Richard J. Arneson is the Valtz Family Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, where he teaches ethics and social and political philosophy. His research interests include distributive justice, personal responsibility, and consequentialism.

Arneson has been visiting professor at the University of California, Davis (1990) and at the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics at Yale University (1996). In spring 1999 he was a visiting fellow at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. In January-February 2007 he was visiting professor (unpaid) at Charles Sturt University, the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Australian National University branch. From August-December, 2008, he was Adjunct Professor at the School of Law, University of San Diego. He received the Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, 1975.