EDUCATION
University of Florida
DOCTORATE OF Philosophy
2003-2005
Dissertation: “Wanting the Bad and Doing Bad Things: An Essay in Moral Psychology.” Advisor: David Copp.
Bowling Green State University
1999-2003.
MA 2003 (Applied Philosophy).
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
1993-1999.
BA 1997 (Philosophy and Political Science),
MA 1999 (Philosophy).
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Saginaw Valley State University
FINKBEINER ENDOWED PROFESSOR OF ETHICS
2016-present
Professor of Philosophy
2015-2016
ASSOCIATE Professor of Philosophy
2011-2015
ASSISTANT Professor of Philosophy
2005-2011
BOOKS
George Orwell: The Ethics of Equality
Oxford University Press (2023)
The Fiction of Evil
Routledge (2017)
Evil and Moral Psychology
Routledge (2013; reprinted in paperback 2015)
Published Papers
“George Orwell and Revenge”, in Orwell in Context, edited by Nathan Waddell (Cambridge, forthcoming 2024)
“Orwell and Objective Truth,” in Routledge Companion to Orwell, edited by Richard Keeble and Tim Crook (Routledge, forthcoming 2024)
“George Orwell, Ayer and Russell, and the Battle for the Soul of Philosophy,” George Orwell Studies (forthcoming 2023)
“Orwellian Responsibility,” in Narrative and Ethical Understanding, edited by Garry Hagberg (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, forthcoming 2023)
“Orwell and Bertrand Russell,” invited chapter in the Oxford Handbook of George Orwell, edited by Nathan Waddell (forthcoming 2023)
“Punitive Torture”, invited chapter in Palgrave Handbook on the Philosophy of Punishment (Palgrave, 2023).
“#MeToo and the Ethics of Doxing Sexual Transgressors,” invited chapter in The Palgrave Handbook of Sexual Ethics Handbook (Switzerland: Palgrave, 2022), pp. 507-524.
“Bertrand Russell and the Forgotten Fallacy in Nineteen Eighty-Four,” George Orwell Studies 6:1 (2021), pp. 121-129.
“Doxing Racists,” The Journal of Value Inquiry 55:3 (2021), pp. 457-474.
“Orwell’s Evil-Scepticism,” George Orwell Studies 4:2 (2020), pp. 64-77.
“Room 101 and the Question of Evil,” invited chapter in the Cambridge Companion to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, edited by Nathan Waddell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), pp. 181-196.
“Evil Characters,” invited chapter in the Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Evil, edited by Thomas Nys and Stephen de Wijze (New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 234-244.
“Nietzsche’s Perfectionism and Evil-Scepticism,” in I Want to Do Bad Things: Modern Interpretations of Evil, edited by Kristin L. Bone and Rivkah Grieg (Leiden: Brill Publishing, 2019), pp. 41-49.
“The (Non-Consequentialist) Ethics of Defensive Torture,” Journal of Ethical Living 1:2 (April 2018), pp. 1-22.
“On the Possibility of Diabolical Action,” in Piercing the Shroud: Destabilizations of ‘Evil’, edited by Rallie Murray and Stefanie Schnitzer (Leiden: Brill Publishing, 2018).
“Defective Actions and Tyrannical Souls: Korsgaard on Evil,” Dialogue 57:1 (March 2018), pp. 29-46.
“Is Diabolical Action Possible?” in This Thing of Darkness: Shedding Light on Evil, edited by Claudio V. Zanini and Lima Bhuiyan (Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2016), pp. 7-16.
“The Kantian Case Against Torture,” Philosophy 90 (2015), pp. 593-622.
“The Liberal Case Against Same-Sex Marriage Prohibitions,” Journal of Politics and Law 6:4 (2013), pp. 129-40.
“Capital Punishment as a Response to Evil,” Criminal Law and Philosophy (2013).
“Fantasy, Conceivability, and Ticking Bombs,” Public Affairs Quarterly 27:2 (2013), pp. 87-110.
“The Ethics of Voluntary Amputation,” Public Affairs Quarterly 26:1 (2012), pp. 1-18.
“Wickedness Redux,” Philo 14:2 (2011), pp. 137-60.
“Same-Sex Marriage and the Charge of Illiberality,” Social Theory and Practice, 37:2 (2011), pp. 333-57.
“Saving Strawson,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 14:1 (2011), pp. 5-21.
