 | 1,049 |
| 13 | Ambiguity Aversion and Comparative Ignorance Craig R. Fox, Amos Tversky · The Quarterly Journal of Economics | Aug 1995 | 1,043 |
| 14 | The Humean Theory of Motivation Michael Smith · Mind | 1987 | 999 |
| 15 | Two Distinctions in Goodness Christine M. Korsgaard · The Philosophical Review | Apr 1983 | 975 |
| 16 | A Puzzle about Belief Saul A. Kripke | 13 Nov 2007 | 963 |
| 17 | The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy Martha C. Nussbaum · eYLS (Yale Law School) | 1987 | 931 |
| 18 | Two Treatises of Government, by John Locke, Peter Laslett Rosalie Littell Colie · Political Science Quarterly | Jun 1961 | 879 |
| 19 | Where the Action Is: On the Site of Distributive Justice Gerald Allan Cohen · Philosophy & Public Affairs | 1997 | 823 |
| 20 | Reality: The Search for Objectivity or the Quest for a Compelling Argument Humberto R. Maturana · The Irish Journal of Psychology | 1988 | 822 |
| 21 | The Rejection of Consequentialism ELIZABETH TELLER · Philosophical Books | Jul 1983 | 821 |
| 22 | Objectivity and Truth: You'd Better Believe It Ronald M. Dworkin · Philosophy & Public Affairs | Apr 1996 | 810 |
| 23 | Fairness, Respect, and the Egalitarian Ethos Jonathan Wolff · Philosophy & Public Affairs | Apr 1998 | 774 |
| 24 | Normative Requirements John Broome · Ratio | Dec 1999 | 759 |
| 25 | The Possibility of Practical Reason J. David Velleman · Ethics | Jul 1996 | 737 |
| 26 | The Strike of the Demon: On Fitting Pro‐attitudes and Value Włodek Rabinowicz, Toni Rønnow‐Rasmussen · Ethics | Apr 2004 | 724 |
| 27 | Moving a Rubber Hand that Feels Like Your Own: A Dissociation of Ownership and Agency Andreas Kalckert, H. Henrik Ehrsson · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience | 2012 | 721 |
| 28 | Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics John M. Doris · Noûs | Dec 1998 | 710 |
| 29 | Preference and Urgency Т. М. Scanlon · The Journal of Philosophy | 6 Nov 1975 | 703 |
| 30 | Why Be Rational? Niko Kolodny · Mind | Jul 2005 | 677 |
| 31 | Ethics Without Principles Andrea Houchard · The Journal of Value Inquiry | Jun 2005 | 675 |
| 32 | PHYSICALISM, OR SOMETHING NEAR ENOUGH Cynthia Macdonald · Philosophical Books | Apr 2007 | 668 |
| 33 | Reflection and Disagreement Adam Elga · Noûs | 20 Aug 2007 | 660 |
| 34 | Non‐Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach Martha C. Nussbaum · Oxford University Press eBooks | 11 Mar 1993 | 634 |
| 35 | Justice in Ideal Theory: A Refutation Colin Farrelly · Political Studies | 16 Mar 2007 | 621 |
| 36 | The Order of Public Reason: A Theory of Freedom and Morality in a Diverse and Bounded World Gerald F. Gaus | 18 Jun 2012 | 604 |
| 37 | Direction of Fit Lloyd Humberstone · Mind | 1992 | 599 |
| 38 | Institutions and the Demands of Justice LIAM B. MURPHY · Philosophy & Public Affairs | Oct 1998 | 596 |
| 39 | The Virtue in Self-Interest Michael Anthony Slote · DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) | Dec 1997 | 551 |
| 40 | SUPERVENIENCE AND MIND Trenton Merricks · Philosophical Books | Jul 1995 | 546 |
| 41 | Surveying Freedom: Folk Intuitions about free will and moral responsibility Eddy Nahmias, Stephen G. Morris, Thomas Nadelhoffer et al. · Philosophical Psychology | Oct 2005 | 536 |
| 42 | ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE PERSEVERANCE OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS Philip E. Tetlock · Social Psychology Quarterly | Dec 1983 | 524 |
| 43 | SIDGWICK'S ETHICS AND VICTORIAN MORAL PHILOSOPHY A. R. LAGEY · Philosophical Books | Oct 1978 | 516 |
| 44 | Ethics and Intuitions Peter Singer · The Journal of Ethics | Oct 2005 | 514 |
| 45 | An answer to the question: What is enlightenment? (1784) Immanuel Kant, Allen W. Wood · Cambridge University Press eBooks | 18 Jun 2012 | 511 |
| 46 | The Varieties of Intrinsic Value John C. O'Neill · The Monist | 1992 | 511 |
| 47 | Must we mean what we say?1 Stanley Cavell · Inquiry | 1958 | 487 |
| 48 | KANT'S SECOND THOUGHTS ON RACE Pauline Kleingeld · The Philosophical Quarterly | 2 Apr 2007 | 476 |
| 49 | What's the Point of Blame? A Paradigm Based Explanation Miranda Fricker · Noûs | 15 May 2014 | 476 |
| 50 | Kant and Stoic Cosmopolitanism Martha C. Nussbaum · Journal of Political Philosophy | Mar 1997 | 467 |
Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.