Adrian William Moore

Most recently, Moore completed Gödel´s Theorem: A Very Short Introduction for publication by Oxford University Press (November 2022).

In September 2016 he presented a ten-part BBC Radio 4 series entitled A History of the Infinite.

He is currently a delegate of the Oxford University Press, and he has been editor of the journal MIND since 2015, joint with Lucy O'Brien.

His monograph The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics: Making Sense of Things was published in 2012 by Cambridge University Press, and it has been called an “important and remarkable book... Everyone interested in metaphysics... ought to read the whole book.” The book is regarded as evincing "the highest qualities of a historian of philosophy... [It] is positively thrilling to see someone engage with thinkers from both [analytic and continental] traditions and bring them into conversation with each other, especially with such dexterity... an extremely impressive achievement... largely succeeds at its dauntingly difficult task". In his review of this volume, John Cottingham writes: "[Moore articulates his story with] extraordinary care and detail... pulls off his [ambitious programme] with a remarkable degree of success... locates his chosen philosophers within a beautifully organised narrative... The fact that fundamental ethical questions... can be raised as a result of Moore's story... is tribute to the brilliance and importance of this book... It is a tribute to the author that [the ideas and systems] are handled with such crystal clarity and with an unpretentious and unassuming seriousness... a kind of model for philosophy at its synoptic best... restores one's faith in the future of the subject". Equally positive reviews were also published in Choice, The Philosophical Quarterly, The Times Literary Supplement, Mind and Analysis and Metaphysics.

Moore also has a special interest in the work of Bernard Williams, his colleague at Cambridge about whom he has written extensively. After Williams’ death in 2003 Moore was appointed as one of his literary executors. He edited one of Williams’ posthumously published collections of essays, Philosophy as a Humanistic Discipline.

Moore was awarded the Mind Association Research Fellowship (1999–2000) and a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2006–09).

This was followed by Points of View (Oxford University Press 1997): "... a superb book. It brings the rigour, clarity and precision of the best analytical philosophy to bear on a topic that has until now been of pointedly little concern within analytical philosophy." In his review, in The Times Literary Supplement, Robert Brandom regarded it as "imaginative, original and ambitious". According to The European Journal of Philosophy review, the book "tackles some of the most profound and most complex issues in philosophy, and the result is impressive."

Described as "one of our very best... contemporary philosophers", Moore published his first book, The Infinite, with Routledge in 1990. The text was considered "an instructive and authoritative overview of a topic of considerable philosophical importance", a "fine book... admirably clear... [subtle and] sensitive to the philosophical issues." According to another reviewer, the book "points to deep and unresolved issues in the philosophy of mathematics and even deeper issues in general philosophy... deserves serious study by both mathematicians and philosophers". In Choice, it was described as "a splendid guide through the intellectual history of this powerful and far-reaching idea... very highly recommended for all readers". The book was also reviewed favourably in International Philosophical Quarterly and Times Higher Education Supplement.

After receiving his doctorate, Moore spent three years as a lecturer at University College, Oxford, where he also acted as the junior dean. He then returned to Cambridge as a junior research fellow at King's College. Since 1988 he has been a tutorial fellow at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and a university lecturer in philosophy. Since 2004, he has been a university professor of philosophy. He has also been the chairman of the Oxford University Philosophical Society (1995–96), chairman of the Sub-faculty of Philosophy (1997–99), president of the Aristotelian Society (2014–2015) and vice-principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford (2017-2020).

A. W. Moore was educated at The Manchester Grammar School. He graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from King's College, Cambridge, after which he went to Oxford, where he studied at Balliol College for his B.Phil and D.Phil. in philosophy, completing the latter with a thesis on Language, Time and Ontology under the supervision of Michael Dummett. During his time as a postgraduate at Oxford, Moore was awarded the John Locke Prize in Mental Philosophy (in 1980).

Adrian William Moore (born 1956) is a British philosopher and broadcaster. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford and tutorial fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford. His main areas of interest are Kant, Wittgenstein, history of philosophy, metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of logic and language, ethics and philosophy of religion.