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Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D. (Philosophy), The University of Notre Dame, January 1994; Dissertation title: "The Metaphysics of Moral Responsibility"

M.A. (Philosophy), The University of Notre Dame, January 1991

M.A. (Philosophy), The Ohio State University, December 1988

B.A. (Philosophy) with distinction, The Ohio State University (cum laude), June 1987

Areas of Specialization:  Metaphysics, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion

Areas of Competence:  History of Philosophy, Epistemology, Logic

Published Articles:

“A Natural Law Based Environmental Ethic" in Ethics & the Environment, volume 13, issue 2 (forthcoming Fall 2008).

"Prophecy”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2005 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta, URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2005/entries/prophecy/>.

“Craig on the Grounding Objection to Middle Knowledge”, Faith and Philosophy volume 21, number 3 (July 2004), pp.365-9.

"Moral Luck and the Flicker of Freedom", American Philosophical Quarterly volume 36, number 3 (July 1999), pp.241-251.

"Salvific Luck", International Journal for Philosophy of Religion volume 45, number 2  (April 1999), pp.129-137.

"Privacy and Control", Faith and Philosophy volume 14, number 2 (April 1997), pp.137-151.

"Dretske on the Metaphysics of Freedom", Analysis volume 54, number 2, new series number 242 (April 1994), pp.115-123.

"Could Abstract Objects Depend Upon God?" in Religious Studies 27 (December 1991), pp.485-497.

"Foreknowledge, Middle Knowledge, and `Nearby' Worlds", International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Volume 30, Number 1 (August 1991), pp.29-44.

"Could God Foreknow Free Human Actions?" in Premise (University of Kansas), Volume IX (Spring 1988), p.81-98.

Published Book Chapters:

“Petitionary Prayer" in Michael Rea and Thomas P. Flint (editors), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p.286-305.

"Happiness and Control" in Happiness: East and West (proceedings from the 2007 Sino-American Symposium on Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, forthcoming from Tsinghua University Press).

Virtue and Violence:  Can a Good Football Player Be A Good Person?” in Football and Philosophy, edited by Michael W. Austin (University of Kentucky Press, 2008).

“The Breaks of the Game: Luck and Fairness in Basketball” in Basketball and Philosophy, edited by Jerry L. Walls and Gregory Bassham (University of Kentucky Press, 2007).

“Tolkien and the Nature of Evil” in The Philosophy of the Lord of the Rings, edited by Eric Bronson and Gregory Bassham (Open Court Publishing Company, 2003), pp.99-109.   (Translated into Russian, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Turkish, and Hungarian.)

“Divine Knowledge and Human Freedom” in Raymond Martin and Christopher Bernard (editors), God Matters: Readings in the Philosophy of Religion (New York: Longman Press, 2003), pp.12-24.

"Divine Providence and Human Freedom" in Michael J. Murray (editor), Reason for the Faith Within (Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Press, 1999).

"Autonomy" (pp.69-70), "Cannibalism" (pp.117-118), and "Moral Luck" (pp.563-564) in Magill's Ready Reference: Ethics (Salem Press, 1994).

Book Reviews:

Review of Deane-Peter Baker (editor), Alvin Plantinga (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), forthcoming in The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion.

Review of Nicholas Everitt, The Non-Existence of God (London: Routledge, 2004), in The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion Volume 61, Number 2, April 2007, pp.127-9.

Review of Walter Glannon, The Mental Basis of Moral Responsibility (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2002) in The Australasian Journal of Philosophy volume 83, number 3, September 2005, pp.452-4.

 Review of John Martin Fischer and Mark S. Ravizza, S.J., Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility (Cambridge University Press, 1998), in Philosophical Books volume 40, number 4 (October 1999).

Review of David J. Bartholomew, Uncertain Belief (Oxford University Press, 1996), International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, volume 43, number 3 (June 1998), pp.183-185.

