Peter Wenz

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Peter S. Wenz (born 1945) is an American philosopher who focuses on environmental ethics. He is a professor of Philosophy and Legal Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield, a University Scholar of the University of Illinois, and an Adjunct Professor of Medical Humanities at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Education and career: He earned a B.A. in philosophy from Harpur College (SUNY Binghamton) in 1967 and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1971. He taught at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (1971–1976) and has taught at universities in London, Aberdeen, Oxford, and New Zealand. He also teaches regularly at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.

Contributions: Wenz helped coin the term environmental justice in the mid-1980s. His widely cited articles include "Just Garbage" and "Minimal Moderate and Extreme Moral Pluralism." He has written on animal rights and vegetarianism, with specialties in environmental ethics, political remedial philosophy, and medical ethics.