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Education (updated April. 2023)
Ph.D., Cornell University, 2002 (Ph.D. advisor: Scott MacDonald)
M.A., History, University of Iowa, 1996 (M.A. advisor: Katherine Tachau)
B.A., Latin and English literature, University of Arizona
Academic Positions
Visiting Professor, Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt (Summer 2010)
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Saint Louis University (2008-present)
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Saint Louis University (2002-2007)
Publications
Edited Journal Issues
2022. Theological Dogma and Philosophical Innovation. Special Issue of Res Philosophica.
2005. Medieval Metaphysics, Special Issue of Modern Schoolman, January.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Forthcoming. "Self-Knowledge, Self-Consciousness, and Reflexivity in Late Medieval Philosophy." In A Companion to Medieval Theories of Cognition, eds. Russell Friedmann and Martin Pickavé.
Forthcoming. "Ockham's Metaphysical Commitments: the Case of Location." Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
2024. “Metaphysical Methodology in Ockham’s Summa Logicae I: Against the Semantics-First Reading of Ockham’s Nominalism.” In The Cambridge Critical Guide to Ockham’s Summa logicae, eds. Jenny Pelletier and Claude Panaccio. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
2024. “Activity and Subjectivity: Olivi on Soul and Consciousness” In Mind and Obligation in the Long Middle Ages, eds. Jari Kaukua, Vili Lähteenmäki, and Juhana Toivanen. (Leiden: Brill)
2023. "Ockham on Memory and the Metaphysics of Human Persons." Philosophical Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqad079
2023. "Deflecting Ockham's Razor: A Medieval Debate about Ontological Commitment." Mind 133.
2022. "Medieval Theories of Propositions: Ockham and the Later Medieval Debate about Propositions and Propositional Attitudes." In The Routledge Handbook of Propositions, ed. Chris Tillman (New York: Routledge).
2020. “Augustine’s (Non-Trinitarian) Account of Perception in De Trinitate 11.” Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy 8.
2017. "Causation and Mental Content: Against the Externalist Reading of Ockham." In The Language of Thought in Late Medieval Philosophy, eds. Jenny Pelletier and Magali Roques (Dordrecht: Springer): 59-80.
2017. "Self-Knowledge and the Science of the Soul in Buridan's Quaestiones De Anima." In Questions on the Soul by John Buridan and Others, ed. Gyula Klima (Dordrecht: Springer): 193-210.
2014. “How Chattton Changed Ockham's Mind: William Ockham and Walter Chatton on Objects and Acts of Judgment.” In Intentionality, Cognition, and Mental Representation in Medieval Philosophy, ed. Gyula Klima (Bronx: Fordham University Press): 204-234.
2014. "Ockham on the Scope and Limits of Consciousness," Vivarium 15: 197-219.
2013. “Can God Know More? A Case Study in the Late Medieval Debate about Propositions.” In Essays in Late Medieval Metaphysics and Semantic Theory, eds. Rondo Keele and Charles Bolyard (Bronx: Fordham University Press): 161-187.
2013. "Olivi on Consciousness and Self-Knowledge: The Phenomenology, Metaphysics, and Epistemology of Mind's Reflexivity," Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy 1: 136-171.
2012. "Medieval Approaches to Consciousness: Ockham and Chatton," Philosophers' Imprint 12: 1-29.
2011. “Walter Chatton.” In Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy: Philosophy Between 500 and 1500, ed. Henrik Laugerlund (Dordrecht: Springer).
2008. “Aquinas on Mental Representation: Concepts and Intentionality,” (with Jeffrey E. Brower) The Philosophical Review 117: 193-243. – Reprinted in Medieval Philosophy, eds. Christina Van Dyke and Andrew Arlig (London: Routledge, 2020.)
2007. “Intuition, Externalism, and Direct Reference in Ockham,” History of Philosophy Quarterly 24: 317-335.
2007. “Ockham on Judgment, Concepts, and the Problem of Intentionality,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37: 67-110.
2006. “Facts vs. Things: Adam Wodeham and the Later Medieval Debate over Objects of Judgment,” The Review of Metaphysics 60: 597-642.
2002. “Instantaneous Change and the Physics of Sanctification: Quasi-Aristotelianism in Henry of Ghent’s Quodlibet XV q.13,” Journal of the History of Philosophy 40: 19-46.
