Profile
Karsten J. Struhl teaches political philosophy and cross-cultural philosophy at the New School for Public Engagement in New York City. He taught for many years at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) and at Adelphi University. He has also taught at the Queens House of Detention. He has co-edited Philosophy Now, Ethics in Perspective, The Philosophical Quest: A Cross-Cultural Reader, and When Young People Break the Law: Debating Issues on Punishment for Juveniles. He writes about Marxism, Buddhist philosophy, human nature, problems of revenge and punishment, eco-philosophy, just war theory, philosophy of nonviolence, and global ethics. He has a special interest in the intersection of Buddhism and Marxism and the possibility of a radically engaged Buddhism. His articles have appeared in a variety of journals, books, and encyclopedias. He recently contributed a chapter to the Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Meditation, and he is currently writing a book entitled Interrogating Buddhist Philosophy: A Sympathetic Reconstruction.
Professional Affiliation
American Philosophical Association
Radical Philosophical Association
Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy
International Association of Buddhist Studies
Recent Publications
Articles
“Gandhi’s Means-Ends Argument Revisited,” APA Studies on Asian and Asian American Philosophers and Philosophies: Special Issue on the Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, 22:1 (Fall 2022), 20-25
“The Self: What Does Mindfulness Meditation Reveal About It?” In Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation, edited by Rick Repetti (Routledge 2022), 256-258.
“Illusion of Self Revisited: Replies to Critics,” Comparative Philosophy, 12:1 (2021), 184-208.
“What Kind of an Illusion Is the Illusion of Self?” Comparative Philosophy, 11:2 (2020), 113-139.
“Ecosocialism: A Buddhist-Marxist Approach,” Radical Philosophy Review, 23:1 (2020), 89-115.
“Gandhi for the Twenty-First Century. Author Meets Critics. Remarks by Critic Karsten Struhl,” The Acorn 19:2 (Fall 2019), 81-85.
“Buddhism and the Problem of Universal Compassion,” in The Moral Psychology of Compassion, edited by Justin Caouette and Carolyn Price (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), 95-111.
“War as Play, War as Slaughter, and the Laws of War,” in The Rule of Law in an Era of Change, edited by George J. Andreopoulos, Rosemary L. Barberet, and Mahesh K. Nalla (Springer International Publishing, 2018), 47-71.
“Buddhism and Marxism: Points of Intersection,” Journal of the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture, 4:1 (February 2017) 103-116.
“Marx and Human Nature: The Historical, the Trans-Historical, and Human Flourishing,” Science and Society, 80:1 (January 2016), 78-104.
“Retributive Punishment and Revenge,” in When Young People Break the Law: Debating Issues on Punishment for Juveniles, edited by Karsten J. Struhl and Kimora (International Debate Education Association, 2015), 104-128.
“The Moral Necessity of Socialism,” in Value and Values: Economics and Justice in an Age of Global Interdependence, edited by Roger T. Ames and Peter D. Hershock (University of Hawai’i Press, 2015), 377-399.
“Buddhism, Our Desperation, and American Cinema,” in Buddhism and American Cinema, edited by John Whalen-Bridge and Gary Storhoff (SUNY Press, 2014), 157-177.
“Human Nature,” co-authored with Alison Jaggar, Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 4th edition. Edited by Bruce Jennings (Macmillan, 2014), 1597-1612; “Human Nature,” co-authored with Alison Jaggar, Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 2nd edition. Editor in Chief, Warren T. Reich (MacMillan, 1995).
“Why Socialists Should Take Human Nature Seriously,” Radical Philosophy Today, 17:1 (2014), 133-148.
“Socialism and Human Nature,” in Taking Socialism Seriously, eds. Anatole Anton and Richard Schmitt (Lexington Books, 2012), 97-134.
“No (More) Philosophy Without Cross-Cultural Philosophy,” Philosophy Compass 5:4 (April 2010), 287-295.
“Letter to Iris Young,” Dancing with Iris: The Philosophy of Iris Marion Young, eds. Ann Ferguson and Mechthild Nagel (Oxford University Press, 2009), 33-38.
“Communism,” Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice, eds. Gary L. Anderson and Kathryn G. Herr (Sage, 2007), 78-82.
“Is Democracy a Universal Value? Whose Democracy?” Radical Philosophy Today, Volume 5: Democracy, Racism, and Prisons, ed. Harry van der Linden (Philosophy Documentation Center, 2007), 3-24.
“Can There Be a Just War?” Radical Philosophy Today, Volume 4: Philosophy Against Empire, eds. Tony Smith and Harry van der Linden (Philosophy Documentation Center, 2006), 3-25.
“Is a Global Ethic Possible?” in Planetary Politics, ed. Stephen Eric Bronner (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), 173-190.
“Is War a Morally Legitimate Response to Terrorism,” The Philosophical Forum, 36:1 (2005), 129-137.
Books
When Young People Break the Law: Debating Issues on Punishment for Juveniles, edited by Karsten J. Struhl and Kimora (International Debate Education Association, 2015).
The Philosophical Quest: A Cross Cultural Reader, edited by Gail Presbey, Karsten J. Struhl, and Richard Olsen (McGraw-Hill, 1st edition, 1995; 2nd edition, 2000).
Research Interests
Social and Political Philosophy, Marxist Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy, Ecological Ethics, Cross-Cultural Philosophy, Asian Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Social Ethics, Ideology and Epistemology, Philosophy of Human Nature, Philosophy of Punishment and Revenge