Review of James W. Felt, S.J., Making Sense of Your Freedom, Philosophical Books volume 36, number 3 (July 1995), pp.187-188

Review of Richard Gale, The Nature and Existence of God in Cross Currents: Religion and Intellectual Life (Summer 1994), pp.269-272

Invited Presentations:

 
“Happiness and Control,” a paper presented to the Sino-American Symposium on Philosophy and Religious Studies at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (October 16, 2007).

“On the Intrinsic Value of Everything” and “A Defense of Middle Knowledge”, invited lectures sponsored by the Philosophy Department at Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania, April 4, 2007

“Aquinas, Evil, and The Lord of the Rings”, the Aquinas Lecture at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, October 6, 2004

Commentary on Jeff Jordan, “Does skeptical theism lead to moral skepticism?”, Society for Philosophy of Religion, Mobile, Alabama, March 6, 2004

Response to William L. Craig’s lecture, “Middle Knowledge, Truth Makers, and The Grounding Objection” at the 47^th Annual Wheaton College Philosophy Conference (on Divine Providence), October 27, 2000

“The Metaphysics of Intrinsic Value”, Colloquium of the Philosophy Department of Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, October 22, 1999

"Moral Luck and Moral Knowledge", invited lecture, Distinguished Visiting Philosophers Program, Department of Philosophy, Manhattanville College, March 14, 1997

"Aquinas on Happiness", three lectures to the Summer Seminar in Philosophy, Calvin College, June 14-17, 1995

Commentary on Jeff Jordan, "Theistic Abstractionism and the Identity of Possible Worlds", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Hilton Head, South Carolina, March 6, 1993

Comment on Terrence W. Tilley, "The Positive Epistemic Status of Religious Belief?  Reformed Epistemology in a Jamesian Framework", Society for Philosophy of Religion, San Antonio, Texas, February 22, 1991

Conference Presentations:

“Icons, Advertising, and the Human Face”, presented at a conference entitled “Epiphanies of Beauty: The Arts in a Post-Christian Culture”, hosted by the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, November 19, 2004.

“Why Machines Deserve Respect, Too”, Kentucky Philosophical Association, University of Kentucky, November 22, 2003 (Commentator: Professor Gerald Twaddell, Thomas More College) 

“Why Machines Deserve Respect, Too”, Society of Christian Philosophers Eastern Division Meeting, Asbury College, December 4, 2003

“Healing the Machines of the World:  Restoring a Fading Art”, presented at a conference entitled “Formation and Renewal” hosted by the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, October 4, 2003

“Degrees of Moral Responsibility and the War on Terrorism”, Kentucky Philosophical Association, Georgetown College, November 16, 2002

“Hospice Volunteers and the Object of Love” presented at a conference entitled “From Death to Life: Agendas for Reform” hosted by the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, September 27, 2002

"Gratitude and Theism", Society of Christian Philosophers 1997 Midwestern Regional Meeting, Calvin College, April 11, 1997

"The Ethics of Gratitude", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Hilton Head, South Carolina, March 7, 1997

"The Ethics of Gratitude", Kentucky Philosophical Association, University of Louisville, November 9, 1996

"Privacy, Control, and God", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Atlanta, Georgia, March 1, 1996

Colloquium, "Moral Luck and Peter Abelard on Sin", Department of Philosophy, Calvin College, March 14, 1995

"Moral Luck and Peter Abelard on Sin", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Hilton Head, South Carolina, February 23, 1995

Colloquium, "Principles of Alternate Possibilities", Department of Philosophy, Calvin College, February 15, 1994

Colloquium, "Collective Moral Responsibility is Impossible", Department of Philosophy, Calvin College, October 19, 1993

Colloquium, "Determinism, Freedom, and Moral Responsibility", Department of Philosophy, Indiana University at South Bend, March 30, 1993

"Dretske on the Metaphysics of Freedom", Indiana Philosophical Association, Ball State University, April 3, 1993

Comment on Elizabeth Preston, "Behaviorism/Mentalism: The Only Game in Town?", Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, New York City, December 27-30, 1991

"Theism and Creaturely Freedom", Society for Philosophy of Religion, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, February 27, 1992

"Christian Theism and Creaturely Freedom", conference on the Significance of Christian Tradition for Contemporary Philosophy, Valparaiso University, June 14, 1991

