Illuminating Philosophy

Samuel Gorovitz is a former dean of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University. He is founding director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program (2004–2010) and professor of philosophy at Syracuse. He was a leader in the development of medical ethics and has published extensively on topics in philosophy and public policy. He has given more than 200 invited lectures on five continents, and has consulted for PBS, WHO, and many federal agencies.


Dr. Gorovitz has been interviewed on programs such as All Things Considered, Larry King, Studs Terkel, and quoted in magazines from Ladies’ Home Journal to the New Yorker. He has published more than 130 articles, reviews, and editorials in philosophical journals, medical journals, public policy journals, and newspapers. He is author of Doctors’ Dilemmas: Moral Conflict and Medical Care (Oxford, 1985) and Drawing the Line: Life, Death, and Ethical Choices in an American Hospital (Oxford, 1991; Temple 1993), and many academic books.


His degrees include B.S. MIT, 1960; Ph.D. Stanford, 1963; Honorary Doctor of Science, SUNY, 2016.