Philosophy Professor Emrys Westacott's article on frugal living appears in Veolia Institute Review

Alfred University Professor of Philosophy Emrys Westacott

Alfred University Professor of Philosophy Emrys Westacott's essay "Frugality: From the Good Life to the Good Society" was published recently in the 2024 Veolia Institute Review.

Westacott has written extensively on the values of frugal living. His book The Wisdom of Frugality: Why Less is More - More or Less was published in 2016 by Princeton University Press.

His new essay explains how the idea of frugality, which in the past has been primarily associated with individual virtues such as temperance and simple living, may be usefully extended to whole communities.

"For over two thousand years, philosophers and other moral teachers have praised the life of frugal simplicity, arguing that it is both morally beneficial and a sure path to happiness. In the past, the focus has primarily been on the lifestyle of individuals, but in recent times the concept has been applied more broadly to whole communities and institutions," Westacott argues.

Westacott is also the author of Thinking through Philosophy (with Chris Horner, Cambridge, 2000) and The Virtues of our Vices (Princeton, 2012).