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6Correction to: Review of Hans Van Eyghen, The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs (review)Sophia 63 (1): 193-194. 2024.
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129Luck, fate, and fortune: the tychic propertiesPhilosophical Explorations 1-17. 2024.The paper offers an account of luck, fate, and fortune. It begins by showing that extant accounts of luck are deficient because they do not identify the genus of which luck is a species. That genus of properties, the tychic, alert an agent to occasions on which the external world cooperates with or frustrates their goal-achievement. An agent’s sphere of competence is the set of goals that it is possible for them to reliably achieve. Luck concerns occasions on which there is a mismatch between at…Read more
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30Review of Hans Van Eyghen, The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs (review)Sophia (1): 1-4. 2024.Review of Hans Van Eyghen, The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs. New York: Routledge, ISBN 9781032249988, hbk, 168pp.
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259Person-Creating and Filial PietyJournal of Value Inquiry 1-24. 2023.This paper offers a theory of filial piety on which piety is the ethical virtue that responds to the action of person-creating. Piety is the virtue of a creature qua creature. I begin by identifying the action of person-creating as the action of a parent. I then offer some points from the philosophy of action to delineate the action of person-creating. Next, I explain the metaphysical states that this action gives rise to and their value. Parent and child fall in the category of relatives, discu…Read more
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20Zašto biti su-roditelj?European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 19 (2): 3-25. 2023.U radu se nudi prikaz su-roditeljstva prema kojem su su-roditelji jedno drugom i roditelj i dijete. Rad započinje pregledom postojećih teorija o vrijednosti roditeljstva kako bi se vidjelo može li se vrijednost su-roditeljstva svesti na to. Utvrdivši da se ne može, ukratko elaboriram teoriju roditeljstva po kojoj su roditelji ti koji stvaraju osobe. Koristeći Aristotelova četiri uzroka kao korisnu prizmu, ocrtavam kako su roditelji uzrok svog djeteta i kako u stvaranju djeteta zajedno su-roditel…Read more
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135Why Parent Together?European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 19 (2): 1-25. 2023.The paper offers an account of co-parenthood according to which co-parents are parent and child to one another. The paper begins by reviewing extant theories of the value of being a parent, to see whether the value of co-parenthood is reducible to this. Finding that it is not, I briefly elaborate a theory of parenthood on which parents are those who create persons. Using Aristotle’s four causes as a helpful prism, I outline how parents are the cause of their child, and how in causing a child tog…Read more
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277It cannot be fitting to blame GodHeythrop Journal 64 (4): 517-531. 2023.This paper argues that it cannot be fitting to blame God. I show that divine immutability, even on a weak conception, implies that God's ethical character cannot change. I then argue that blame aims at a change in the ethical character of the one blamed. This claim is directly intuitive, explains a wide set of intuitions about when blame is unfitting, and is implied by most of the theories blame offered in the philosophical literature. Since blame targeted at God aims to change God's ethical cha…Read more
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258Why is the Teleological Argument so Popular?Studia Humana 12 (4): 1-12. 2023.Why are teleological arguments based on biological phenomena so popular? My explanation is that teleological properties are presented in our experiences of biological phenomena. I contrast this with the view that the attribution of teleological properties to biological phenomena takes place at an intellective level – via inference, and as belief or similar propositional attitude. I suggest five ways in which the experiential view is the better explanation for the popularity of such teleological …Read more
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19Do Imaginings have a Goal?Global Philosophy 33 (1): 1-17. 2023.The paper investigates whether imaginative states about propositions can be assessed in terms of fittingness (also known as correctness, appropriateness, aptness). After characterizing propositional imaginings and explaining the idea of fittingness, I present some considerations in favour of the no conditions view: imagining seems to be the sort of action that cannot be done unfittingly, and imaginings have no external cognitive nor conative goals in light of which they could be unfitting. I the…Read more
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159Do Imaginings have a Goal?Axiomathes: Global Philosophy 33 (1): 1-17. 2023.The paper investigates whether imaginative states about propositions can be assessed in terms of fittingness (also known as correctness, appropriateness, aptness). After characterizing propositional imaginings and explaining the idea of fittingness, I present some considerations in favour of the no conditions view: imagining seems to be the sort of action that cannot be done unfittingly, and imaginings have no external cognitive nor conative goals in light of which they could be unfitting. I the…Read more
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287The Hypostasis of the Archons: Platonic Forms as AngelsReligions 14 (1): 1-17. 2023.The thesis of this paper is that Platonic Forms are angels. I make this identification by claiming that Platonic Forms have the characteristics of angels, in particular, that Platonic Forms are alive. I offer four arguments for this claim. First, it seems that engaging in self-directed action is a sufficient condition for being alive. The Forms are, as teleological activities, self-directed actions. Second, bodies receive their being from their Forms, and some bodies are essentially alive. Third…Read more
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1233Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion (edited book)Rebus Community Press. 2020.Where did the universe come from? Is life a result of chance, or design? If God is loving and all-powerful, why does evil still exist? Is religious belief just a byproduct of undirected evolutionary processes? Or did God make sure humans would evolve in such a way as to believe? Are philosophers closed-minded about religion? And why is so much of philosophy of religion about God-but not about gods? Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion introduces students to some of the major tradit…Read more
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745Kant & FateCosmos and History : The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 18 (1): 401-421. 2022.Immanuel Kant mentions fate (Schicksal) in several places. Peter Thielke offers the only sustained interpretation of what Kant meant by fate. According to Thielke, fate is a “usurpatory concept” that takes the place of causality but fails to do its job. There are problems with this interpretation, relative to Kant’s philosophy and to the ordinary concept of fate. It is not clear why we only find a usurpation of causality and not the other concepts of the categories, or how a usurpation of an a p…Read more
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276Review of "Social and Political Thought of Julius Evola," Paul Furlong (review)Political Studies Review 13 (2): 247. 2015.
