Virginia Held, professor emerita of philosophy at the City University of New York and an influential figure in ethics and social and political philosophy, has died.

Professor Held is especially well known for her work on the ethics of care and feminist philosophy. She is the author of several books, including The Public Interest and Individual Interests (1970), Rights and Goods: Justifying Social Action (1989), Feminist Morality: Transforming Culture, Society, and Politics (2005), The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global (2006), and How Terrorism is Wrong: Morality and Political Violence (2008). You can learn more about her writings here.

Professor Held was on the faculty at Hunter College, City University of New York from 1965 to 2001. She received her PhD from Columbia University and her BA from Barnard College.

Virginia Held died on May 26, 2026.