-
32Evidential Arguments from Evil and the "Seeability" of Compensating GoodsAuslegung. A Journal of Philosophy Lawrence, Kans 27 (1): 17-22. 2004.William Rowe has offered one of the most simple and convincing evidential arguments from evil by arguing that the existence of gratuitous evil in our world serves as strong evidence against the claim that God exists. Stephen J. Wykstra attempts to defeat this evidential argument from evil by denying the plausibility of Rowe’s claim that there are gratuitous evils in the world. Wykstra sets up an epistemological test that he refers to as CORNEA, and he proceeds to demonstrate that Rowe’s infere…Read more
-
335Process Reliabilism, Virtue Reliabilism, and the Value of KnowledgeSouthern Journal of Philosophy 45 (2): 289-302. 2010.The value problem for knowledge is the problem of explaining why knowledge is cognitively more valuable than mere true belief. If an account of the nature of knowledge is unable to solve the value problem for knowledge, this provides a pro tanto reason to reject that account. Recent literature argues that process reliabilism is unable to solve the value problem because it succumbs to an objection known as the swamping objection. Virtue reliabilism (i.e., agent reliabilism), on the other hand, is…Read more
-
318A limited defense of moral perceptionPhilosophical Studies 149 (3). 2010.One popular reason for rejecting moral realism is the lack of a plausible epistemology that explains how we come to know moral facts. Recently, a number of philosophers have insisted that it is possible to have moral knowledge in a very straightforward way—by perception. However, there is a significant objection to the possibility of moral perception: it does not seem that we could have a perceptual experience that represents a moral property, but a necessary condition for coming to know that X …Read more
-
25Skeptical Theism: New Essays (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2014.This collection of 22 newly-commissioned essays presents cutting-edge work on skeptical theistic responses to the problem of evil and the persistent objections that such responses invite.
-
157Are skeptical theists really skeptics? Sometimes yes and sometimes noInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 72 (1): 3-16. 2012.Skeptical theism is the view that God exists but, given our cognitive limitations, the fact that we cannot see a compensating good for some instance of evil is not a reason to think that there is no such good. Hence, we are not justified in concluding that any actual instance of evil is gratuitous, thus undercutting the evidential argument from evil for atheism. This paper focuses on the epistemic role of context and contrast classes to advance the debate over skeptical theism in two ways. First…Read more
-
691A Phenomenal Defense of Reflective EquilibriumJournal of Philosophical Research 43 1-12. 2019.The method of reflective equilibrium starts with a set of initial judgments about some subject matter and refines that set to arrive at an improved philosophical worldview. However, the method faces two, trenchant objections. The Garbage-In, Garbage-Out Objection argues that reflective equilibrium fails because it has no principled reason to rely on some inputs to the method rather than others and putting garbage-in assures you of getting garbage-out. The Circularity Objection argues that reflec…Read more
-
269Counterpart and Appreciation TheodiciesIn Justin P. McBrayer & Daniel Howard‐Snyder (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil, Wiley. 2013.One popular theodicy says that good can’t exist without evil, and so God must allow evil in order to allow good. Call this the counterpart theodicy. The counterpart theodicy relies on a metaphysical claim about existence—good cannot exist without evil. A second popular theodicy says that we would be unable to know/recognize/appreciate the good without evil, and so God is forced to allow evil in order to allow for such appreciation. Call this the appreciation theodicy. The appreciation theod…Read more
-
1A Companion to the Problem of EvilWiley. 2013.An edited collection of new essays on various arguments from evil to atheism and both thedicies and skeptical responses.
-
52A Phenomenal Defense of Reflective EquilibriumJournal of Philosophical Research 44 1-12. 2019.The method of reflective equilibrium starts with a set of initial judgments about some subject matter and refines that set to arrive at an improved philosophical worldview. However, the method faces two, trenchant objections. The Garbage-In, Garbage-Out Objection argues that reflective equilibrium fails because it has no principled reason to rely on some inputs to the method rather than others and putting garbage-in assures you of getting garbage-out. The Circularity Objection argues that reflec…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Applied Ethics |
Teaching Philosophy |
Philosophy of Religion |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Applied Ethics |
Teaching Philosophy |
Philosophy of Religion |