Michael Levin

Michael Levin (Ph.D., Columbia University) is a professor of philosophy at City University of New York, who has published works on metaphysics, epistemology, race, homosexuality, animal rights, the philosophy of archaeology, the philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, and the philosophy of science. His central research concerns are in Epistemology (Reliabilism and Gettier Problems) and in Philosophy of Race (Heritability of Racial Differences).

Additional recommended knowledge

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Philosophical Views

Professor Levin is known for his controversial views in philosophy. He is critical of certain strands of feminism and has argued that homosexual sex is less satisfying than heterosexual sex, because it is a misuse of bodily parts. ^[1][2] Levin also believes that genetics play an important part in the variation in cultures across the world. He advocates reliabilism as the correct theory of epistemology, and compatibilism as the correct theory of free will. Professor Levin has written for libertarian publications such as the Ludwig von Mises Institute's newsletter "The Free Market" and The Journal of Libertarian Studies. He has garnered attention for advocating torture for political purposes as far back as 1982, in an opinion article featured in Newsweek magazine.

He has also been accused of being a racist for his belief that whites are genetically superior to blacks^[3][4]. He was embroiled in a controversy with a fellow member of the City University that centered on racial politics. "Some forms of racism are justified," he has claimed. "There's nothing wrong with eugenics. It's a perfectly respectable idea."^[5]

He was cited by the Southern Poverty Law Center's publication Intelligence Report (Summer 2006) as repeatedly addressing the American Renaissance, a white nationalist organization, at their bi-annual conferences. The same article claims that he has since stopped attending because of the anti-Semitism of some of the organization's members, but not because of its explicit racism against other minority groups.^[6]

Selected publications

Books

• Metaphysics and the Mind-Body Problem, Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-19-824415-0.
• Why Race Matters: Race Differences and What They Mean, Praeger Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-275-95789-6

Articles and essays

• The Case for Torture
• In Defense of Scrooge [1], a libertarian apology in favour of the popular protagonist of Dickens' A Christmas Carol

References