L. W. Sumner

Leonard Wayne Sumner (born 18 May 1941) is a Canadian philosopher notable for his work on normative and applied ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law. Sumner is University Professor Emeritus of Law and Philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Education and career
Educated at the University of Toronto Schools, Sumner received his bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1962 and his doctoral degree from Princeton University in 1965, with a thesis supervised by Stuart Hampshire and Joel Feinberg.

Since 2002, he has been a University Professor, the highest academic honour that the university accords its faculty. In 1990 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2009 he was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Philosophical work
Sumner is the author of four books, including Welfare, Happiness and Ethics.