Morris B. Kaplan, M.A., J.D.

Professor of Philosophy
School of Humanities

Education

• B.A. (magna cum laude, with highest honors in philosophy), 1963, Williams College
• M.A. (Philosophy), 1968, Yale University
• J.D., 1973, Yale Law School

Positions

• Trial Attorney, 1957-87, The Legal Aid Society of New York
• Adjunct Lecturer in Philosophy, 1988-present, Williams College Winter Study Program
• Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, 1994, Stanford Law School
• Lecturer in Philosophy, l987-92, Purchase College, SUNY
• Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 1992-98, Purchase College, SUNY
• Associate Professor of Philosophy, 1998-2004, Purchase College, SUNY
• Professor of Philosophy, 2004-present, Purchase College, SUNY

Areas of Expertise
Political and social philosophy; philosophy of law; lesbian and gay studies.

Honors and Awards
SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, 2009; Inaugural Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in Legal Humanities, l993-94, Stanford Humanities Center; President's Award for Junior Faculty Development, l993-94, Purchase College, SUNY; American Council of Learned Societies Research Grant, Summer, l993; NEH Summer Seminars, 1991, 1995; NEH Institutes, 1992, 1993.

Courses Taught
Political and Social Philosophy; Philosophy of Law; l7th Century Philosophy; Plato Seminar; Kant Seminar; Sexual Orientation; Phenomenology and Existentialism; Tragedy and Philosophy; Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies.

Research Interests
Social and legal regulation of sexual behavior in both philosophical and historical contexts; the role of plea bargaining in the criminal justice system.

Publications

Books

Sodom on the Thames: Love, Lust and Scandal in Wilde Times. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005)

Sexual Justice: Democratic Citizenship and the Politics of Desire. (Routledge: New York, 1997)

Reviews, Articles, Analyses

"'Absent Friends!' Scenes of Address and an Ethic of Self-making", Columbia Journal of Law and Gender, 21:2, pp 182-202 (2012).

“Hate Crime and the Privatization of Political Responsibility: Protecting Queer Citizens in the US?” University of Liverpool Law Review, special issue on violence, ed., Leslie Moran, 2008

“Literature in the Dock: The Trials of Oscar Wilde”, The Journal of Law and Society, March 2004

“Legal Fictions and Family Romances: Contesting Paradigms of Child Placement” in Stephen Macedo and Iris Marion Young, eds., NOMOS XVLIV: Child, Family and State, (New York: New York University Press, 2003)

1991. Autonomy, Equality and Community: The Question of Lesbian and Gay Rights. Praxis International. Reprinted in R. Manning and R. Trujillo (eds.), Social Justice in a Diverse Society. Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, CA, 1996.

1994. Intimacy and Equality: The Question of Lesbian and Gay Marriage. The Philosophical Forum, Summer 1994. Reprinted in S. Phelan (ed.), Playing With Fire: Queer Politics, Queer Theories. Routledge, New York, 1996.

1995. Civil Disobedience, Conscience and Community: Thoreau's 'Double Self' and the Problem of Political Action. In: D. Morse (ed.), The Delegated Intellect: Emersonian Essays on Literature, Science, and Art in Honor of Don Gifford. Peter Lang, New York.

1995. Refiguring the Jewish Question: Arendt, Proust, and the Politics of Sexuality. In B. Honig (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt. The Pennsylvania State University Press, State College, PA.

Forthcoming. Liberte! Egalite! Sexualite! Theorizing Lesbian and Gay Politics. Commissioned review of five books. Political Theory.