Total Collapse: The Case Against Responsibility and Morality

Stephen Kershnar is a distinguished teaching professor in the philosophy department at the State University of New York at Fredonia and an attorney. He focuses on applied ethics and political philosophy. Kershnar has written over eighty articles and book chapters on such diverse topics as torture, affirmative action, reparations for slavery, pornography, hell, adult-child sex, discrimination, the most valuable player, capitalism, equal opportunity, slavery, sexual fantasies, and the nature of pleasure. He is the author of eight books, including Does the Pro-Life Worldview Make Sense? Abortion, Hell, and Violence Against Abortion Doctors (Routledge: New York, 2018), Adult-Child Sex: A Philosophical Defense (2015), Gratitude toward Veterans: A Philosophical Explanation of Why Americans Should Not Be Very Grateful to Veterans (2014), and For Torture: A Right-Based Defense (2012).

• 1 Introduction.- Part I; No Non-Consequentialist Morality.- 2 How Consent Works.- 3 Problems with Forfeiture.- 4 Against Proportionality: Proportionality is Not a Side-Constraint on Punishment.- 5 Rights Fail and Why This Explains the Other Failures.- Part II; Why There is no non-consequentialist morality.- 6 No responsibility (Responsibility and Foundationalism).- 7 If There Were Responsibility, It Wouldn’t Do Much Work (Responsibility and Internalism).- 8 No Responsibility No Morality.- 9 Responsibility Revisionists and Skeptics.- 10   Appendix One: What is Moral Responsibility?.- 11   Appendix Two: God is Not Morally Responsible.