"Could Abstract Objects Depend Upon God?", Society of Christian Philosophers Eastern Regional Meeting, Rhodes College, April 6, 1991

"Foreknowledge, Freedom and Dependence", Society for Philosophy of Religion, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 2, 1990

Colloquium, "Foreknowledge, Freedom and Dependence", Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Ohio State University, January 9, 1990

"Fischer on Freedom, Foreknowledge and Immutability," Society of Christian Philosophers Eastern Regional Meeting, Washington and Lee University, April 22, 1989

Comment on James E. Taylor, "Design Accounts of Epistemic Justification", Ohio Philosophical Association, Ohio Wesleyan University, April 8, 1989

"The Perception of God and Epistemic Justification," Society of Christian Philosophers Midwestern Regional Meeting, Bethel College, October 14, 1988

"Theism and Epistemic Ambiguity," Society of Christian Philosophers Eastern Regional Meeting, Wofford College, April 15, 1988

Teaching Experience:

Morehead State University: Fall 1995 to the present; courses taught include the following: Introduction to Philosophy, Social Ethics, Introduction to Logic, Philosophy of Religion, Symbolic Logic, Philosophy and Death, Philosophy of Love and Sex, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Capstone Course

Calvin College: St. Thomas Aquinas (Spring 1995), Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (Fall 1993, Spring and Fall 1994, Spring 1995), Introduction to Logic (Fall 1994), Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 1993, Spring 1994, and Spring 1995)

Indiana University, South Bend: Medieval to Early Modern Philosophy (Summer 1993), Elementary Logic (Spring, Summer and Fall 1991, Spring, Summer, and Fall 1992, and Spring 1993), Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 1990)

University of Notre Dame: Informal Logic (Spring 1991)

St. Mary's College: Theories of Human Nature (Fall 1990)

The Ohio State University: Beginning Logic (Fall 1987; Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter 1988

 
Employment:

Professor of Philosophy, Morehead State University (Fall 2006 to present)

Associate Professor, Philosophy Faculty, Morehead State University (Fall 2000 to Spring 2006)

Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Philosophy Faculty, Morehead State University (Fall 1995 to Spring 2000)

Assistant Professor, two one-year appointments, Department of Philosophy, Calvin College (Fall 1993 to Spring 1995)

Copy Editor, Faith and Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Fall 1991 to Spring 1993

Adjunct faculty, Indiana University at South Bend, Fall 1990 to Summer 1993

Teaching Assistant, University of Notre Dame, Spring 1991

Copy Editor, Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, University of Notre Dame, Summer to Fall 1990

Graduate Teaching Associate, University of Notre Dame, Fall 1989, Spring 1990

Adjunct Faculty, St. Mary's College, Fall 1990

Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University, Fall 1987 to Spring 1988

Special Honors:

Received the Caudill College of Humanities “Master Teacher” Award (IFC, NPC, and NPHC Councils), Morehead State University, Spring 1998

Elected to the Executive Committee of the Society of Christian Philosophers (October 1995)

Selected to participate in the 1989 Wheaton College Summer Seminar for Younger Philosophers, conducted by Alvin Plantinga (February 1989)

Received the annual award for the best graduate student essay, "Ockham on God's Foreknowledge and Human Freedom", from the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the Ohio State University (June 1989)
 

Inducted into the Ohio State University Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi (June 1989)
 

Inducted to the Golden Key National Honor Society (March 1987)
 

Received the Bingham Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Philosophy at the Ohio State University (June 1987)

 
Successfully defended a Senior Honors Thesis at the Ohio State University, "God's Foreknowledge and Human Freedom" (June 1987)

Received an Ohio Academic Scholarship (June 1983 to January 1987)

Selected for the 1984-85 National Dean's List (March 1985)

 

References:

 

Professor Jack Weir, Philosophy Faculty, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351; (606) 783-2786

 

Professor Wendell O'Brien, Philosophy Faculty, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351; (606) 783-2786

 

Professor Thomas P. Flint, Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556; (219) 631-6471