Prof. Diane Jeske, Ph.D.

Diane Jeske is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. She taught at Iowa, first as Assistant Professor (1992 - 1998) and, until 2009, as Associate Professor. She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992.

Diane Jeske’s work examines the nature of intimate relationships, such as those between friends and family. She theorizes about the grounds of the special obligations we have to our intimates and how those special obligations fit into a larger moral theory. She is the author of three monographs. Her first monograph, Rationality and Moral Theory: How Intimacy Generates Reasons (London, 2008), presents and defends her theory about the reasons created and grounded by intimate relationships. The Evil Within: Why We Need Moral Philosophy (New York / Oxford, 2018) explores common errors in moral reasoning through case studies of evil people and shows how the kinds of deliberation involved in moral philosophy can help us to avoid those errors. Friendship and Social Media: A Philosophical Exploration (London, 2009) considers how social media influences, for better or worse, our friendships and the roles they play in our lives.

Diane Jeske is member of the CAS Research Group "Relationships in Transition: Normative Challenges" of Prof. Dr. Monika Betzler.