Stephen H. Daniel

        Texas A&M University Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence
        Professor of Philosophy
Picture of Steve Daniel

Department of Philosophy
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-4237
email: sdaniel@tamu.edu
979-845-5619/5660 (Office)
979-324-4199 (Cell)


RECORD OF EMPLOYMENT

1983-present: Texas A&M University Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence (2007- ), Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching (2007-11); Professor of Philosophy (1993- ), Associate Department Head (2017-18, 1986-90); Associate Professor (1986-93); Assistant Professor (1983-86); Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

1978-1983: Assistant Professor of Philosophy; Department Chair (1982-83), Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama.

(1979-1980) Visiting Scholar & NEH Fellow, University of Virginia, Department of English; Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Spring Hill College (on academic leave).

1977-1978: Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, California.

1973-1977: Graduate Instructor in Philosophy, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Philosophy, St. Louis University, 1977; Dissertation: “The Philosophic Methodology of John Toland”

M.A., Philosophy, St. Louis University, 1974; Thesis: “The Principle of Individuation in Giordano Bruno”

B.A., magna cum laude, Philosophy (major), History (minor), St. Joseph Seminary College, St. Benedict, Louisiana, 1972


PUBLICATIONS (Philosophy)

Books: (authored)

  1. Contemporary Continental Thought. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005. ix + 480 pp. A text with readings in critical theory, philosophical hermeneutics, structuralism, deconstruction, psychoanalytic feminism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, and postmodernism.

  2. The Philosophy of Jonathan Edwards: A Study in Divine Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. ix + 212 pp. An examination of the Ramist nature of Edwards’ semiotic ontology and his doctrines of creation, God, sin, freedom, virtue, and beauty.

  3. Myth and Modern Philosophy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990. xvi + 232 pp. A study of the historiographic significance and use of mythic or fabular thinking in Bacon, Descartes, Mandeville, Vico, Herder, and others.

  4. John Toland: His Methods, Manners, and Mind. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1984. xiv + 248 pp. A study of the 17th-century English freethinker/pantheist.

Books: (edited)

  1. New Interpretations of Berkeley’s Thought. Journal of the History of Philosophy Books Series. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2008. A collection of new essays by noted scholars on Berkeley’s epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, and historical influence.

  2. Reexamining Berkeley’s Philosophy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. New essays by leading authorities on the epistemology, metaphysics, moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, and portrayal in poetry of the 18th century Irish philosopher, George Berkeley.

  3. Current Continental Theory and Modern Philosophy. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2005. A collection of essays by eminent scholars on how work in recent continental theory affects our understanding of 17th- and 18th-century philosophers from Machiavelli to Kant.

Articles:

  1. “Berkeley’s Non-Cartesian Notion of Spiritual Substance.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 56 (2018), forthcoming.

  2. “Berkeley on God: Metaphysics and Arguments.” In The Oxford Handbook of Berkeley, ed. Samuel C. Rickless. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

  3. “Descartes’s Method of Doubt.” In The Cartesian Mind, eds. Cecelia Wee and Jorge Secada. Abingdon, UK: Routledge Publishing, forthcoming.

  4. “Getting It Right: Forty Years of Intro to people.” Philosophy in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching, ed. Steven Cahn, Alexandra Bradner, and Andrew Mills. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2018, forthcoming.

  5. “Berkeley on God’s Knowledge of Pain.” In Berkeley’s Three Dialogues: New Essays, ed. Stefan Storrie. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 136-45.

  6. “Berkeley, Hobbes, and the Constitution of the Self.” In Berkeley Revisited: Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy, ed. Sébastien Charles. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2015. Pp. 69-81.

  7. “How Berkeley Redefines Substance.” Berkeley Studies 24 (2013), 40-50.

  8. “Berkeley’s Doctrine of Mind and the ‘Black List Hypothesis’: A Dialogue.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 51 (2013), 24-41.

  9. “Berkeley’s Rejection of Divine Analogy.” Science et Esprit 63 (2011), 149-61.

  10. “Stoicism in Berkeley’s people.” In Berkeley’s Lasting Legacy: 300 Years Later, ed. Bertil Belfrage and Timo Airaksinen. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011.

  11. “Edwards’ Occasionalism.” In Jonathan Edwards as Contemporary, ed. Don Schweitzer. New York: Peter Lang, 2010.

