Tessman's research integrates ethics with a
feminist approach, focusing on the social and political conditions under which moral experiences occur. Her first
monograph was
Burdened Virtues: Virtue Ethics for Liberatory Struggles, explores how practicing certain virtues under oppressive conditions may be costly to the individuals who embody them. Her second monograph,
Moral Failure, investigates the experience of unavoidable moral conflict and the impossibility of always meeting moral demands. Drawing from sources such as Holocaust testimony, feminist
care ethics, and debates on
moral demandingness, she examines how contradictory moral requirements can still carry moral authority. She has also edited the volume
Feminist Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy: Theorizing the Non-Ideal and co-edited
Jewish Locations: Traversing Racialized Landscapes. == Professional activities ==