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141Review of "In the Vale of Tears: On Marxism and Theology, Volume V," Roland Boer (review)Marx and Philosophy Review of Books. 2014.Review of "In the Vale of Tears: On Marxism and Theology, Volume V," Roland Boer
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28Gratitude Is Only Fittingly Targeted Towards AgentsSophia 61 (2): 345-363. 2022.The paper argues that ‘All varieties of gratitude are only overall fitting when targeted towards agents,’ for instance that any variety of gratitude for the beautiful sunset is only overall fitting if a supernatural agent such as God exists. The first premise is that ‘Prepositional gratitude is overall fitting only when targeted towards agents.’ For this premise, intuitive judgments are offered. The second premise is that ‘Prepositional gratitude is the paradigmatic variety of gratitude.’ For th…Read more
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420Gratitude Is Only Fittingly Targeted Towards AgentsSophia (2): 1-19. 2021.The paper argues that ‘All varieties of gratitude are only overall fitting when targeted towards agents,’ for instance that any variety of gratitude for the beautiful sunset is only overall fitting if a supernatural agent such as God exists. The first premise is that ‘Prepositional gratitude is overall fitting only when targeted towards agents.’ For this premise, intuitive judgments are offered. The second premise is that ‘Prepositional gratitude is the paradigmatic variety of gratitude.’ For th…Read more
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677A defence of parental compromise concerning veganismEthics and Education 16 (3): 392-405. 2021.Co-parents who differ in their ideal child rearing policies should compromise, argues Marcus William Hunt. Josh Milburn and Carlo Alvaro dispute this when it comes to veganism. Milburn argues that veganism is a matter of justice and that to compromise over justice is (typically) impermissible. I suggest that compromise over justice is often permissible, and that compromise over justice may be required by justice itself. Alvaro offers aesthetic, gustatory, and virtue-based arguments for ethical v…Read more
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245Common Consent Arguments for Belief in GodDialogue: A Journal of Philosophy and Religion (58): 17-22. 2022.A popular introduction to common consent arguments for belief in God
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519Procreation is intrinsically valuable because it is person producingSouth African Journal of Philosophy 41 (1): 75-87. 2022.The article argues that procreation is intrinsically valuable because it produces persons. The essential thought of the argument is that among the valuable things in the world are not only products, but the actions by which they are produced. The first premise is that persons have great value, for which a common consent argument is offered. The second premise is that, as an action type, procreation has persons as a product. Procreation is always a part of the action that produces a person. This …Read more
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290Reasons to Believe - Theoretical ArgumentsIn Beau Branson, Hans Van Eyghen, Marcus Hunt, Tim Knepper, Robert Sloan Lee & Steven Steyl (eds.), Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion, Rebus Community Press. pp. 22-33. 2020.A summary of common arguments for belief in God - teleological, cosmological, ontological, and reformed epistemology.
