Yonatan Shemmer

School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy

Director of MA Political Theory

Profile image of Yonatan Shemmer
Profile picture of Profile image of Yonatan Shemmer
y.shemmer@sheffield.ac.uk
9 Mappin Street

Full contact details

Yonatan Shemmer
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
9 Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 4DT
Profile

Yonatan Shemmer joined the department in 2005. Yonatan completed his PhD in 2002 and since then has held a fellowship in the Humanities at Stanford University. His main interests are the philosophy of action, the philosophy of pratical reason and the contribution of these two fields to Ethics and to the theory of normativity in general.

Yonatan has argued against the view that it is conceptually impossible and psychologically implausible that we have direct control of our desires. He has explored the implication that such direct control of our desires may have for Humean theories of practical reason. In particular, he has agured that such control may enable Humean (and instrumentalist) views to solve problems of cooperation, problems that are usually presented as central reasons for the rejection of these views.

He is now writing a series of articles defending the claim that intrinsic desires are sources of normativity. He hopes that he can thereby strengthen the beleaguered foundations of Humeanism in practical reason.

Qualifications

BA Hebrew University, Jerusalem, PhD Stanford

Publications

Books

  • Shemmer Y (2012) Constructivism in Practical Philosophy. OUP Oxford.

Journal articles

  • Shemmer Y (2025) . Philosophy & Public Affairs, 53(1), 4-36.
  • K羹rthy M, Bex-Priestley G & Shemmer Y (2025) . Philosophical Psychology, 38(2), 695-717.
  • Bex-Priestley G & Shemmer Y (2024) . Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 102(1), 192-205.
  • Shemmer Y & BexPriestley G (2021) . Metaphilosophy, 52(3-4), 494-507.
  • Shemmer Y (2020) . Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 101(3), 630-648.
  • Bex-Priestley G & Shemmer Y (2017) . Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 3(2), 189-208.
  • Shemmer Y (2017) . Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 90(1), 191-216.
  • Shemmer Y (2014) . Philosophia, 42(2), 517-521.
  • Shemmer Y (2014) Self-governance, reasons, and self-determination. American Philosophical Quarterly, 51(2), 121-133.
  • Shemmer Y (2011) . UTILITAS, 23(2), 206-227.
  • Shemmer Y (2008) . The Philosophical Review, 117(2), 306-310.
  • Shemmer Y (2007) Desires as reasons (Humeans believe). PHILOS PHENOMEN RES, 75(2), 326-348.
  • Shemmer Y (2007) . Journal of Moral Philosophy, 4(2), 285-288.
  • Shemmer Y (2005) . Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 35(2), 269-288.
  • Shemmer Y (2004) . Philosophical Studies, 119(3), 265-294.

Book chapters

  • Lenman J & Shemmer Y (2012) In Lenman J & Shemmer Y (Ed.), Constructivism in Practical Philosophy (pp. 1-17). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Shemmer Y (2012) Constructing Coherence In Lenman J & Shemmer Y (Ed.), Constructivism in Practical Philosophy OUP Oxford
  • Shemmer Y (2011) , New Waves in Philosophy of Action (pp. 98-121). Palgrave Macmillan UK
  • Shemmer Y (2010) Mass Perverse Identification In Aguilar JH, Buckareff AA & Frankish K (Ed.), New waves in philosophy of action Palgrave MacMillan