  12. “Berkeley and Spinoza.” Revue philosophique de la France et de l’étranger 135 (2010), 123-34.

  13. “How Berkeley’s Works Are Interpreted.” In George Berkeley: Religion and Science in the Age of Enlightenment, ed. Silvia Parigi. Dordrecht: Springer, 2010.

  14. “Ramist Dialectic in Leibniz’s Early Thought.” In The Philosophy of the Young Leibniz, ed. Mark Kulstad, Mogens Laerke, and David Snyder. Studia Leibnitiana Sonderhefte, vol. 35. Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag, 2009.

  15. “Berkeley’s Semantic Treatment of Representation.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 25 (2008), 41-55.

  16. “Berkeley’s Stoic Notion of Spiritual Substance.” In New Interpretations of Berkeley’s Thought, ed. Stephen H. Daniel. Journal of the History of Philosophy Books Series. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2008.

  17. “The Harmony of the Leibniz-Berkeley Juxtaposition.” In Leibniz and the English-Speaking World, ed. Stuart Brown and Pauline Phemister. New York: Springer/Kluwer, 2007.

  18. “Edwards as Philosopher.” The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Edwards, ed. Stephen J. Stein. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

  19. “John Toland.” Entry in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

  20. “Postface: les limites de la philosophie naturelle de Berkeley.” Science et épistémologie selon Berkeley, ed. Sébastien Charles. Sainte-Foy, Quebec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2004.

  21. “John Toland.” Entry in Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 252: British Philosophers, 1500-1799, ed. Philip Dematteis and Peter S. Fosl. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.

  22. “The Ramist Context of Berkeley’s people.” British Journal of the History of Philosophy 9 (2001), 487-505.

  23. “Berkeley’s Pantheistic Discourse.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 49 (2001), 179-94.

  24. “Berkeley’s Christian Neoplatonism, Archetypes, and Divine Ideas.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 39 (2001), 239-58.

  25. “Edwards, Berkeley, and Ramist Logic.” Idealistic Studies 31 (2001), 55-72.

  26. “Berkeley, Suárez, and the Esse-Existere Distinction.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 74 (2000), 621-36.

  27. “Postmodern Concepts of God and Edwards’ Trinitarian Ontology.” Edwards in Our Time: Jonathan Edwards and Contemporary Theological Issues, ed. Sang Hyun Lee and Alan Guelzo. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 1999.

  28. “The Lure of the Other: Hegel to Kristeva.” The Fantastic Other, ed. Brett Cooke, George E. Slusser, and Jaume Marti-Olivilla. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Editions Rodopi, 1998.

  29. “Teaching Recent Continental people.” In The Socratic Tradition: Essays on Teaching Philosophy, ed. Tziporah Kasachkoff. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.

  30. “Toland’s Semantic Pantheism.” John Toland’s Christianity Not Mysterious, Text, Associated Works and Critical Essays, ed. Philip McGuinness, Alan Harrison, and Richard Kearney. Dublin: Lilliput, 1997.

  31. “Teaching Large Introduction to Philosophy Courses.” American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy 96, #2 (1997), 112-115.

  32. “Postmodernity, Poststructuralism, and the Historiography of Modern people.” International Philosophical Quarterly 35 (1995), 255-67.

  33. “Vico’s Historicism and the Ontology of Arguments.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 33 (1995), 431-46.

  34. “The Semiotic Ontology of Jonathan Edwards.” The Modern Schoolman 71 (1994), 285-304.

  35. “Paramodern Strategies of Philosophical Historiography.” Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy 1 (1993), 42-61.

  36. “Current Continental Philosophy: A Comprehensive Approach.” American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy 92, #1 (1993), 117-120.

  37. “The Subversive Philosophy of John Toland.” Irish Writing: Exile and Subversion, ed. Paul Hyland and Neil Sammells. London: Macmillan, 1991.

  38. “Reading Places: The Rhetorical Basis of Space.” Commonplaces: Essays on the Nature of Place, ed. David W. Black et al. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989.

  39. “The Narrative Character of Myth and Philosophy in Vico.” International Studies in Philosophy 20 (1988), 1-9.

  40. “Myth and Rationality in Mandeville.” Journal of the History of Ideas 47 (1986), 595-609. Translated into Dutch as “Mythe en Rationalitet bij Mandeville” by the Bernard Mandeville Project in the Netherlands, http://www.bernard-mandeville.nl/index_bestanden/Page1450.htm.

