•  42
    Philosophers Folding Origami
    Teaching Philosophy 40 (4): 437-462. 2017.
    This paper discusses an exercise that Alida Liberman facilitated among participants at a Teaching and Learning workshop sponsored by the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) aimed at helping instructors become more learner-centered in their pedagogy. The exercise was designed to place participants in the role of inadequately supported learners by asking them to fold an origami crane with varying levels of instruction and feedback. The failure of many participants to successfully fo…Read more
  •  9
    Reliabilism and Demon World Victims
    Tópicos: Revista de Filosofía 44 35-82. 2013.
    En este trabajo se defiende el fiabilismo frente al experimento mental clásico del "genio maligno". Al hacerlo, enfatizo dos de sus supuestos clave; y después desarrollo una serie de variadas respuestas asequibles al fiabilista, mostrando que las mismas pueden ser útiles para explicar o negar las intuiciones iniciales de la propuesta del "genio maligno", de una manera consistente con el fiabilismo. Mi conclusión es que el experimento del "genio maligno" no socava la fiablidad como el sello disti…Read more
  •  396
    Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking
    Educational Philosophy and Theory 44 (5): 464-479. 2012.
    As a philosophy professor, one of my central goals is to teach students to think critically. However, one difficulty with determining whether critical thinking can be taught, or even measured, is that there is widespread disagreement over what critical thinking actually is. Here, I reflect on several conceptions of critical thinking, subjecting them to critical scrutiny. I also distinguish critical thinking from other forms of mental processes with which it is often conflated. Next, I present my…Read more
  •  296
    Reliabilism and Demon World Victims
    Tópicos 44 35-82. 2013.
    This paper defends reliabilism against the classic demon world victim thought experiment. In doing so, I underscore two of its key alleged intuitions. I then articulate a host of varied responses open to the reliabilist, arguing that these readily available responses provide the reliabilist with a way to either accommodate or reject these initial intuitions about the demon world victim thought experiment, and in a way consistent with reliabilism. Thus, I conclude that the demon world thought exp…Read more
  •  29
    "Doing Philosophy--The Sooner the Better"
    with M. J. Mulnix
    In Emily Esch, Kevin Hermberg & Rory E. Kraft Jr (eds.), Philosophy Through Teaching, Philosophy Documentation Center. pp. 245-249. 2014.
  •  156
    Using a Writing Portfolio Project to Teach Critical Thinking Skills
    Teaching Philosophy 33 (1): 27-54. 2010.
    In this paper, we present an especially effective tool for helping students to learn and apply the skills of critical reasoning. Our Writing Portfolio Project is a set of nine progressively staged writing assignments that guide students through the formulation and development of an argumentative paper. The set of assignments are designed to reinforce, reintroduce, and repeat critical reasoning skills. In this paper, we articulate the potential uses for the Writing Portfolio Project, give a brief…Read more
  •  32
    Rethinking the A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction
    Logos and Episteme 3 (2): 261-277. 2012.
    This paper offers an account of the a priori/a posteriori distinction utilizing the insights of reliabilism, focusing on the inputs to reliable belief-forming processes. Ipropose that a belief possesses a priori justification if it is the result of a reliable belief-producing process whose input is ‘non-sensory’ and the reliability of this process does not ‘causally depend’ on the reliability of a prior process taking in ‘sensory’ input. One of the interesting consequences of this account is in …Read more
  •  94
    Theories of Happiness: An Anthology (edited book)
    with M. J. Mulnix
    Broadview Press. 2015.
    _Theories of Happiness: An Anthology_ introduces readers to many difficult philosophical questions surrounding the concept of happiness. With historical and contemporary readings in philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences, the anthology reflects a dialogue between ideas, providing for a rich conversation that brings out the key insights and strengths of several competing views. Each of the included readings is contextualized by the editors and situated to speak to the larger issues, incl…Read more
  •  208
    Semantic Externalism, Self-Knowledge, and Slow Switching
    Synthesis Philosophica 26 (2): 375-390. 2011.
    Semantic externalism holds that the content of at least some of our thoughts is partly constituted by external factors. Accordingly, it leads to the unintuitive consequence that we must then often be mistaken in what we are thinking, and any kind of claim of privileged access must be given up. Those who deny that semantic externalists can retain any account of self-knowledge are ‘incompatibilists’, while those who defend the compatibility of self-knowledge with semantic externalism are ‘compatib…Read more
  •  71
    Happy Lives, Good Lives: A Philosophical Examination
    with M. J. Mulnix
    Broadview Press. 2015.
    _Happy Lives, Good Lives_ offers a thorough introduction to a variety of perspectives on happiness. Among the questions at issue: Is happiness only a state of mind, or is it something more? Is it the same for everyone? Is it under our control, and if so, to what extent? Can we be mistaken about whether we are happy? What role, if any, does happiness play in living a good life? Is it sometimes morally wrong to pursue happiness? Should governments promote happiness through public policy? Asking an…Read more
  •  55
    Patient Autonomy and the Freedom to Act against One's Self-Interest
    Clinical Laboratory Science 21 (2): 114-115. 2008.
    A 16 year old Hodgkin lymphoma patient refuses to have his blood specimen drawn, thus canceling his scheduled oncologic treatment. As a 16 year old, he has no legal standing as an adult. His parents are split over his decision. One supports his right to choose; the other wishes the specimen to be drawn and the chemotherapy reinstated. The physicians at the hospital are seeking legal redress to have the court order the blood specimens to be taken.
  •  145
    Explanatory Unification and Scientific Understanding
    Acta Philosophica 20 (2). 2011.
    This paper represents a response to the criticisms made by Eric Barnes in “Explanatory Unification and the Problem of Asymmetry” and “Explanatory Unification and Scientific Understanding” against the thesis of Explanatory Unification. This paper responds to Barnes‟ two main criticisms, that of derivational skepticism and causal asymmetry, and successfully refutes his objections. This paper also defends the plausibility of the unificationist account of scientific explanation because of its abilit…Read more
  •  107
    Reliabilism, Intuition, and Mathematical Knowledge
    Filozofia 62 (8): 715-723. 2008.
    It is alleged that the causal inertness of abstract objects and the causal conditions of certain naturalized epistemologies precludes the possibility of mathematical know- ledge. This paper rejects this alleged incompatibility, while also maintaining that the objects of mathematical beliefs are abstract objects, by incorporating a naturalistically acceptable account of ‘rational intuition.’ On this view, rational intuition consists in a non-inferential belief-forming process where the entertaini…Read more