Short Articles and Book Reviews
2016. "Anselm. De Grammatico." In Sourcebook in the History of Philosophy of Language, eds. Benjamin Hill, Henrik Lagerlund and Robert J. Stainton (Dordrecht: Springer): 193-196.
2016. Review of Therese Scarpelli Cory, Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge (Cambridge University Press), American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly: 147-151.
2011. Review of Walter Chatton, Lectura super Sententias: Liber I, Distinctions 1-17 (eds. Joseph C. Wey and Girard J. Etzkorn), Journal of the History of Philosophy:120-121.
2007. Review of Gary Matthews, Augustine (Blackwell), Faith and Philosophy 24:229-231.
2003. Review of John O’Callaghan, Thomistic Realism and the Linguistic Turn: Toward a More Perfect Form of Existence, (University of Notre Dame Press), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, August 2003, URL = https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/thomist-realism-and-the-linguistic-turn-toward-a-more-perfect-form-of-existence/.
Work in Progress/Under Contract/Under Review
Monograph
Ockham on Metaphysics and Methodology [ms In Progress; Under Contract with OUP]
Abstract: In this book I advance a revisionary understanding of Ockham’s metaphysics: both its methodology and commitments. I begin by arguing that Ockham’s metaphysical program is not, as scholars have long supposed, driven by his reductionist semantics. Rather it is driven by a deep concern for metaphysical explanation. I then show that, viewed within this context, Ockham’s famed reductionism is qualified in important, and hitherto unnoticed, respects. The project has 3 parts. The first focuses on issues in Ockham’s meta-metaphysics calling attention, in particular, to his commitment to metaphysical explanation. The second explores his reductionism in the context of metaphysical explanation. The third examines an important challenge to Ockham’s reductionism and the ways in which Ockham modifies his account to address it.
Translations Volume
Medieval Philosophers on Self-Knowledge: 1200-1350. (With Therese Cory). [Under Contract with OUP]
Abstract: The proposed volume includes twelve sets of original translations of 13th and 14th-century texts devoted to issues surrounding self-knowledge. The text selections are curated as “trendsetters” and “responses”. Thus, eight sets of texts focus on authors who are “trendsetters” or in some way representative of a major development in medieval debates about self knowledge. The other four sets consider clusters of “responses” to these trendsetting developments. In addition to making these texts available and comprehensible, the volume also includes an extensive introduction developing our own substantive thesis about the trajectory of Scholastic thought on self-knowledge in the 13th and 14th centuries. In this way, we intend the volume as both (i) a contribution to the secondary (scholarly) literature devoted to the topic, as well as (ii) an entry point into medieval discussions of self-knowledge themselves.
Articles
"Medieval Theories of Introspection" (Invited)
"Ockham on Place and Locomotion" (With Jeffrey Brower/ In Progress)
Honors and Awards
Provost Faculty Research Leave. Awarded by College of Arts and Sciences, Saint Louis University, Fall 2022.
Selected Member/Participant. Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Project. Directed by Stephen Angle, Caleb Cohoe, Stephen Grimm, and Meghan Sullivan. Notre Dame 2019.
Selected Participant. NEH Institute: Reviving Philosophy as a Way of Life, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, July 2018. Directed by Stephen Angle, Stephen Grimm, and Meghan Sullivan.
Selected Participant. Exploring the Interim State Writing Workshop, McCall ID, July 2015. Directed by Tim Pawl and Kevin Timpe.
Templeton Course Grant. Awarded 2012 by Center for Philosophy of Religion, Notre Dame University for a seminar in Analytic Theology [team-taught with Jon Jacobs].
Invited Participant. Calvin College Summer Seminar, "Philosophy of Religion". Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, July, 2011.
SLU Mellon Faculty Development Grant. Awarded by College of Arts and Sciences, Saint Louis University, Spring, 2010.
Berlin Fellowship. Awarded by the American Academy in Berlin for a semester-long research stay at the Academy. (declined)
Best Paper by a Younger Scholar. Awarded by The Society for Renaissance and Medieval Philosophy for “Ockham on Concepts, Judgment, and the Problem of Intentionality”, 2005.
SLU 2000 Faculty Research Leave. Awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences, Saint Louis University. Fall, 2004.
Selected participant. NEH Summer Seminar, “Soul and Substance in Aristotle and the Aristotelian Tradition.” Directed by Christopher Shields and Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado, July, 2004.