  41. “Metaphor and the Historiography of people.” CLIO: Interdiscipinary Journal of Literature, History, and Philosophy of History 15 (1986), 191-210.

  42. “Vico on Mythic Figuration as Prerequisite for Philosophic Literacy.” New Vico Studies 3 (1985), 61-72.

  43. “The Philosophy of Ingenuity: Vico on Proto-people.” Philosophy and Rhetoric 18 (1985), 236-243.

  44. “Descartes on Myth and Ingenuity/Ingenium.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 23 (1985), 157-170.

  45. “Myth and the Grammar of Discovery in Francis Bacon.” Philosophy and Rhetoric 15 (1982), 219-237.

  46. “Political and Philosophical Uses of Fables in Eighteenth-Century England.” The Eighteenth-Century: Theory and Interpretation 23 (1982), 151-171.

  47. “Inventive Genius and Discovery.” Sesquicentennial Lectures: Spring Hill College, ed. Charles J. Boyle. Mobile, AL: Spring Hill College Press, 1982.

  48. “Ethical Theory and Journalistic Ethics.” Applied Philosophy 1 (1982), 19-25.

  49. “Seventeenth-Century Scholastic Treatments of Time.” Journal of the History of Ideas 42 (1981), 587-606.

  50. “Objective Format Testing in people.” Metaphilosophy 12 (1981), 96-112.

  51. “Some Principles of Journalistic Ethics.” Illinois Quarterly 43 (1980), 5-12. Reprinted as “Some Conflicting Assumptions of Journalistic Ethics,” in Philosophical Issues in Journalism, ed. Elliot D. Cohen (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).

  52. “A Philosophical Theory of Literary Continuity and Change.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 18 (1980), 275-280.

  53. “Civility and Sociability: Hobbes on Man and Citizen.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 18 (1980), 209-215.

  54. “Preparations for a Research Paper in people.” Teaching Philosophy 3 (1979), 185-188.

  55. “Descartes’ Treatment of Lumen Naturale.” Studia Leibnitiana 10 (1978), 92-100.

  56. “Doubts and Doubting in Descartes.” The Modern Schoolman 56 (1978), 57-65.

  57. “The Nature of Light in Descartes’ Physics.” The Philosophical Forum 7 (1977), 323- 344. Reprinted in Descartes: Critical Assessments, ed. Georges J. D. Moyal (London: Croom Helm, 1991), 4: 175-93.

  58. “Locke: Human Concernment and the Combination of Ideas.” Dialogue (PST) 20 (1977), 20-27.

  59. “Wittgenstein on Field and Stream.” Auslegung 4 (1977), 176-198.

  60. “On Understanding Kuhn’s Clarification of the Paradigm-Concept.” Dialogue (PST) 19 (1976), 1-7.

  61. “Fringes and Transitive States in William James’s Concept of the Stream of Thought.” Auslegung 3 (1976), 64-78.

Translations:

  1. “Between Pascal and Spinoza: The Vacuum” by Pierre Macherey, in Current Continental Thought and Early Modern Philosophy, ed. Stephen H. Daniel. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2005.

  2. Potentia Multitudinis: quae una veluti mente ducitur: Spinoza on the Body Politic” by Etienne Balibar, in Current Continental Thought and Early Modern Philosophy, ed. Stephen H. Daniel. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2005.

Book Reviews and Notes:

  1. Note: “Montréal Conference Summary.” Berkeley Studies 23 (2012), 54-55.

  2. Review of Berkeley’s Alciphron: English Texts and Essays in Interpretation, eds. Laurent Jaffro, Geneviève Brykman, and Claire Schwartz. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 19 (2011), 559-61.

  3. Review of The Other Bishop Berkeley: An Exercise in Reenchantment by Costica Bradatan. The Scriblerian 41 (2009), 232-33.

  4. Review of George Berkeley: Philosophical Writings, ed. Desmond M. Clarke. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2009.07.19. http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=16645.
  5. Review of Pierre Gassendi and the Birth of Early Modern Philosophy by Antonia LoLordo. International Philosophical Quarterly 48 (2008), 410-12.

  6. Review of A Metaphysics for the Mob: The Philosophy of George Berkeley by John R. Roberts. Berkeley Studies 18 (2007), 36-39.

