My current research focuses on a few interconnected issues concerning parts and wholes, space and time, plurals, and fundamentality. I also have interests in the study of such themes across the history of philosophy (especially in the ancient Greek and early modern periods) as well as in non-Western intellectual traditions (especially ancient Indian thought). At the moment I'm working on a few articles and a book manuscript defending the ontological priority of collectivity over individuality.
keywords
Metaphysics and related topics in logic and philosophy of science
PHIL 1440 - Critical Thinking
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018 / Summer 2020
Develops students' skills in evaluating arguments and other aspects of critical thinking, focusing on the ways people reason and attempt to justify their beliefs. Activities may include modeling arguments, detecting common fallacies, examining the use (and misuse) of scientific evidence, and learning the basics of symbolic logic. Formerly titled Introductory Logic.
PHIL 2440 - Symbolic Logic
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2018 / Fall 2018 / Spring 2019 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Spring 2021
Introduces students to sentential logic, the logic of quantification and some of the basic concepts and results of metalogic (interpretations, validity and soundness).
PHIL 3030 - Asian Philosophies
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2019
Explores various topics in Asian philosophy. Students will be exposed to and critically engage with a range of ethical, metaphysical, epistemological, and other philosophical issues in Chinese, Indian, and other Asian traditions, including discussion of how major Asian traditions relate to other approaches to philosophy. Specific topics and themes vary from term to term.
PHIL 3930 - Internship in Social Policy
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2019
Provides an academically supervised opportunity for junior and senior Philosophy students to work in public or private organizations to gain practical knowledge and experience, allowing students to apply philosophical theory to real-world problems while enriching their understanding of philosophy itself through its application. Requires the student to pursue an academic research project and compose an original research paper. Department consent required, as well as a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Recommended prerequisite: 9 hours philosophy course work.
PHIL 4360 - Metaphysics
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019
Examines philosophical questions and debates about the general nature of reality. Specific topics may include: existence; identity; change; particulars and universals; parts and wholes; space and time; possibility and necessity; freedom and determinism; laws of nature; causation; and the posits of mathematical and physical theories. Same as PHIL 5360.
PHIL 4480 - Formal Methods in Philosophy
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2020
Introduces formal methods used in contemporary philosophy beyond classical first-order logic. Specific topics may vary. Examples: extensions of and alternatives to first-order logic (including propositional and quantified modal logic and higher-order and plural logic), alternatives to classical logic (including many-valued and intuitionistic systems), generalized and substitutional quantifiers, the lambda calculus, indicative and subjunctive conditionals, probability theory, inductive logic, and decision theory. Same as PHIL 5480.
PHIL 4490 - Philosophy of Language
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020
Examines the nature of language through topics such as truth, reference, meaning, and use, as well as the general relationships between language and action, cognition, logic, and reality. Same as PHIL 5490.
PHIL 5480 - Formal Methods in Philosophy
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2020
Introduces formal methods used in contemporary philosophy beyond classical first-order logic. Specific topics may vary. Examples: extensions of and alternatives to first-order logic (including propositional and quantified modal logic and higher-order and plural logic), alternatives to classical logic (including many-valued and intuitionistic systems), generalized and substitutional quantifiers, the lambda calculus, indicative and subjunctive conditionals, probability theory, inductive logic, and decision theory. Same as PHIL 4480.
