Kevin Jung

Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy

Kevin Jung is Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. He also serves as a core faculty member in the Bioethics Program in the Graduate School. As a Christian ethicist, his scholarly passion lies in showing the enduring relevance of theological concepts and ideas to contemporary moral life by way of elucidating their meanings and significance. Jung’s primary research interests cover wide areas of metaethical and metaphysical issues that are also pertinent to theology and science. These areas include moral epistemology, moral ontology, action theory, moral psychology, and the relationship between God and morality. Currently, he is working on two book projects: one on AI and theological ethics, and the other on divine will and the moral life. His all-time favorite thinkers include St. Augustine, John Duns Scotus, Søren Kierkegaard, Simone Weil, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Jung was born in South Korea, and holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, an STM from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Christian Ethics and Commonsense Morality: An Intuitionist Account (Routledge, 2014) and Ethical Theory and Responsibility Ethics (Peter Lang, 2011). He edited Religious Ethics and Constructivism: A Metaethical Account (Routledge, 2018) and co-edited Doing Justice to Mercy: Religion, Law, and Criminal Justice (University of Virginia Press, 2007) and Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics (Fortress Press, 2006). His articles have appeared in academic journals, including the Journal of Religious Ethics, Harvard Theological Review, Studies in Christian Ethics, and Christian Bioethics. He is currently serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of Religious Ethics and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.

Education

BA, Seoul Theological University; MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary;
STM, Yale Divinity School; PhD, University of Chicago

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Theological Ethics
• Foundations of Christian Ethics
• The Problem of Evil
• Neuroethics
• Kierkegaard and Nietzsche
• The Ethics of Death and Dying

Books

• Christian Ethics and Commonsense Morality. New York: Routledge, 2014.  
• Ethical Theory and Responsibility Ethics: A Metaethical Study of H. Richard Niebuhr and Emmanuel Levinas. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2011.
• (Editor) Constructivism and Religious Ethics: A Metaethical Inquiry. New York: Routledge, 2018.  
• (Co-editor) Doing Justice to Mercy: Interdisciplinary Essays on Law, Religion, and Criminal Justice. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2007.
• (Co-editor) Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.
• (Co-translator) John Witte, Jr. From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea, 2006.
• (Translator) Gene Outka, Agape: An Ethical Analysis. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea, 1999.

Select Journal Articles, Book Chapters

• “The Grounding Problem of Equal Respect: A Theistic Alternative to Constitutivism”. De Ethica 7, no. 4 (2023): 35-49.
• “Eudaimonism and the Ground of Normative Reasons,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 50 (2022): 84-102.   
• “Desire and Will.” In Encyclopedia of Religious Ethics, 133–39. Oxford, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2022.
• “Weakness of Will and Practical Identity.” Studies in Christian Ethics, 33, no. 4 (2020): 463–478. 
• “Brain Transplant and Personal Identity,” Journal of Christian Bioethics, 26, no. 1 (2020): 95-112.
• “Normativity in Comparative Religious Ethics.” Journal of Religious Ethics, 45, no. 4 (2017): 642–65. 
• Models of Moral Realism in Christian Ethics. Harvard Theological Review, 108, no. 4 (2015), 485-507. 
• “Constructivism and Theism,” In Constructivism and Religious Ethics. Ed. Kevin Jung. New York: Routledge, 2018.
• “Volitional Necessity and Practical Identity.” In Responsibility and the Enhancement of Life. Heike Springhart and Guenter Thomas (Ed.) Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2017.

Select Honors and Awards

• 2014-2016 (Project Leader) “Science at the Forefront of Theological Education,” Science for Seminaries Grant, administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and funded by the John Templeton Foundation. 
• 2008-2009 Lilly Theological Scholars Grant, Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
• 2004-2005 Spruill Fellowship, Emory University School of Law.

Professional Affiliations

• Society of Christian Ethics (SCE)