معرفی
Kimberly Kessler Ferzan is the Herbert F. Goodrich Professor of Criminal Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Co-Director of the Institute of Law & Philosophy. Her research focuses on criminal law theory, legal philosophy, and ethical dilemmas in criminal justice. She previously held the Harrison Robertson Professorship at the University of Virginia and has been a visiting professor at institutions including Harvard, the London School of Economics, and the University of Chicago. Ferzan’s work bridges law and philosophy, examining issues like consent, self-defense, punishment proportionality, and moral responsibility. She co-authored influential books such as Crime and Culpability: A Theory of Criminal Law and has received awards for her papers on legal ethics and criminal theory. Her editorial roles include co-editing Law and Philosophy and contributing to major legal encyclopedias. Prior to academia, she clerked for a federal judge and prosecuted public integrity cases for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Education: J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (L’95).
Research interests include the moral foundations of criminal law, permissible defensive force, limits of state punishment, and conceptual analyses of legal concepts like consent and coercion. Her recent work explores 'dissent-sensitive permissions' in social interactions and the ethical implications of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Ferzan’s scholarship often critiques traditional legal frameworks, advocating for a unified theory of criminal responsibility grounded in moral philosophy.
Awards include the 2013 APA Berger Memorial Prize and 2006 Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum recognition. She has advised on legal reforms and spoken publicly on topics like the presumption of innocence and the role of context in consent evaluations.
Labs/Teams: Co-directs the Institute of Law & Philosophy at UPenn, fostering interdisciplinary research between legal scholars and philosophers.
