• Albert Among the Chowder-Head Yokels and Blithering Hayseeds
    with Jeffrey G. Phillips
    In Richard Greene & Rachel Robison-Greene (eds.), Twin Peaks and Philosophy: That's Damn Fine Philosophy!, Popular Culture and Philosophy. pp. 51-66. 2018.
    We examine Twin Peaks' minor character Albert Rosenfeld's peculiar moral code. We make the case that Albert is the perfect exemplification of a perfect Kantian in an imperfect world.
  •  14
    In this paper we argue that to adequately capture the complicated relationship between Descartes' work and late medieval thought, philosophers need to think not only about his ideas but also about his presentation and choice of genre. Reading the Meditations as a mere discursive treatise containing a progressive and consistent set of arguments intended to establish a particular philosophical position fails to appreciate the eponymous genre that Descartes explicitly chose to employ in writing the…Read more
  •  4
    The Unexamined Cup is not Worth Drinking
    In Fritz Allhoff, Scott F. Parker & Michael W. Austin (eds.), Coffee, Wiley‐blackwell. 2011.
    This chapter contains sections titled: What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher of Coffee? What Is It Like to Drink Coffee? Why Is the Unexamined Cup Not Worth Drinking?
  •  9
    Two Dogmas of Enlightenment Scholarship
    with Seth Jones
    In Amber L. Griffioen & Marius Backmann (eds.), Pluralizing Philosophy’s Past: New Reflections in the History of Philosophy, Springer Verlag. pp. 133-147. 2023.
    A central theme in the scholarly literature on Enlightenment Europe concerns the increased focus on the role of reason in the development of European thought, especially in the development of the new science by the natural philosophers. As a consequence, there is a tendency in both philosophical scholarship and teaching to bind philosophy and science tightly together. While there is certainly much that is correct in this approach, one motivation for pluralizing philosophy’s past is that this sto…Read more
  •  537
    Arrested Development as Philosophy: Family First? What We Owe Our Parents
    Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy. 2022.
    Narrator Ron Howard tells us that Arrested Development is the “story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.” The cult-classic follows Michael Bluth – the middle son of an inept, philandering, corrupt real-estate developer, George Bluth Sr., who is arrested for white-collar crimes. Constantly faced with crises created by his eccentric family, Michael does his best to preserve the family business, put out fires, and serve as a role…Read more
  • Diane, I am Now Upside Down
    with Veronica McMullen
    In Richard Greene & Rachel Robison-Greene (eds.), Twin Peaks and Philosophy: That's Damn Fine Philosophy!, Popular Culture and Philosophy. pp. 165-178. 2018.
    Using Twin Peaks' Agent Dale Cooper as an example, we explore the paradox of fiction. Employing resources from Aimee Thomasson's account of fictional characters in conjunction with some research on parasocial interaction, we make offer a potential solution for the paradox.
  •  38
    Philosophy Smackdown (review)
    Pro Wrestling Studies Journal 2 75-77. 2021.
    As an introduction to philosophy for wrestling fans, Philosophy Smackdown is a fun, engaging, thought provoking, and all-around lively introduction to big-picture questions in philosophy. Keeping in line with popular philosophy texts, Edwards introduces, in an eminently accessible way, questions that philosophers have discussed for as long as the discipline has existed. The book is broken up into six chapters, each touching on core themes in philosophy: (1) Reality, (2) Freedom, (3) Identity, (4…Read more
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    Philosophers sometimes wonder whether academic work can ever be truly interdisciplinary. Whether true interdisciplinarity is possible is an open question, but given current trends in higher education, it seems that at least gesturing toward such work is increasingly important. This volume serves as a testament to the fact that such work can be done. Of course, while it is the case that high-level theoretical work can flourish at the intersection of dance and philosophy, it remains to be seen how…Read more
  •  249
    The Utah Lyceum: Cultivating "Reasonableness" in Southwest Utah
    with Gracia Allen
    In Claire Katz (ed.), Growing Up with Philosophy Camp. pp. 111-120. 2020.
    In this chapter we discuss the role of what we call "reasonableness" in a philosophy summer camp held at Southern Utah University. "Reasonableness," as we call it, is a more narrowly prescribed form of rationality - indeed one can be rational but unreasonable, but not the other way around. We discuss the importance and value of introducing philosophy to students before they get to college, and describe some of the challenges we face in introducing students in SW Utah to philosophy.
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    The Kids are Alright: Philosophical Dialogue and the Utah Lyceum
    Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice 1 42-57. 2019.
    This paper serves as a call to philosophers both to create more precollege philosophy programs, and to push back against the instrumentalization of the value of philosophy. I do not intend to defend the intrinsic value of philosophy in this paper, though in an indirect way I will offer a defense of the value of precollege philosophy. I discuss the history, theory and practice behind the Utah Lyceum, a precollege philosophy summer camp program I helped create in rural Utah. I argue that philosoph…Read more
  •  1
    The unexamined cup is not worth drinking
    In Scott F. Parker & Michael W. Austin (eds.), Coffee - Philosophy for Everyone: Grounds for Debate, Wiley-blackwell. 2011.
    There is something that it is like to be you, and I argue that there is something that it is like to experience the terminology that baristas employ in describing coffee. I argue that there is a world of experiential difference between those in the know and those who are not. Borrowing from David Hume's "Of the Standard of Taste" I argue that while everyone likes what they like, one can still be mistaken in liking something of lower quality.
  •  7
    _A smart philosophical look at the cult hit television show, _Arrested Development__ _Arrested Development_ earned six Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, critical acclaim, and a loyal cult following—and then it was canceled. Fortunately, this book steps into the void left by the show's premature demise by exploring the fascinating philosophical issues at the heart of the quirky Bluths and their comic exploits. Whether it's reflecting on Gob's self-deception or digging into Tobias's double entend…Read more
  •  30
    Much ado has been made regarding Descartes's understanding of the creation of what he called the "eternal truths" because he described them, paradoxically, as both the free creations of God, and necessary. While there are many varying interpretations of Cartesian modality, the issue has heretofore been treated in a vacuum, as a niche issue having little import beyond being an interesting puzzle for Descartes Scholars. I argue that this treatment is misguided, and that in order to properly unders…Read more
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    Mind and Brain: Toward an Understanding of Dualism
    with Alan Beretta and Harry A. Whitaker
    In C. U. M. Smith & Harry Whitaker (eds.), Brain, Mind and Consciousness in the History of Neuroscience, Springer. pp. 355-369. 2014.
    A post-Newtonian understanding of matter includes immaterial forces; thus, the concept of ‘physical’ has lost what usefulness it previously had and Cartesian dualism has, consequently, ceased to support a divide between the mental and the physical. A contemporary scientific understanding of mind that goes back at least as far as Priestley in the 18th century, not only includes immaterial components but identifies brain parts in which these components correlate with neural activity. What are we …Read more
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    Descartes and the First Cartesians (review)
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 24 (1): 178-181. 2016.
    A review of Roger Ariew's 2014 monograph.
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    Historical dictionary of Descartes and Cartesian philosophy (review)
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy 25 (1): 209-211. 2017.
    A review of the Historical Dictionary as a research resource.
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    This chapter makes the argument for both the practicality and impracticality of philosophy as it relates to liberal education. An exploration of the history of science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reveals that a study of philosophy cultivates a skill set of logic and critical thinking that are crucial for those who study science and mathematics. It also situates philosophy as a unifying discipline for liberal education and STEM studies (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathem…Read more