  7. Review of Berkeley’s Principles and Dialogues: Background Source Materials, ed. C. J. McCracken and I. C. Tipton. Philosophy in Review 21 (2001), 362-64.

  8. Review of Jonathan Edwards and the Catholic Vision of Salvation by Anri Morimoto. The William and Mary Quarterly 53 (1996), 817-19.

  9. Review of The Hermeneutics of Postmodernity by Gary B. Madison, and Negative Dialectics and the End of Philosophy by Glenn Erickson. Man and World 26 (1993), 219-222.

  10. Review of John Locke: Drafts for the “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” and Other Philosophical Writings, ed. Peter H. Nidditch and G. A. J. Rogers; and Locke on Money, ed. Patrick Hyde Kelly. Seventeenth Century News 50 (1992), 58-59.

  11. Review of Myth and Philosophy by Lawrence J. Hatab. Canadian Philosophical Reviews 11 (1991), 324-26.

  12. Review of Transforming the Hermeneutic Context: From Nietzsche to Nancy, ed. Gayle L. Ormiston and Alan D. Schrift. New Vico Studies 8 (1990), 127-29.

  13. Review of Paradox and Society: The Work of Bernard Mandeville by Louis Schneider; and The Social and Political Thought of Bernard Mandeville by Malcolm Jack. The Scriblerian 22 (1989), 59-61.

  14. Review of William James: His Life and Thought by Gerald E. Myers. New Vico Studies 6 (1988), 181-82.

  15. Review of The Philosopher as Writer: The Eighteenth Century, ed. Robert Ginsberg. The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography 13 (1987), 164-65.

  16. Review of Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works: Vol. V: Poetry and Experience, ed. Rudolf Makkreel and Frithjof Rodi. New Vico Studies 4 (1986), 175-78.

  17. Review of Foundations of Modern Historical Thought: From Machiavelli to Vico by Paul Avis. The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography 12 (1986), 148-49.

  18. Review of The Collected Works of Spinoza, ed. and trans. E. M. Curley. Seventeenth Century News 44 (1986), 19-20.

  19. Review of The Deconstructive Turn: Essays in the Rhetoric of Philosophy by Christopher Norris. Philosophy and Literature 9 (1985), 117-19.

  20. Review of Hobbes and America: Exploring the Constitutional Foundations by F. M. Coleman. Review of Metaphysics 36 (1983), 698-700.

  21. Review of The Origins of Certainty: Means and Meanings in Pascal’s Pensées by Hugh M. Davidson. Auslegung 7 (1980), 296-98.

  22. Note on L’anthropologie de saint Thomas, ed. N. A. Luyten. The Modern Schoolman 53 (1976), 319.

  23. Note on Spinoza on Knowing, Being and Freedom, ed. J. G. van der Bend. The Modern Schoolman 53 (1976), 329-30.

In Preparation or Under Editorial Review:

George Berkeley and Early Modern Philosophy. A study of how Berkeley’s philosophy draws on and engages views developed by his predecessors and contemporaries. In preparation.

PUBLICATIONS and FILMS (Whitewater Kayaking)

  1. Texas Whitewater: The DVD. San Marcos, TX: Texas Rivers Protection Association, 2006. Producer and editor of 40-minute film on 34 whitewater rivers and creeks in the Lone Star State.
  2. Texas Whitewater, revised edition. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. xxii + 239 pp, 118 photos, 84 maps. Describes more than 100 whitewater kayak and canoe runs in Texas.

  3. Texas Whitewater. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1999. xvii + 202 pp. The first book devoted entirely to describing more than 75 whitewater kayak and canoe runs in Texas.

  4. “Texas’ Rio Blanco Narrows.” Paddler 19, #4 (July/August 1999), 30-31.

  5. “The Moctezuma River in Mexico: A No-Frills First Descent.” Currents (National Organization for River Sports) 10, #2: 41st issue (May/June 1988), 12-14.


ACADEMIC AWARDS AND PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION

    1. Awarded $1000 Texas A&M University International Travel Grant to present paper at George Berkeley conference, Nicholas Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland, October 2017.

    2. Awarded $1000 Texas A&M University Special Project Merit Award for organizing conference for prospective Ph.D. applicants in early modern philosophy, March 2014.

