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.
His innovative book Thought and Action (1959) attracted much attention, notably from his Oxford colleague Iris Murdoch.
Hampshire | New Hampshire | Stockbridge, Hampshire | Concord, New Hampshire | John Stuart Mill | House of Stuart | Hampshire County Cricket Club | Stuart | Exeter, New Hampshire | Manchester, New Hampshire | Hanover, New Hampshire | Portsmouth, New Hampshire | Andover, Hampshire | University of New Hampshire | Mary Stuart | J.E.B. Stuart | James Francis Edward Stuart | Keene, New Hampshire | Stuart Raper | Stuart Highway | Peterborough, New Hampshire | Hambledon, Hampshire | Goffstown, New Hampshire | Durham, New Hampshire | Charles Edward Stuart | Bretton Woods, New Hampshire | Stuart Pearce | St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire) | River Itchen, Hampshire | Leslie Stuart |
He contributed greatly to building the department; his appointments, included Stuart Hampshire and J. O. Urmson from England and the Canadian philosopher Ian Hacking.