Corvino, John 1969-

PERSONAL: Born 1969. Education: St. John's University, B.A. (with honors), 1990; University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D., 1998.

ADDRESSES: Office—Wayne State University, Department of Philosophy, 5057 Woodward Ave., Rm. 12202.1, Detroit, MI 48202. E-mail—J.Corvino@wayne.edu.

CAREER: University of Texas at Austin, assistant instructor, 1995-97; Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, lecturer in philosophy department, 1998-.

WRITINGS:

(Editor and contributor) Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality, Rowman & Littlefield (Lanham, MD), 1997.

Contributor to anthologies, including Do We Need Minority Rights?, The Philosophy of Sex and Remapping the Humanities: Identity, Memory, Community, and (post)Modernity, Wayne State University Press, 2004. Contributor of articles to periodicals and journals, including Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Between the Lines, Southwest Philosophy Review, Social and Political Philosophy, Business Ethics Quarterly, and Philosophical Quarterly.

SIDELIGHTS: A lecturer in philosophy at Wayne State University, John Corvino's areas of interest are applied ethics and early modern philosophy. A frequent contributor to Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Corvino also lectures, debunking the moral criticisms of homosexuality. He is also the editor of 1997's Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality, a collection of essays that "makes for a calm, measured debate on the morality of homosexuality and of society's treatment of homosexuals," as a reviewer for the Washington Post Book World noted. Corvino opens the work with his own essay, "Why Shouldn't Tommy and Jim Have Sex?," arguing that it is not wrong for members of the same sex who are attracted to one another to act upon their desire.

Reviewing Same Sex in the Times Literary Supplement, Nigel Ashford commented that "the tone of the book—of reason and logic, respect for opponents and willingness to engage in intellectual combat—is set by Corvino himself in his examination of the case against homosexuality, and by the inclusion of a rebuttal of his own arguments." The contributors are mostly, like Corvino, academics—historians or philosophers—who approach the subject from a variety of intellectual angles. Ashford concluded that Same Sex "can be recommended for all courses on homosexuality," but also felt that it "deserves a wider audience than that. It could provide a model for future debates on this emotional issue."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times Literary Supplement, September 4, 1998, Nigel Ashford, review of Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality, p. 13.

Washington Post Book World, review of Same Sex, p. 13.

ONLINE

Independent Gay Forum Web site, http://www.indegayforum.org/ (December 10, 2004), "John Corvino."

Wayne State University Philosophy Department Web site, http://www.clas.wayne.edu/Philosophy/ (December 10, 2004), "John Corvino."