Christa M. Johnson

Associate Professor of Teaching, Philosophy

Assistant Director, Leadership Studies

The Ohio State University

About Me

I am Associate Professor of Teaching in Philosophy and Assistant Director of Leadership Studies at The Ohio State University. Previously, I was Associate Professor of Practice in Philosophy and Director of the Ethics and Leadership Initiative at University of Dayton and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at California State University Long Beach. I received my Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 2018.

My primary area of research interest is in ethical theory and moral psychology. Much of my previous work focused on the puzzles surrounding deontological constraints. My current focus is on the role of moral emotions in our moral practice. I also find myself collaborating with a co-author on a number of applied ethical topics, primarily in medical ethics.

My teaching reflects my research, primarily focusing on moral psychology, ethical theory, and applied ethics. Although, I have enjoyed teaching logic as well. The past two falls, I also taught an Ethics Bowl course, taking a team to our Regional Competition each term.

Ethics and Leadership

In my role as Director of Ethics and Leadership at the University of Dayton, I was tasked with creating programming for the College of Arts and Sciences that will bring a lens of Ethics and Leadership to their undergraduate education.

The work began by reconceptualizing Ethics and Leadership at the University in order to broaden Leadership beyond positional leadership and managerial training. In its simplest form, we seek to create a community of thinkers and doers. Ethics is figuring out what we ought to do and leadership is doing it. In its complexity, both require significant interdisciplinary training.

Programming developed:
• Undergraduate Certificate in Ethics and Leadership
• Mini-Course: Foundations in Ethics and Leadership
• Ethics and Leadership Internship Program
• Ethics Club
• Ethics Competition Teams: Ethics Bowl and Lockheed Martin's Ethics in Engineering Competition
• Celebration of Global Ethics Day
• Lecture Series: Distinguished Lecture in Ethics & Leadership and Themed Programming beginning 23-24

Relatedly, I joined the Dialogue Zone at the University of Dayton as a Dialogue Facilitator. I have helped organize and facilitate:
• A semester-long dialogue series on Threats to Democracy
• A three-part dialogue series on the Dobbs Decision
• A two-part dialogue series on Cheating (one dialogue for Faculty and one for Students)

Research

Publications

“Teaching with Pictures: Respect for the Vulnerable” with Daniel A. Wilkenfeld, in Nursing Ethics: Normative Foundations, Advanced Concepts, and Emerging Issues, eds. Michael Deem and Jennifer Lingler (Oxford University Press, forthcoming)

"In Defense of Vaccine Mandates: An Argument from Informed Consent" with Daniel A. Wilkenfeld, (Public Health Ethics, 2022, 15 (1): 27-40)

"Leaving Agent-Relative Value Behind" (Utilitas 33 (1): 53-67. 2021)

"How Deontologists Can Be Moderate" (Journal of Value Inquiry 54 (2): 227-243. 2020)

"The Intrapersonal Paradox of Deontology" (Journal of Moral Philosophy 16 (3): 279-301. 2019)

"Resolution, Salient Reasons, and Weakness of Will” (Synthese 198 (6): 5115-5138. 2019)

"Understanding For Hire" with Daniel A. Wilkenfeld, Journal for General Philosophy of Science (3): 389-405. 2019)

Works in Progress

"Moral Responsibility for Moral Emotions", under review

A paper arguing: (i) if we have control over feeling fitting moral emotions, we ought, prima facie, to feel them, and (ii) there are ways in which we are responsible for our emotions, both for the emotions we happen to feel, and those which we do not. In turn, it can be said that we ought to feel moral emotions when they are fitting.

"Moral Emotions and the Neurodiverse"

A paper considering the implications of our moral practice with respect to moral emotions for populations whose social and emotional engagements differ from what has been seen as typical, yet whose general moral capacities are seen as completely intact.

