INTRODUCTION
I specialize in philosophy of language, with interests in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology, and history of analytic philosophy.
Spring 2024 Office Hours:
Tuesdays 3:30pm-4:30pm
Wednesdays 11:00am-1:00pm
Thursdays 1:00pm-2:00pm
Education & Training
Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Missouri-Columbia, 2015
B.A. in Philosophy, Iowa State University, 2006
Publications
"Propositions" (with Matthew McGrath) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/propositions/
Frequently Taught Courses
PHI 1000G/1090G God, Freedom, Knowledge, and Values
PHI 1900G/1990G Logical and Critical Reasoning
PHI 2500G The Good Life: Introduction to Ethics
PHI 3040 Philosophy of Art
PHI 3080 Medical Ethics
PHI 3351 Special Topics: Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
PHI 3540 Philosophy of Mind
PHI 3700 Language and Human Nature
EIU 4167 The Meaning of Life
Research & Creative Interests
I am primarily interested in issues at the intersection of philosophy of language and metaphysics. My research focuses on the nature of propositional content - the objects of belief and other so-called propositional attitudes, the meanings of declarative sentences, and the primary bearers of truth and falsity. If the object of belief is distinct from my believing it, and the meaning of a sentence distinct from the sentence (and capable of serving as the meaning of sentences from different languages), what is this thing that is believed or expressed by a sentence and how do we grasp it in thought? I defend a minimalist conception of propositions which takes them to be primitives within a semantic theory. This view stands in contrast to substantive accounts of propositions which take them to be structured entities composed of constituents unified in some way, or set-theoretic entities built up from possible worlds.
Professional Affiliations
American Philosophical Association