“In Defense of the Mirror Thesis,” Philosophical Studies 155:2 (2011), pp. 199-205.
“Extremity of Vice and the Character of Evil,” The Journal of Philosophical Research 35 (2010), pp. 25-32.
“Moral Monsters, Moral Saints, and the Mirror Thesis,” American Philosophical Quarterly 46:2 (April 2009), pp. 163-76.
Reviews and Other Publications
“The Paradox of the Poseur,” in Punk and Philosophy, edited by Joshua Heter and Richard Greene (Open Court: Chicago 2022), pp. 59-66.
“The Evil in These Woods: The Concept of Evil and Evil Personhood in Twin Peaks,” forthcoming in Twin Peaks and Philosophy: That’s Damn Fine Philosophy!, edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene (Open Court: Chicago 2018), pp. 179-190.
“‘Like a Lot of Dreams, There’s a Monster at the End of It’: Naturalism, Evil, and the Moral Monster”, in True Detective and Philosophy: A Deeper Kind of Darkness, Graham and Sparrow, eds. (Wiley: Oxford, 2017)
- Originally published in The Critique (July 15, 2015): http://www.thecritique.com/articles/like-a-lot-of-dreams-there-is-a-monster-at-the-end-of-it-naturalism-evil-the-moral-monster/.
“P. F. Strawson,” International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Hugh LaFollette, editor-in-chief.
Review of Minimizing Marriage: Marriage, Morality, and the Law, by Elizabeth Brake, Ethics 123:2 (2013)
Review of Terrorism, Ticking-Time Bombs, and Torture: A Philosophical Analysis by Fritz Allhoff, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, forthcoming.
Review of Appearances of the Good: An Essay on the Nature of Practical Reason by Sergio Tenenbaum, Ethics 118:1 (October 2007)
Review of Moral Realism: A Defence by Russ-Shafer Landau, The Journal of Value Inquiry 41 (2007)
Review of The Roots of Evil by John Kekes, Ethics 117:2 (January 2007)
Presentations
“A Modest Defense of Cancel Culture”
- 32nd Annual Conference of the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics, Portland, OR, March 4, 2023
“Orwell the Erudite: George Orwell’s Continued Interest in Philosophy”
- Critical Orwell: An Online Conference, University of Birmingham, April 14th, 2022
“The Ethics of Uncivil Obedience”
- 29th Annual Conference of the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics, Atlanta, GA, February 21, 2020
- Great Lakes Philosophy Conference, April 6th, 2019 at Siena Heights University, April 4th, 2020 (conference was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns)
“Can You Dox a Nazi?”
- Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Denver, March 20th, 2019
“On Doxing Racists”
- 28th Annual Conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Baltimore, March 2, 2019
- Great Lakes Philosophy Conference, April 6th, 2019 at Siena Heights University
- Moral and Political Philosophy at the Border Conference, April 27th, 2019 at the University of Texas—El Paso
“Is Evil Something You Are? Or is Evil Something You Do?”
- Great Lakes Philosophy Conference, April 6th, 2018 at Siena Heights University
“Doxing—A Liberal Critique”
- 27th Annual Conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Chicago, March 1, 2018
“The Concept of Evil and the Priority of Evil People”
- Conference on Moral Evil, University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, May 19th 2017 (Keynote speaker; Invited presentation)
“The Ethics of Discrimination”
- Beutler Forum in Ethics, April 5th, 2017, Saginaw Valley State University (Invited Speaker)
“On the Alienability of the Right to Be Free From Torture”
- Great Lakes Philosophy Conference, March 25th, 2017 at Siena Heights University
- Ethics and Political, Social and Legal Annual Conference, Center for Cognition and Neuroethics, Insight Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience, November 17th, 2017 at University of Michigan-Flint.
“Skepticism about Dispositional Conceptions of Evil”
- Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, March 2016
“Is Diabolical Action Possible?”