"Sacrificing Child's Rights for Behavioral Results: Non-Violent Resistance Parenting, A Case Study" with Daniel A. Wilkenfeld

A co-authored paper arguing that Non-Violent Resistance Parenting (NVR) effects a violation of children’s rights. We use this as a case study to make a more general point about parenting models. In particular, we argue that parenting models such as these tend to ignore ethical considerations, such as the rights and wellbeing of a child, in favor of behavioral results.

"We Should Prevent Optimific Wrongs"

A paper arguing, contrary to recent debate, that we ought to prevent optimific wrongs. While agent-relative reasons provide no reason at all for an agent to prevent someone else’s optimific wrong, I contend that the motivation behind agent-relative constraints additionally generates agent-neutral reasons that all agents have to prevent such actions from occurring, other things being equal.

Teaching

Courses Taught

Graduate

Graduate Seminar: Philosophy of Emotion

Upper Division

Ethical Theory
Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy
Symbolic Logic
Mind and Morals
Medical Ethics
Food Ethics
Ethics Bowl
Applied Ethics

Introductory

Introduction to Philosophy
Introduction to Ethics
Introduction to Logic
Character Wars: what is virtue and (how) can we attain it? (First-Year Seminar)
Foundations in Ethics and Leadership (One-Credit)

Potential Courses

I am prepared to teach courses at all levels on a range of topics in moral theory, including:

Metaethics (Sample Syllabus)
Moral Psychology
Normative Ethics (Sample Syllabus)
Theories of Value
Theories of Wellbeing
Environmental Ethics
Leadership Ethics

I am prepared to teach the following courses at the introductory and intermediate levels:

Social and Political Philosophy
Early Modern Philosophy (Sample Syllabus)
Epistemology
Philosophy of Action
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Religion (Sample Syllabus)

I am very interested in developing and teaching courses in areas listed below:

Global Justice
LGBTQ Philosophy
Philosophy of Race & Gender (Sample Syllabus)

Student Testimonials

Below are particular examples from across my courses that are representative of larger trends in my feedback as a whole. Complete evaluations from two recent classes can be viewed here and here.

Unbiased, well prepared, very knowledgeable. She was not only able to talk about the exact thing we were discussing but could also talk about anything related to the topic.
Most of all, I appreciated the time and effort Professor Johnson gave to give specific and personal feedback on all of my work. Her door was always open to meet about the class or just life in general, and I can't thank her enough for that dedication.
When I discuss with my fellow friends and students about our experiences in philosophy 101 it seems that the majority of their experiences pale in comparison of my experience largely due to the way their instructors structure their class, as well as introduce, and talk about material. Professor Johnson is without a doubt one of the best professors I have ever had in my academic career.
Professor Johnson is very enthusiastic and explains confusing concepts very clearly. She is committed to helping her students learn by taking valuable time to answer questions and dive deeper into interesting topics. Also the extra week at the beginning of the semester that we spent on how to write and read philosophy papers was great!
Very knowledgeable and quick thinking; was always able to come up with a counterargument in 0.00001 milliseconds and keep us on our feet. She would always challenge our position and make us think in every direction and from all sides of each side. I very much enjoyed the class.
Professor Johnson is personable and friendly. She was always available to help students, even adding new office hours during particularly difficult sections of the course. She was able to control the class, communicate the material in ways that helped people that were struggling for different reasons, and often anticipated students' confusion before they expressed it.
Where to start. Prof. Johnson was awesome, I have never had a greater feeling that a teacher truly cared about the students and seeing them succeed. She would bend over backwards to help a student out with homework or a difficult question and her lectures and lessons were always fun and engaging which I assume is hard to do with the subject matter.
Professor Johnson is one of the best teachers I have had in my academic career. She always finds time to meet with students if they need help and not only is she always prepared for class, but also keeps material entertaining, and challenges her students to think. Professor Johnson is an amazing professor and is the type of person who could teach a class on wet paint drying and I could find it intriguing.

CV

You can find a copy of my CV here.

Contact Me

johnson.4597 (at) osu (dot) edu