Selected participant. Philosophy in a New Key Summer Seminar, “Mind, World, and Representation.” Directed by John Haldane, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, August, 2003.
Selected participant. Calvin College Summer Seminar, “Anselm: Faith Seeking Understanding.”Directed by Eleonore Stump, Calvin College, July 1998.
Invited Talks
“Ockham on Per se and Per accidence Unities.” Henology: Ancient, Medieval, and Contemporary Accounts of Oneness. Durham, UK. September 25-26, 2023.
"Ockham on How Things Are". Invited Speaker. International Conference on States of Affairs. Medieval and Austro-German Perspectives. University of Geneva. Geneva, Switzerland, May 2023.
"Metaphysical Explanation in Ockham." Invited Symposium: Metaphysical Methodology in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. APA Central Meeting. Denver, CO, Feb., 2023.
"The Philosophy Classroom as Attentional Commons". Plenary Speaker. 2nd Annual Philosophy as a Way of Life Conference. Notre Dame, Aug. 2022.
"Ockham's Metaphysical Commitments: The Case of Location". Presentation to the research seminar in Theoretical philosophy. University of Gothenburg (Remote), April 2022.
"Ockham on Memory and the Metaphysics of Persons". Rice University, Philosophy Department, Nov. 2021.
"Ockham's Metaphysical Commitments: The Case of Location". Keynote Speaker. Women on Medieval Philosophy (Leuven. July 2021)
"Deflecting Ockham's Razor." University of Notre Dame, Philosophy Department, March 2021.
"Self-Knowledge, Self-Consciousness, and Reflexivity in Medieval Philosophy." Invited Symposium: Mind and Thought in Medieval Philosophy. APA Central Meeting. Denver, CO, Feb., 2019.
"Against Panaccio's Externalist Reading." Invited Symposium: Ockham on Intentionality. Canadian Philosophical Association. Montreal. June 2018.
"William Ockham and Walter Chatton on Metaphysics and Miracles", Concordia University, Philosophy Department. Montreal Canada, November 2017.
"What Difference Do Miracles Make? Chatton and Ockham on the Metaphysics of Miracles." Keynote Speaker. Walter Chatton and His Intellectual Milieu, Leuven Belgium, June 2017.
"Causation and Mental Content: Against the Externalist Reading of Ockham." Keynote Speaker. Workshop in Medieval Philosophy for Early Career Women, Fordham NY, April 2017.
"I Will Survive: Ockham's Non-Human Survivalism." 2015 Brackenridge Philosophy Symposium, UT San Antonio, Oct. 2015
"Reduction without Parsimony? Ockham on Inherence." (Meta)Metaphysical Themes 1274 and Beyond, Kayden Conference 2015, Boulder, CO. Feb. 2015
Comments. Blake Dutton, “Augustine on Knowledge of First-Person Truths”. Toronto Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy 2014. Toronto, ON., Sept. 2014.
"Buridan on Self-Knowledge." Buridan's Questions on the Soul (Workshop), Fordham University, NYC, October 2012.
Comments. Christina Van Dyke, "Shiny Happy People: Aquinas on (Im)perfect Happiness." Logos Conference 2012. Notre Dame, May 2012.
"Olivi on Consciousness and Subjectivity." Varieties of Subjectivity in Arabic and Latin Traditions: 3rd SSALT Workshop. Berlin, Germany. April 2012.
"Conscious Perception in Augustine's De Trinitate 11" Eastern APA (SMRP Memorial Session for Gareth Matthews). Washington D.C., December, 2011
"Medieval Approaches to Consciousness: Ockham and Chatton." University of Toronto Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Toronto, ON, Sept., 2011.
"Medieval Approaches to Consciousness: Ockham and Chatton." Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, February, 2011.
"Ockham on the Nature and Scope of Consciousness." Institute for Philosophy, Academy of the Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, May, 2010.
"Aquinas on Self-Knowledge." Institute for Philosophy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, May, 2010.
"What's so Bad about Stealing? Augustine and the Theft of the Pears." Wheaton College Philosophy Lecture Series, Wheaton, IL, February, 2010.
"Self-Knowledge, Self-Consciousness, and Reflexivity in Medieval Philosophy." Varieties of Cognitive Theory in the Later Middle Ages: a Workshop on Medieval Cognitive Theory, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium, February, 2010.
