Irreverent, Reverent, Contrarian
A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2014, Stephen Macedo is also immediate past-president of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy. He is author, with Frances Lee, of “In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us” (2025), a comprehensive examination of Covid-19 policy and debate around it as a window onto our political dysfunction. Other books include, “Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage”; “Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy”; “Liberal Virtues: Citizenship, Virtue, and Community in Liberal Constitutionalism”; as well as a casebook, “Gay Rights and the Constitution,” co-authored and co-edited with James E. Fleming, Sotirios A. Barber and Linda McClain; plus nearly 20 other co-authored or edited books. Among his many articles on sexuality, morality and gay rights, “Homosexuality and the Conservative Mind” (Georgetown Law Journal) won the 1997 Berger Prize of the American Philosophical Association for the best article in Law and Philosophy over the previous two years. Macedo was founding director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs (1999-2001) and for eight years, he served as director of the University Center for Human Values (2001-09). The Princeton courses he has taught include the lecture course, “Ethics and Public Policy” and seminars on “Expressive Rights and Wrongs,” “Religion and Politics,” “Ethical Issues in Public and Private Life” and many others.