David L. Norton

David Lloyd Norton (March 27, 1930 – July 24, 1995) was an American philosopher. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Cecil V. Norton and (Adelene) Ruth Essick Norton. He earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1952. In 1953 he married Joan Marie Carter, and they had a daughter, Anita Lee Norton (later Kronsberg), in 1954. During these years, Norton also served as Associate Leader of the St. Louis Ethical Society. They lost an infant daughter, Nancy Ann, in 1959. In 1961, they adopted a son, Ronald Vallet Norton. After working as a civil engineer, Norton pursued philosophy at Washington University, earning a master's degree in 1962, and then a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1968. While in Boston, he was Leader of the Boston Ethical Society. His second son, Peter, was born in Boston in 1963. His dissertation was "Transcendental Imagination: A Post-Kantian Appraisal." In 1966, Norton moved to Newark, Delaware, to join the University of Delaware's philosophy department. He later divorced and remarried, fathering two more sons, Tucker (b. 1971) and Cory (b. 1976). Norton taught at the University of Delaware for 29 years. His 1976 book, "Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism," gained significant attention. "Democracy and Moral Development" followed in 1991, and his final book, "Imagination, Understanding, and the Virtue of Liberality," was published posthumously. Norton's philosophy centered on the "personal destiny" of individuals, advocating for the discovery and actualization of one's innate potential, which he saw as harmonizing with societal needs. He drew inspiration from ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato, and called himself an ethical individualist.