Lisa Tessman has published in ethics, moral psychology, feminist philosophy, and related areas. Her work focuses on how real human beings experience morality, especially under difficult conditions.
Selected Publications
Books:
When Doing the Right Thing Is Impossible (2017, Oxford University Press)
Moral Failure: On the Impossible Demands of Morality (2015, Oxford University Press)
Burdened Virtues: Virtue Ethics for Liberatory Struggles (2005, Oxford University Press).
Articles and book chapters:
2021. “The Virtues of Reactive Attitudes” The Journal of Value Inquiry 55: 437-456.
2020. “Moral Distress in Health Care: When Is It Fitting?” Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 23(2): 165-177.
2018. “Sacrificing Value.” International Journal of Philosophical Studies 26 (3): 376-398. Reprinted in: Sacrifice and Moral Philosophy, edited by Marcel van Ackeren and Alfred Archer, Routledge, 2020: 76-98.
2016. “Moral Failure—Response to Critics.” Feminist Philosophical Quarterly 2 (1) article 6.
2014. “Making More Space for Moral Failure.” In Virtue and the Moral Life: Theological and Philosophical Perspectives, ed. William Werpehowski and Kathryn Getek-Soltis. Lexington Books: 133-152.
2013. “Value Pluralism, Intuitions, and Reflective Equilibrium.” Philosophical Topics 41(2): 175-201.
2013. “Virtue Ethics and Moral Failure: Lessons from Neuroscientific Moral Psychology.” Virtues in Action: New Essays in Applied Virtue Ethics, ed. Michael Austin. Palgrave Macmillan: 171-189.
2010. “Idealizing Morality.” Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy. 25 (4): 797-824.
2009. “Expecting Bad Luck.” Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy. 24 (1): 9-28.
Education
Ph.D. in Philosophy; University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA, 1996.
MA in Philosophy; University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA, 1992.
BA in Philosophy; Carleton College, Northfield, MN, USA, 1988.
Positions held
- Professor of Philosophy, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY USA from 1999-present.