Kai Nielsen is adjunct professor of philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at Concordia University in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Calgary

University of Calgary

The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...

. Before moving to Canada, Nielsen taught for many years at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 (NYU). He specializes in metaphilosophy

Metaphilosophy

Metaphilosophy, also called philosophy of philosophy, is the study of the nature, aims, and methods of philosophy. The term is derived from Greek word meta μετά and philosophía φιλοσοφία ....

, ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

, and social

Social philosophy

Social philosophy is the philosophical study of questions about social behavior . Social philosophy addresses a wide range of subjects, from individual meanings to legitimacy of laws, from the social contract to criteria for revolution, from the functions of everyday actions to the effects of...

 and political philosophy

Political philosophy

Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...

. Nielsen has also written about philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious language and texts, and the relationship of religion and science...

, and is a leading advocate of contemporary atheism

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

. He is also known for his defense of utilitarianism

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...

, writing in response to Bernard Williams

Bernard Williams

Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams was an English moral philosopher, described by The Times as the most brilliant and most important British moral philosopher of his time. His publications include Problems of the Self , Moral Luck , Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy , and Truth and Truthfulness...

's criticism of it.

Nielsen got his B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

, and his Ph.D.

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 at Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

. He is the author of some 32 books and 415 articles. Member of the Royal Society of Canada

Royal Society of Canada

The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...

, and past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association. Nielsen is also one of the founding members of the Canadian Journal of Philosophy

Canadian Journal of Philosophy

The Canadian Journal of Philosophy is a philosophy journal, founded in 1971 by John King-Farlow, Kai Nielsen, T.M. Penelhum, and W.W. Rozeboom...

.

Books

• Wittgensteinian Fideism?, 2006, ISBN 0-334-04005-1
• Atheism And Philosophy, 2005, ISBN 1-59102-298-3
• Globalization And Justice, 2002, ISBN 1-59102-054-9
• Naturalism and Religion, 2001, ISBN 1-57392-853-4
• Exploitation, 2001, ISBN 0-391-04000-6
• Why be Moral?, 1997, ISBN 0-87975-519-9
• Naturalism without Foundations, 1996, ISBN 1-57392-076-2
• Philosophy Atheism, 1996, ISBN 0-87975-289-0
• On transforming philosophy: A metaphilosophical inquiry, 1995, ISBN 0-8133-0666-3
• God And The Grounding Of Morality, 1991, ISBN 0-7766-0328-0
• After the demise of the tradition: Rorty, critical theory, and the fate of philosophy, 1991, ISBN 0-8133-8044-8
• Ethics without God, 1990, ISBN 0-87975-552-0
• God, Skepticism and modernity, 1989, ISBN 0-7766-0241-1
• Marxism and the Moral Point of View: Morality, Ideology, and Historical Materialism, 1989, ISBN 0-8133-0653-1
• Equality & Liberty: A Defense of Radical Egalitarianism, 1986, ISBN 0-8476-7516-5
• Philosophy & atheism : in defense of atheism, 1985, ISBN 0-87975-289-0
• An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, 1983, ISBN 0-312-43310-7
• Marx and Morality, 1981, ISBN 0-919491-01-4
• Scepticism, 1973, ISBN 0-333-10263-0
• Reason and practice; a modern introduction to philosophy, 1971, ISBN 0-06-044836-9
• Contemporary Critiques of Religion, 1971, ISBN 0-333-06963-3

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Philosophical conversations and debates in his BOOKS

• Cosmopolitan Justice, 2009 (forthcoming), ISBN 0-13-140388-5
• Walking the Tightrope of Faith, 1999, ISBN 90-420-0706-0
• Rethinking nationalism, 1998, (Canadian journal of philosophy) ; ISBN 0585127565
• On the relevance of metaethics: New essays on metaethics, 1996, ISBN 0-919491-21-9
• Méta-philosophie : reconstructuring philosophy?, 1994, ISBN 0-919491-19-7
• Ethique et rationalité, in French, 1992, ISBN 2-87009-478-7
• Does God Exist? the Great Debate: The Great Debate, 1990, ISBN 0-8407-7180-0
• Search for Community in a Withering Tradition: Conversations Between a Marxian Atheist and a Calvinian Christian, 1990, ISBN 0-8191-7990-6
• Analyzing Marxism : new essays on analytical Marxism / edited by Robert Ware & Kai Nielsen, 1989, Canadian journal of philosophy. Supplementary volume. 0229-7051 ; 15, ISBN 0-919491-15-4
• Science Morality and Feminist Theory, 1987, ISBN 0-919491-13-8
• New essays in ethics and public policy / edited by Kai Nielsen and Steven C. Patten, 1982, ISBN 0-919491-08-1
• New essays on John Stuart Mill and utilitarianism / edited by Wesley E. Cooper, Kai Nielsen, and Steven C. Patten, 1979, Canadian journal of philosophy. Supplementary volume. v. 5
• New essays on contract theory / edited by Kai Nielsen and Roger A. Shiner, 1977, Canadian journal of philosophy. Supplementary volume. v. 3
• Philosophy & political action; essays edited for the New York Group of the Society for Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1972, ISBN 0-19-501503-7

External links

• Transcript of debate with theist William Lane Craig
  William Lane Craig
  William Lane Craig is an American analytic philosopher, philosophical theologian, and Christian apologist. He is known for his work on the philosophy of time and the philosophy of religion, specifically the existence of God and the defense of Christian theism...
  
  
• Nielsen page at Calgary
• Nielsen page at Concordia