William O. Stephens (born 10 June 1962), is an American
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and scholar of
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at
Creighton University
Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...
after retiring from teaching at their Omaha Campus in 2020.
Biography
Stephens was born in
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...
and grew up in
West Lafayette
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...
where he attended West Lafayette Senior High School and began his study of ancient civilizations and Latin.
["Biography"](_blank)
William O. Stephens. He studied Philosophy at the
College of Wooster
The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...
for two years before transferring to
Earlham College
Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...
, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Stephens completed his graduate work at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, studying under
Charles H. Kahn
Charles H. Kahn (born May 29, 1928) is a classicist and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. His work is focused on early Greek philosophy, up to the times of Plato. His 1960 monograph on Anaximander was still as ...
,
Alexander Nehamas
Alexander Nehamas ( el, Αλέξανδρος Νεχαμάς; born 22 March 1946) is a Greek-born American philosopher. He is a professor of philosophy and comparative literature and the Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Huma ...
, and
Martin Ostwald
Martin Ostwald (January 15, 1922 – April 10, 2010) was a German-American classical scholar, who taught until 1992 at Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania. His main field of study was the political structures of Ancient Greece.
...
. He received his doctorate in Philosophy in 1990.
In August 1990, he joined the faculty at Creighton University where he received the
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...
Teaching for Tomorrow award in 2005. During his tenure at Creighton, Stephens published four books and numerous articles on topics including Stoic ethics,
Epicureanism
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism.
Few writings by Epi ...
, philosophical
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism may ...
, personhood, and sex and love. He has also written on being a Stoic and a
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
fan, and on the similarities the Jedi philosophy in
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
shares with
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
. He presented on phobias, terrorism, and Stoic fearlessness at Stoicon in Toronto, Canada, October 14, 2017, and on a Stoic approach to travel and tourism at Stoicon in London, England, September 29, 2018. He is frequently interviewed about topics in Stoicism.
Vegetarianism
Stephens authored an influential paper examining five arguments for vegetarianism. These were the arguments from distributive justice, environmental harm, sexual politics, moral consideration for animals, and the prudential argument from health. He concluded that compassion, humility, and integrity make working toward a meatless diet virtuous.
[Stephens, William O. ''Five Arguments for Vegetarianism''. In Susan Jean Armstrong, Richard George Botzler. (2003). ''The Animal Ethics Reader''. Routledge. pp. 201-208. ]
Selected publications
Books
*
Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed'. London: Continuum, 2012. .
*
Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom'. London: Continuum, 2007. .
*
The Person: Readings in Human Nature'. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2006. .
*
The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus, An English Translation, Revised Edition', William O. Stephens, New York: Peter Lang, 2021. .
Papers
''Five Arguments for Vegetarianism''(''Philosophy in the Contemporary World'', 1994)
''Fake Meat''(''Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics'', 2018)
''Public Health, Ethical Vegetarianism, and the Harms of the Animal Food Industry''(''Archives in Biomedical Engineering & Biotechnology'', 2019)
See also
*
List of animal rights advocates
Advocates of animal rights support the philosophy of animal rights. They believe that many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as in avoiding suff ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, William O.
1962 births
Living people
American animal rights scholars
American philosophers
American vegetarianism activists
College of Wooster alumni
Creighton University faculty
Earlham College alumni
People from Lafayette, Indiana
University of Pennsylvania alumni