    3. Selected as the Texas A&M University Graduate Teaching Academy’s 2011-2012 Best Speaker, April 2012.

    4. Received Texas A&M University Student Recognition Award for Teaching Excellence, July 2011.

    5. Selected as the Texas A&M University Graduate Teaching Academy’s 2010-2011 Best Speaker, April 2011.

    6. Received Texas A&M University Student-Led Award for Teaching Excellence, July 2010.

    7. Awarded Texas A&M University College of Liberal Arts Research Award, September 2009.

    8. Named a Texas A&M University Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence, May 2007.

    9. Named the Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University, January 2007.

    10. Selected as one of five faculty members to receive a $3,000 grant to participate in the Texas A&M University Liberal Arts Institute for Instructional Technology Innovation, Summer 2006.

    11. Elected President, International Berkeley Society, January 2006.

    12. Named Texas A&M University Distinguished Teacher, Texas A&M University Association of Former Students, Spring 2005.

    13. Named College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Teacher, Texas A&M University Association of Former Students, Fall 2004.

    14. Elected Vice-President, International Berkeley Society, January 2004.

    15. Awarded grants by the Texas A&M University Office of Graduate Studies, the Texas A&M University Glasscock Center for Humanities Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, the Franklin J. Matchette Foundation, the Texas A&M University Departments of Philosophy, English, Communication, Mathematics, and History, the University Honors Program, the Religious Studies Program, the Political Theory Convocation, and the International Berkeley Society: to organize an international conference to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of George Berkeley, April 2003.

    16. Named Texas A&M University College of Liberal Arts 2000-2002 Faculty Fellow.

    17. Awarded Texas A&M University Office of Graduate Studies Professional Career and Development Grant to organize an international conference on current continental interpretations of 17th- and 18th-century philosophy, Spring 2000.

    18. Awarded Texas A&M University Center for Humanities Studies Grant to organize an international conference on current continental interpretations of 17th- and 18th-century philosophy, Spring 2000.

    19. Awarded Texas A&M University Creative and Scholarly Activities Research Grant to study the philosophy of George Berkeley at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, Summer 1994.

    20. Awarded Texas A&M University Honors Program Curriculum Grant to develop a readings course for Liberal Arts honors freshmen, 1994.

    21. Selected to give the Texas A&M University Liberal Arts College 1993-94 Humanities Lecture.

    22. Awarded Texas A&M University Honors Program Curriculum Grant to develop an interdisciplinary course for Liberal Arts honors students, 1992-93.

    23. Named Texas A&M University Distinguished Teacher, Texas A&M University Association of Former Students, Spring 1992.

    24. Awarded NEH Travel to Collections Grant to conduct research on the manuscripts of Jonathan Edwards at Yale University, Summer 1991.

    25. Named Texas A&M University 1990 Honors Program Teacher/Scholar.

    26. Selected for NEH Summer Institute on “The Philosophical Uses of Historical Traditions,” Clemson University, Summer 1990.

    27. Awarded Texas A&M University Honors Program Curriculum Grant to develop honors course in current continental philosophy and literary theory, Summer 1988.

    28. Named College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Teacher, Texas A&M University Association of Former Students, Fall 1987.

    29. Awarded Texas A&M University Liberal Arts Summer Research Grant to complete work on “Myth and Modern Philosophy,” Summer 1986.

    30. Awarded Texas A&M University Teaching Excellence Incentive Grant for recordings and slides of 16th-18th Century music and art for courses in Modern Philosophy, Summer 1985.

    31. Selected for NEH/Council for Philosophical Studies Institute on Continental and Analytic Perspectives on Intentionality in Contemporary Philosophy, Columbus, Ohio, April 1982.

    32. Awarded Title III Faculty and Curriculum Development Grant to improve philosophy instruction through computer use and internships, Spring Hill College, Fall 1981.

    33. Awarded NEH Summer Stipend for Independent Research on Myth and Discovery in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy, Summer 1981.

    34. Awarded Faculty Research Grant for independent study and acquisition of research materials on Myth in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy, Spring Hill College, Summer 1981.

    35. Awarded Council for Philosophical Studies/NEH grant to fund Visiting Philosophers Program in applied reasoning skills at Spring Hill College, Spring 1981. Visitor: Michael Scriven.

    36. Awarded NEH Residential Fellowship for College Teachers, University of Virginia, 1979-1980: research on continuity, change, and myth in 17th and 18th century people.