Comments. Laurent Cesalli, "Objects of Knowledge and Belief." Things in the Mind: A Workshop on Medieval Cognitive Theory, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, September, 2009.
"William Ockham and Walter Chatton on Consciousness and Self-Knowledge." Invited Symposium: "Theories of Consciousness: Ancient, Medieval, Modern". APA Central Meeting. Chigaco, IL, February, 2009.
“Medieval Facts: Adam Wodeham on Objects of Judgment.” Department of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, November, 2003.
“Will the Real Ockham Please Stand Up? ‘Ockham’ on Truth Bearers and Objects of Judgment.” Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, April, 2002.
“Medieval Facts: Adam Wodeham on Objects of Judgment.” Dept. of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, January, 2002; Dept. of Philosophy, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, February 2002; Dept. of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, February, 2002; Department of Philosophy, Baylor University, Baylor, TX, February 2002; Department of Philosophy, Auburn University, Auburn AL, March, 2002; Department of Philosophy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, March 2002.
Other Papers & Presentations
"Subjectivity and Activity: Olivi on Consciousness and the Soul." Panel on Thinking Rooted in the Self. The 25th International Congress of the SIEPM, Paris, France, August 2022
"Ockham's Metaphysical Commitments." The 25th International Congress of the SIEPM, Paris, France, August 2022
"Subjectivity and Activity: Olivi on Consciousness and the Soul." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Online, June, 2022.
"Ockham's Metaphysical Commitments: The Case of Location." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Online, June, 2021.
"Consciousness and Perception in Augustine's De Trinitate 11." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Brooklyn NY, June, 2019.
"Deflecting Ockham's Razor: A Medieval Debate about Ontological (and Faith) Commitments." SCP 40 Anniversary Conference. Grand Rapids, MI. Sept. 2018.
"Memory and the Metaphysics of Human Persons: Ockham on the Interim State.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Brooklyn NY, June, 2018.
"Deflecting Ockham's Razor." Morris Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy. Boulder, CO. April 2018.
"Many Souls, Few Powers." SAGP Meetings, Fordham University, New York, October 2017.
"Ockham and Chatton on the Metaphysics of Miracles." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Brooklyn NY, June, 2017
"Causation and Mental Content: Against the Externalist Reading of Ockham." SMRP sponsored session at the APA Central Division Meeting, Kansas City, MO, March 2017.
"Interim Memory: Ockham on Self-Knowledge and Memory in the Separated Soul." Exploring the Interim State: Writing Workshop, McCall ID, July 2015
"Ockham on Truth- and Difference-Making: Development or Inconsistency?" Montréal Workshop on Nominalism, University of Quebec at Montréal, Montréal, QC, May, 2015.
"Ockham on Inherence." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Ithaca NY, June, 2014.
"Ockham on the Reflexivity of Memory." Montréal Workshop on Nominalism, University of Quebec at Montréal, Montréal, QC, May, 2014.
"Olivi on Consciousness: Phenomena, Metaphysics, Epistemology." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Ithaca NY, June, 2012.
Comments. Peter Hartman, "Durand of St. Porcain and Mental Representation." Central APA, Minneapolis, April, 2011.
"Ockham on the Nature and Scope of Consciousness." Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Ithaca NY, June, 2010.
"Levels, Types, and Mechanisms of Non-Rational Consciousness in De Trinitate 11." Workshop on Augustine's De Trinitate 11-12. Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, October, 2009.
“William Ockham and Walter Chatton on Self-Knowledge.” 5th Annual Midwestern Conference in Medieval Philosophy, Saint Louis University, September, 2007.
“How Chatton Changed Ockham’s Mind: Ockham and Chatton on Judgment:” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Ithaca, NY, June, 2007.
“Walter Chatton on Intuition and Self-Knowledge.” Montréal Workshop on Nominalism, University of Quebec at Montréal, Montréal, QC, May. 2007.
"Ockham, Intuitive Cognition, Externalism, and Direct Reference." Montréal Workshop on Nominalism, Univeristy of Quebec at Montréal, Montréal, QC, May, 2006.
“Panaccio on Intuitive Cognition.” Central APA, Symposium (Author Meets Critic: Claude Panaccio, Ockham on Concepts), Chicago IL, April. 2006.