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549What is Desirable About Having a Child with a Romantic Partner?Philosophical Papers 50 (2): 187-210. 2021.Most people desire to have a romantic relationship, and most people desire to have a child. The paper suggests one respect in which it is more desirable to have a child with a romantic partner rather than with someone other than a romantic partner, as platonic parents do. The first premise claims that the romantic relationship, and only this relationship, has a certain desire as a constitutive part. This is the desire to be as related to someone as one can be. That this ‘desire for relatedness’ …Read more
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456Noble Animals, Brutish AnimalsBetween the Species 24 (1): 70-92. 2021.The paper begins with a description of a grey seal performing conspecific infanticide. The paper then gives an account of “nobleness” and “brutishness.” Roughly, a behavioural-disposition is noble/brutish if it is one that would be a moral virtue/vice if the possessor of the behavioural-disposition were a moral agent. The paper then advances two pairs of axiological claims. The first pair of claims is that nobleness is good and that brutishness is bad. The second pair of claims is about an axiol…Read more
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16A defence of parental compromise concerning veganismEthics and Education 16 (3): 392-405. 2021.ABSTRACT Co-parents who differ in their ideal child rearing policies should compromise, argues Marcus William Hunt. Josh Milburn and Carlo Alvaro dispute this when it comes to veganism. Milburn argues that veganism is a matter of justice and that to compromise over justice is (typically) impermissible. I suggest that compromise over justice is often permissible, and that compromise over justice may be required by justice itself. Alvaro offers aesthetic, gustatory, and virtue-based arguments for …Read more
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34Fitting prepositional gratitude to god is metaphysically impossibleInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 89 (2): 153-170. 2020.It is argued that God cannot be a fitting target of prepositional gratitude. The first premise is that if someone cannot be benefited, then they cannot be a fitting target of prepositional gratitude. The second premise is that God cannot be benefited. Concerning the first premise, it is argued that a necessary component of prepositional gratitude is the desire to benefit one’s benefactor. Then it is argued that such a desire is fitting only if one’s benefactor can in fact be benefited. Concernin…Read more
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26Exorcism and Justified Belief in DemonsForum Philosophicum: International Journal for Philosophy 25 (2): 255-271. 2020.The paper offers a three-premise argument that a person with first-hand experience of possession and exorcism, such as an exorcist, can have a justified belief in the existence of demons. “Exorcism involves a process by which the exorcist comes to believe that testimony is offered by a demon.” Cited for are the Gospels, the Roman Ritual, some modern cases of exorcism, and exorcism practices in non-Christian contexts. “If defeaters are absent, the exorcist may treat as reliable the process by whi…Read more
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1448Exorcism and Justified Belief in DemonsForum Philosophicum: International Journal for Philosophy 2 (25): 255-271. 2020.The paper offers a three-premise argument that a person with first-hand experience of possession and exorcism, such as an exorcist, can have a justified belief in the existence of demons. (1) “Exorcism involves a process by which the exorcist comes to believe that testimony is offered by a demon.” Cited for (1) are the Gospels, the Roman Ritual, some modern cases of exorcism, and exorcism practices in non-Christian contexts. (2) “If defeaters are absent, the exorcist may treat as reliable the pr…Read more
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6Unscrutable MoralityCroatian Journal of Philosophy 20 (2): 215-227. 2020.To begin to answer the question of whether every moral truth could be known by any one individual, this paper examines David Chalmers’ views on the scrutability of moral truths in Constructing the World. Chalmers deals with the question of the scrutability of moral truths ecumenically, claiming that moral truths are scrutable on all plausible metaethical views. I raise two objections to Chalmers’ approach. The first objection is that he conflates the claim that moral truths are scrutable from PQ…Read more
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201Unscrutable Morality: Could Anyone Know Every Moral Truth?Croatian Journal of Philosophy 59 (20): 215-227. 2020.To begin to answer the question of whether every moral truth could be known by any one individual, this paper examines David Chalmers’ views on the scrutability of moral truths in Constructing the World. Chalmers deals with the question of the scrutability of moral truths ecumenically, claiming that moral truths are scrutable on all plausible metaethical views. I raise two objections to Chalmers’ approach. The first objection is that he confl ates the claim that moral truths are scrutable from P…Read more
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71Fitting prepositional gratitude to god is metaphysically impossibleInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 88 1-18. 2020.It is argued that God cannot be a fitting target of prepositional gratitude. The first premise is that if someone cannot be benefited, then they cannot be a fitting target of prepositional gratitude. The second premise is that God cannot be benefited. Concerning the first premise, it is argued that a necessary component of prepositional gratitude is the desire to benefit one’s benefactor. Then it is argued that such a desire is fitting only if one’s benefactor can in fact be benefited. Concernin…Read more
Tulane University
PhD, 2020
Chicago, IL, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Areas of Interest
Emotions |
Philosophy of Religion |
Social and Political Philosophy |