- 16th Annual Global Conference: Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, March 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal
“Evil and the Prospects for Redemption”
- 3rd Annual Ethics Research Group Conference: Evil and Guilt, University of Tromsø—The Arctic University of Norway, September 11th 2014 (Invited presentation)
“Nietzsche’s Perfectionism and Skepticism about Evil”
- 15th Annual Global Conference: Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, March 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic
“Nietzsche’s Skepticism about Evil”
- 2014 Meeting of the Michigan Academy, March 2014
“Fantasy, Conceivability, and Ticking Bombs”
- Western Michigan University, April 2012 (Invited presentation)
“How to Talk About Evil People”
- 13th Annual Global Conference: Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, March 2010 in Salzburg, Austria
“How not to Defend Internalism from the Psychopath”
- Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, San Diego, April 2011
“The Kantian Case Against Torture”
- Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Minneapolis, March 2011
- Ohio Wesleyan University, October 6, 2011 (Invited presentation)
“Evil and Capital Sentencing”
- 11th Annual Global Conference: Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, March 2010 in Salzburg, Austria
“Beyond Neutrality: The Liberal Case Against Same-Sex Marriage Prohibitions”
- Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, February 2010
“Same-Sex Marriage and the Charge of Illiberality”
- Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Vancouver, April 2009
“Moral Saints, Moral Monsters, and the Mirror Thesis”
- Oakland University, October 2008 (Invited presentation)
- 10th Annual Global Conference: Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness, March 2009 in Salzburg Austria
“Saving Strawson”
- Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, April 2008
Response to “Responsibility Without Identity,” by David Shoemaker
- Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, March 2008
Response to “Autonomy Gaps: Reframing the Problem of Too Much Choice,” by Joel Anderson
- Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, April 2007
“Teleological Deviance”
- Florida Philosophical Association, November 2003.
“Volitional Necessities”
- Ohio Philosophical Association, April 2002, response by Michael Byron.
Other Presentations
“Ethical Leadership Challenges in Higher Education”
- Leadership Institute, Saginaw Valley State University, December 9, 2021
“What Nineteenth-Century Legal Philosophy Can Teach Us About Indicting a President”
- The Forum series, Saginaw Valley State University, February 13th, 2019
“An Evening with Preet Bharara”—moderator
- Beutler Forum in Ethics and Practice, Saginaw Valley State University, November 1, 2018
“Responsible Employees and Mandatory Reporting—Title IX”
- Annual Meeting of the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences, Saginaw Valley State University, August 2017, 2018
“Experimenting with Evil: The Nature of Evil and Philosophical Methodology”
- Highlights of Research and Creativity series, Saginaw Valley State University, January 19, 2016
“Same-Sex Marriage and Constitutional Law”
- Living Proud, Saginaw Valley State University, February 2, 2010
- Ohio Wesleyan University, October 6, 2011 (Invited presentation)
Teaching
- Philosophy of Law (PHIL 335)
- Law, Liberty, and Morality (PHIL 331)
- History of Philosophy: Modern (PHIL 305)
- Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy (PHIL 230)
- Philosophical Themes in Literature (PHIL 220)
- Symbolic Logic (PHIL 214)
- Applied Ethics: Law and Society (PHIL 210A)
- Professional Ethics: Legal System (PHIL 205C)
- Professional Ethics: Health Care (PHIL 205B)
- Professional Ethics: Business (PHIL 205A)—online
- Evil and Evil People (PHIL 190)
- Introduction to Philosophy (PHIL 123)—online
- Introduction to Logic (PHIL 114)
- Professional Ethics: Administrative Science (MAS 610)
Awards, Honors, and Fellowships
- 2020 British Academy/American Philosophical Society Fellowship
- 2019-2020 Ruben Daniels Community Service Award, Saginaw Valley State University
- Nominee, 2019-2020, 2022-2023 Earl Warrick Award for Excellence in Research, Saginaw Valley State University
- Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of the Year, 2019
- Nominee, Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year, 2019
- SVSU Faculty Association Recognition Award for Outstanding Service, 2018, Saginaw Valley State University
- Ruth and Ted Braun Fellowship Award (2015-17)
- Nominee, 2015-2016 Franc A. Landee Award for Teaching Excellence, Saginaw Valley State University
- Nominee, 2015-2016 Earl Warrick Award for Excellence in Research, Saginaw Valley State University
- SVSU Faculty Association Recognition Award for Scholarship 2013, Saginaw Valley State University
- $25,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities NEH): Enduring Questions Grant Program 2010
- Professional Improvement Award, Saginaw Valley State University (2006, 2008)
- Unit Committee Award—release time (2008, 2009, and 2013)
- Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher of the Year, The University of Florida (2005)
- McLaughlin Fellowship, College of Letters and Science (Summer 2005)