    37. Awarded Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Short-Term Research Fellowship, William Andrews Clark Library (UCLA), Summer 1979: research on fables in 17th/18th century people.

    38. Awarded Faculty Research Grant for independent study and acquisition of microfilms on fable use in the 17th and 18th centuries, Spring Hill College, Spring 1979.

    39. Admitted as Graduate Member, Phi Beta Kappa National Honors Fraternity, March 1977.

    40. Awarded St. Louis University Graduate Fellowship, 1972-1973.

    41. Listed in Who’s Who in American Education (1996-97), Who’s Who in the World (1995-96), Who’s Who in the South and Southwest (1993-94, 1995-96), Contemporary Authors (1986), International Who’s Who in Education (1979-80), Men of Achievement (1979-80), Directory of American Scholars (1979, 1983), Outstanding Young Men of America (1979), Who’s Who in the Midwest (1978-79).

EDITORIAL POSITIONS

Senior Editor, Berkeley Studies, 2006 - present.

Webmaster, The Early Modern Philosophy Calendar, 2007 - present.

Editor, Berkeley Briefs, 2006-2016.

Editorial Referee: Australasian Journal of Philosophy (2018, twice; 2016, 2014), Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (2018), Res Philosophica (2018), Oxford University Press (2017, 2015, 2013-2010, 2008, 2007, 2005), Journal of the History of Philosophy (2017, twice; 2011-2015, 2007, 2002-2004, 2000, 1991, 1983), Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy (2017), British Journal for the History of Philosophy (2017, 2014-2007), History of Intellectual Culture (2017), Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy (2017), Reinvention: A Journal of Undergraduate Research (2017), History of Philosophy Quarterly (2015), Intellectual History Review (2014-2013, 2011), Routledge Books (2014, 2008, 2007), Bloomsbury Publishing (2014), Southwest Philosophy Review (2013), Southern Journal of Philosophy (2012, 2010), Mind (2012), Prentice-Hall Publishing Co. (2011, 2001), Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review (2010), Cambridge University Press (2010), Journal of the History of Ideas (2009, 2008, 1993), Wadsworth-Thomson Publishers (2008, 2007, 2005), Texas A&M University Press (2008, 1987), International Journal of Systematic Theology (2008), The Scriblerian (2007), Philosophy and Rhetoric (2005), McGill-Queen’s University Press (2004), History of Political Thought (2004), Humanity/Prometheus Books (2003), International Philosophical Quarterly (2002-1997), Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie (2002), South Central Review (2001, 1985), Canadian Journal of Philosophy (2001), Journal of Philosophical Research (2001), Harcourt Brace College Publishers (2001), Texas Tech University Press (1999), Mayfield Publishing Co. (1998, 1997), Intertexts (1997), American Indian Culture and Research Journal (1997, 1996), Journal of American History (1997), Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy (1996), Temple University Press (1994, 1989), Open Court Publishing Co. (1993) Social Theory and Practice (1992), Allegorica (1990), Philosophy and Literature (1990), State University of New York Press (1990), University of Alabama Press (1986, 1985), Papers on Language and Literature (1984), Teaching Philosophy (1983), The Eighteenth-Century: Theory and Interpretation (1981)

Assistant Editor, Auslegung: A Journal of Philosophy, 1976-83.

Editorial Board Member, Princípios: Revista de Filosofia (Brazil), 2000-2001; American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 1979-80.

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Toronto, 2013
Ph.D. Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 2010
Ph.D. Dissertation, Claremont Graduate University, 2006
Ph.D. Thesis, University of Western Australia, 2002

PROMOTION/TENURE CONSULTANT

Saint Louis University, 2018, 2006
University of Alabama, 2016
University of Waterloo, 2011
Texas Tech University, two separate cases, 2011
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, 2011
University of Western Ontario, 2010
Iowa State University, 2010
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 2008
Wheaton College (Massachusetts), 2008
San Francisco State University, 2006
University of Texas, El Paso, 2006

CONFERENCES ORGANIZED

Annual meetings of the South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, different colleges and universities in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, 1999-present.
Modern Philosophy Conference: The Tenth South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, October 23-25, 2008.
International Berkeley Conference, Redwood Library, Newport, Rhode Island, June 26-28, 2008.
International Berkeley Conference, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, April 3-5, 2003.
Conference on Recent Continental Thought and Early Modern Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, September 21-23, 2000.

