•  42
    Spinoza's Dream Argument: A Response to Introspective Arguments for Freedom
    with D. Rose
    Journal of Consciousness Studies 26 (11-12): 157-181. 2019.
    This paper critically evaluates an objection to introspective arguments for human freedom found within Spinoza's Ethics. The objection-- which we call Spinoza's dream argument -- challenges the evidentiary value of a person's experience of her own freedom by pointing out that some choices made within dreams are experienced as no less free than choices made while awake despite the fact that choices made within dreams are not free. After reconstructing Spinoza's dream argument, we critically evalu…Read more
  •  41
  •  33
    In defense of C.s. Lewis's analysis of God's goodness
    International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 36 (1). 1994.
  •  31
    Two Faces Have "I"
    Grazer Philosophische Studien 35 (1): 55-65. 1989.
    Wittgenstein's distinction between the subjective and objective uses of the first-person and his claim that " I " plays a referential role in its objective use are explicated and defended in terms of the conceptual connection between the language-games of falsifiability and referring. In addition, Norman Malcolm's criticism of the objective/referring use of "I" is seen to fail because he does not attend to the role that the contextuality of meaning plays in Wittgenstein's account of the differen…Read more
  •  18
    What’s a God to do?
    Sophia 30 (2-3): 31-33. 1991.
  •  15
    The internet, identity and intellectual capital: a response to Dreyfus’s critique of e-learning
    with Talgat Kilybayev and Dinara Shormanbayeva
    Ethics and Information Technology 16 (4): 275-284. 2014.
    This paper defends the possibility that meaningful learning can be supported by the Internet. Responding to Hubert Dreyfus’s neo-Kierkegaardian contention that the Internet inhibits and does not support meaningful learning, we argue that it is a valuable tool for learning that can promote the development of intellectual expertise without the accompanying atrophy of personhood that Dreyfus believes is a prominent effect of extensive engagement with the Internet. Additionally, we argue that a conf…Read more
  •  13
    Philosophy: Sex and Love (edited book)
    with Arthur Zucker
    Macmillan Reference USA. 2016.
    The Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks: Philosophy series serves undergraduate college students who have had little or no exposure to philosophy, as well as the curious lay reader. Following this first primer volume, which introduces both the discipline and the topics of the remaining nine volumes, each handbook will usher the reader into a subfield of philosophy, and explore fifteen to thirty topics in that subfield. Every chapter in each volume will use vehicles such as film to facilitate u…Read more
  •  3
    Evil Beyond Belief
    Routledge. 2000.
    Evil Beyond Belief provides an overview of the problem of evil and argues that the evil in the universe does not make it irrational to believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent creator.
  •  2
    Autonomy, Sex and Coercion: The Problem of Non-Consensual Sex
    In James M. Petrik & Arthur Zucker (eds.), Philosophy: Sex and Love, Macmillan Reference Usa. pp. 271-302. 2016.
    This essays provides a critical overview of the the significance of sexual activity and the important role consent as a necessary condition for its permissibility.
  •  1
  •  1
    This dissertation is an attempt to construct a coherent account of Rene Descartes' theory of the will from the remarks on the will scattered throughout his works. Although his treatment of the topic is fragmentary , and cursory , Descartes' assorted comments on the will can be reconstructed into an account that is both consistent and penetrating. ;The most distinctive features of the reconstructed theory are: the will is not a distinct faculty, but merely the extension of the class of volitions,…Read more
  •  1
    The Case for Reincarnation
    In Donald M. Borchert (ed.), Philosophy: Religion, Macmillan Reference. pp. 277-302. 2017.
    This essay is a detailed, critical overview of the evidence and arguments for and against belief in reincarnation.
  • Philosophy of Sex and Love
    In Donald M. Borchert (ed.), Philosophy: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies, Macmillan Reference. pp. 365-382. 2015.
    A critical overview of topics in the philosophy of sex and love, this article pays special attention to the connection between reason and love.
  • Incontinence And Desire In Plato's Tripartite Psychology
    Diálogos. Revista de Filosofía de la Universidad de Puerto Rico 27 (60): 43-58. 1992.
  • Every Dogma Must Have Its Day
    Communication and Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly Journal 24 (2): 137-148. 1991.