Stephen Kershnar

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Stephen Kershnar is an American philosopher and attorney. He is a distinguished teaching professor in the philosophy department at the State University of New York at Fredonia. His research interests include Applied Ethics, Philosophy of Law and Political Philosophy and he is the author of over eighty articles and book chapters and of nine books.

Books

• Desert, Retribution and Torture (2001). A defence of retributivism.
• Sex, Discrimination, and Violence: Surprising and Unpopular Results in Applied Ethics (2009). Kershnar argues for a number of controversial views, e.g., that adult-child sex is not always wrong and that professional schools may and probably should discriminate against women.
• Desert and Virtue: A Theory of Intrinsic Value (2010). Kershnar demonstrates how desert relates to virtue, good deeds, moral responsibility, and personal change and growth through the life process.
• For Torture: A Rights-based Defence (2012). Kershnar argues that torture is justified in a number of theoretical contexts, including defence, punishment, and when the person to be tortured consents.
• Justice for the Past (2012). Kershnar argues that programs such as affirmative action and calls for slavery reparations are unjust.
• Gratitude toward Veterans: Why Americans Should Not Be Very Grateful to Veterans (2014). Kershnar looks at whether veterans typically satisfy the conditions for gratitude and argues that they do not.
• Pedophilia and Adult-Child Sex: A Philosophical Analysis (2015). Kershnar argues that it seems plausible that the criminalization of willing adult-child sex is justified but expresses concern about whether armchair evaluations of empirical effects are enough to warrant criminal punishment.
• Does the Pro-Life Worldview Make Sense?: Abortion, Hell, and Violence Against Abortion Doctors (2017). Kershnar argues that some of the principles which Christian pro-life advocates are committed to are inconsistent.
• Total Collapse: The Case Against Responsibility and Morality (2018). Kershnar argues that there is no morality and that people are not morally responsible for what they do. He acknowledges that the philosophical costs of denying moral responsibility and morality are enormous.

External links

• Kershnar interviewed by podcaster Thaddeus Russell

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