PAPERS AND ADDRESSES

  1. “The Role of the Mind in Determining Berkeley’s Un-Lockean Characterization of Ideas.” International Berkeley Conference, Newport, RI, June 2018.

  2. “Berkeley’s Constitutive Notion of Mind.” International Berkeley Conference, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, May 2018.

  3. “Spinoza on the Being-Thing Distinction.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Savannah, GA, January 2018.

  4. “Berkeley on Descartes and Locke after 1720.” Conference: Berkeley’s Philosophy after the Principles and Three Dialogues, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland, October 2017.

  5. “The Teaching Demo: The Importance of Engaging Students both Before and In Class.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Washington, DC, January 2016.

  6. “Berkeley and Descartes on How Perception Is Active.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Philadelphia, December 2014.

  7. “Berkeley and Locke on Substances, Persons, and Ideas.” Atlantic Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 2014.

  8. “Berkeley on God’s Knowledge of Pain." International Berkeley Conference, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, April 2014.

  9. “Berkeley and Locke on Substance and Personal Identity.” International Berkeley Conference, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, August, 2013.

  10. “How Berkeley Redefines Substance: A Reply to My Critics.” American Philosophical Association, Central Division, New Orleans, February 2013.

  11. “Locke and Descartes on Persons, Mental Substances, and Modes.” Locke and Cartesianism Conference, University of Lille, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France, September 2012.

  12. “Berkeley and Descartes on the Relation of Mind to Its Ideas.” Margaret Wilson Conference, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, June 2012.

  13. “Berkeley and Hobbes: The Acceptance of the Political/Linguistic Self.” International Berkeley Conference, University of Sherbrooke, Longueuil, Québec, June 2012.

  14. “Berkeley on God’s Creation of Minds and Human Freedom.” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, Seattle, April 2012.

  15. “Berkeley and Arnauld on Ideas.” International Berkeley Conference, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, June 2011.

  16. “Protecting Spinoza’s No-Shared-Attribute Thesis from Leibniz: Contextual Comments.” Philosophical Collaborations Conference, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, March 2011.

  17. “Berkeley’s ‘Occasionalism’: Finite Causality and Divine Volition.” Conference on Berkeley’s Philosophy of Mind, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, September 2010.

  18. “Berkeley’s Appropriation of Bayle’s Constitutive Skepticism.” International Berkeley Conference, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, April 2010.

  19. “Berkeley and Spinoza.” International Berkeley Conference, Karlsruhe, Germany, August 2009.

  20. “Spirit, Force, and Wisdom: Berkeley’s Rejection of Divine Analogy.” Canadian Philosophical Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, May 2009.

  21. “Comment on ‘Hume on the Intermittent Existence of the Objects of the Senses’ by Georges Dicker.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Philadelphia, PA, December 2008.

  22. “The Linguistic Character of Mind in Berkeley.” South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, October 2008.

  23. “Techniques for Teaching Large Classes and Their Implications for Teaching Smaller Classes.” American Association of Philosophy Teachers Workshop-Conference, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, August 2008.

  24. “Berkeley on the Essential Link between Mind and the Language of Nature.” International Berkeley Conference, Newport, RI, June 2008.

  25. “How Berkeley’s Works Are Interpreted.” International Conference on George Berkeley: Religion and Science in the Age of Enlightenment, Gaeta, Italy, September 2007.

  26. “The Pervasiveness of Stoic Elements in Berkeley’s Thought.” International Berkeley Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 2007.

  27. “Toland’s Metaphysics and the Leibniz-Berkeley Connection.” Colloquium in the History of Philosophy, Edinburgh, Scotland, June 2007.

  28. “Toland’s Stoic (Im)materialism.” Conference on John Toland: Tolerance, Reason, and Religion, London, England, June 2007.

  29. “Berkeley’s Semantic Treatment of Representation.” New England Colloquium in Early Modern Philosophy, Yale University, New Haven, CT, June 2007.

  30. “Berkeley’s Notion of Spiritual Substance.” Mid-Atlantic Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Newark, NJ, October 2005.

  31. “The Berkeley-Leibniz Relation.” International Berkeley Conference, University of Tartu, Estonia, September 2005.

  32. “The Legacy of Berkeley.” International Berkeley Society, Newport, RI, January 2004.