“Ockham, Intuitive Cognition, Externalism, and Direct Reference.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, June, 2006.
“Aquinas on Mental Representation.” (with Jeffrey Brower) ACPA Meeting, Miami, FL, November, 2004.
“Against Ockham? Walter Chatton on Objects of Propositional Attitudes.” ACPA Meeting, Miami, FL, November, 2004.
“Aquinas on Mental Representation.” (with Jeffrey Brower) Midwestern Conference in Medieval Philosophy, Creighton University, Omaha NE,September, 2003.
“Aquinas on Mental Representation.” (with Jeffrey Brower) Summer Seminar on “Mind, World and Reality”, St. Thomas University, Saint Paul MN, August, 2003.
“Ockham on Concepts, Judgment, and Intentionality.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, June, 2004.
“Objects of Judgment Just Ain’t in the Head: Wodeham’s Criticism of Ockham.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, June, 2003.
“Can God Know more? Robert Holcot on Objects of Judgment.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, June, 2002.
“Ockham’s Three Theories of Judgment.” Mellon Seminars in Medieval Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, November, 2001
“Propositions in Ockham’s Mental Language.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, June, 2000.
“Ockham’s Three Theories of Judgment.” Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, Cornell University, June,1999.
“Instantaneous Change and the Physics of Sanctification.” 32nd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May,1997.
Professional Service
Committees
Member of the Society of Christian Philosophers Nominating Committee (2020-prsent)
Member of Society of Christian Philosophers Communications Committee (2104-2019)
Member of Society of Christian Philosophers Diversity Committee (2014-2017)
Nomination Committee Member: American Philosophical Association (2016-2017)
Executive Committee Member: Society of Medieval and Renaissance Philosophers (2013-2018)
Society of Medieval and Renaissance Founders Prize Selection Committee (2015)
Society of Medieval and Renaissance Website Committee (Chair) (2015-2017)
Executive Committee Member: Society for Christian Philosophers (2011-2014)
Program Committee Member: APA Central Division Meeting (2006)
Editorial and Advisory Boards
Consulting Editor, Journal of the American Philosophical Association (2014–Present)
Editorial Board, Journal of Analytic Theology (2012–Present).
Advisory Board, Center for Philosophy of Religion, University of Notre Dame (2009-present)
Advisory Board, Res Philosophica (2012-2014)
Editorial Board, Modern Schoolman (2008-2010)
Conference Organization
Philosophy Mini-Conference: "Later Medieval Philosophy" at the Symposium for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Saint Louis University, 2023. Organizer (w/ Jenny Pelletier).
Philosophy Mini-Conference: "Later Medieval Philosophy" at the Symposium for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Saint Louis University, 2019. Organizer (w/ Jenny Pelletier).
5th Annual Midwestern Conference in Medieval Philosophy, Saint Louis University, October 2007. Organizer (w/ Colleen McCluskey).
2004 Henle Conference in Philosophy, Saint Louis University. Organizer.
Teaching at Saint Louis University
Graduate Teaching
PHIL 6450 Seminar: Medieval Theories of Consciousness (with Jordan Lavendar)
PHIL 6450 Seminar: Ockham: Metaphysics and Methodology
PHIL 6320 Seminar: Medieval and Early Modern Metaphysics (w/ Scott Ragland)
PHIL 6450 Seminar: Metaphysics of Mind: Ockham and Aquinas
PHIL 6260 Seminar: Incarnation and Atonement: Medieval and Contemporary Approaches (with Jon Jacobs)
PHIL 6450 Seminar: Theories of Consciousness in Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 6450 Seminar: Thought and Agency in Augustine
PHIL 6980 Readings: Philosophy of Language
PHIL 6450 Seminar: Ockham on Mind and Cognition
CMRS 5000 Intellectual Foundations of the Medieval World—guest instructor
Medieval Latin Texts (co-director with Colleen McCluskey)
Undergraduate Teaching
PHIL 1050 Philosophy and the Good Life
PHIL 1050 Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 3250 Philosophy of Religion
PHIL 4500 History of Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 4550 Topics in Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 4810 Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 4860 Philosophical Theology
CMRS 2000 Introduction to Medieval Studies—guest instructor
Professional Associations
SIEPM
American Philosophical Association
Society of Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
Society of Christian Philosophers
Society of Medieval Logic and Metaphysics