Steven Frederic Sapontzis^[2] (born February 9, 1945) is an American philosopher and professor emeritus of philosophy at California State University, East Bay who specializes in animal ethics, environmental ethics and meta-ethics.

Sapontzis was born in New York City, the son of Zissis Peter and Lea Marie Vial Sapontzis.^[1] He obtained his BA from Rice University in 1967, his MPhil in 1970, and PhD from Yale University in 1971;^[3] his thesis was entitled Merleau-Ponty and Philosophical Methodology.^[4] Sapontzis joined the philosophy faculty at California State University, East Bay, in 1971, and became professor emeritus in 1999.^[3]

Sapontzis was co-founder in 1985 of the journal Between the Species: A Journal of Ethics and served as its initial co-editor.^[5] He was a member of the board of the American Philosophical Quarterly (1991–1994), and sat on the animal welfare research committee at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (1986–1990).^[6]

In 1983, Sapontzis founded, with his wife, the Hayward Friends of Animals Humane society.^[7] They now operate Second Chance, Helping the Pets of People in the Need, in California.^[7] Sapontzis was also one of the first members of the board of directors of the Society for the Study of Ethics and Animals.^[1]

Sapontzis has authored numerous papers,^[8] as well as two books: Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)^[9] and Subjective Morals (2011).^[10] He also edited the book Food for Thought: The Debate over Eating Meat (2004).^[11]

• Morals, Reason, and Animals. Temple University Press, 1987.
• (ed.) Food for Thought: The Debate over Eating Meat. Prometheus Books, 2004.
• Subjective Morals. University Press of America, 2011.

• Sapontzis, S. F. (1977). "Direct Perception, Some Further Comments". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 37 (4): 556–565. doi:10.2307/2106436. ISSN 0031-8205. JSTOR 2106436.
• Sapontzis, S. F. (1978). "A Note on Merleau-Ponty's "Ambiguity"". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 38 (4): 538–543. doi:10.2307/2106575. ISSN 0031-8205. JSTOR 2106575.
• Sapontzis, S. F. (1980). "Are Animals Moral Beings?". American Philosophical Quarterly. 17 (1): 45–52. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20009783.
• Sapontzis, S. F. (1981). "A Critique of Personhood". Ethics. 91 (4): 607–618. doi:10.1086/292273. ISSN 0014-1704. JSTOR 2380296. S2CID 170292757.
• Sapontzis, S. F. (1983). "Moral Value and Reason". The Monist. 66 (1): 146–159. doi:10.5840/monist19836616. ISSN 0026-9662. JSTOR 27902793.
• Sapontzis, S. F. (1984). "Predation". Ethics and Animals. 5 (2): 27–38. doi:10.15368/ea.1984v5n2.1. ISSN 0197-9094.
• Sapontzis, Steve F. (1985). "Moral Community and Animal Rights". American Philosophical Quarterly. 22 (3): 251–257. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20014103.
• Sapontzis, S. F. (1987). "Moral Relativism: A Causal Interpretation and Defense". American Philosophical Quarterly. 24 (4): 329–337. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20014210.
• Sapontzis, Steve F. (1990). "Groundwork for a Subjective Theory of Ethics". American Philosophical Quarterly. 27 (1): 27–38. ISSN 0003-0481. JSTOR 20014309.

• List of animal rights advocates

Wikiquote has quotations related to Steve F. Sapontzis.

• Official website
• Interview with Claudette Vaughan
• 30 years since the publication of Morals, reason and animals – Animal Ethics

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