  33. “The Limits of Berkeley’s Natural people.” Conference on “Berkeley Today,” Rennes, France, October 2003.

  34. “Berkeley’s Doctrine of Spiritual Substance.” University of Paris, Sorbonne, October 2003.

  35. “Leibniz, the Toland-Berkeley Critique of Abstraction, and Ramism.” Conference on Leibniz and the English-Speaking World, Liverpool, England, September 2003.

  36. “Ramist Dialectic in Leibniz’s Early Thought.” International Young Leibniz Conference, Rice University, Houston, April 2003.

  37. “How Berkeley Gets Interpreted.” Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA, April 2003.

  38. “Berkeley’s Stoic Notion of Mind.” International George Berkeley Conference, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, April 2003.

  39. “Hume, Berkeley, and the Bundle Theory of the Self.” Hume Society Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 2002.

  40. “Ramism in Early Modern people.” International Society for Intellectual History Conference on The Origins of Modernity: European Thought 1543-1789, Sydney, Australia, July 2002.

  41. “Berkeley on the Meaning of Idea.” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, Seattle, March 2002.

  42. “The Early Formation of Berkeley’s Thought.” South Central Seminar in the History of Modern Philosophy, Houston, February 2001.

  43. “Berkeley, Suarez, and the Esse-Existere Distinction.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Boston, December 1999.

  44. “Berkeley’s Archetypes and Divine Ideas.” International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, Nashville, May 1999.

  45. “The Discourse of God.” International Berkeley Society, Newport, Rhode Island, April 1999.

  46. “Berkeley on the Meaning of Existence and Subsistence.” Midwest Seminar in the History of Modern Philosophy, East Lansing, Michigan, November 1997.

  47. “Berkeley on Why the Mind Is Not Some Thing That Exists.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Atlanta, December 1996.

  48. “The Stoic-Ramist Character of Berkeley’s Ontology.” Southeastern Seminar in Modern Philosophy, Charleston, South Carolina, November 1996.

  49. “Postmodern Concepts of God and Edwards’ Trinitarian Ontology.” Conference on Jonathan Edwards in Our Time, Philadelphia, October 1996.

  50. “The Ontology of Supposition in Berkeley and Edwards.” Jonathan Edwards Conference, Indiana University, June 1994.

  51. “Postmodernity and the Emergence of Poststructuralist Historiography.” Texas A&M University Liberal Arts College Annual Humanities Lecture, February 1994.

  52. “Edwards, Berkeley, and Ramist Ontology.” Conference on Historical Perspectives on Jonathan Edwards, University of Michigan, October 1993.

  53. “Vico on the Education of History.” One of four addresses on Philosophical Perspectives on Novels of Education, Sarah Lawrence College, February 1992.

  54. “What is Historicity? The View from the End.” International Association for Philosophy and Literature, May 1991.

  55. “The Lure of the Other: Hegel to Kristeva.” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, October 1990.

  56. “Contra Kant: Herder and Hamann.” East Central American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, November 1989.

  57. “Strategies of Philosophical Interpretation.” American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 1989.

  58. “Body Texts: Paramodern Strategies of Interpretation.” International Association for Philosophy and Literature, April 1988.

  59. “The Rescue of Language from Locke: Berkeley and Condillac.” American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, April 1988.

  60. “Fabular Figuration: Shaftesbury, Diderot, Condillac.” American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, April 1987.

  61. “Reading Places: The Rhetorical Basis of Space.” Commonplace Conference on the Philosophy of Place, Pennsylvania State University, November 1986.

  62. “Postmodern Historiography of people.” International Association for Philosophy and Literature, May 1986.

  63. “Presuppositions in Myth.” Texas A&M University Liberal Arts Forum Conference on Myth and Modern Culture, April 1986.

  64. “From Light to Sound: Teaching Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Philosophy as a Shift from the Visual Arts to Music.” American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 1986.

  65. “Remembering to Forget: Piercing The Heart of Philosophy through to Derrida.” Society for Study of the History of Philosophy, APA Pacific Division meeting, March 1985.

  66. “The Metaphoric Character of Philosophic Texts and Their Interpretations.” InterAmerican Conference on Philosophy, Culture, and History, February 1985.

  67. “Metaphor/Myth and the Historiography of people.” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, October 1984.

  68. “The Philosophy of Ingenuity: Vico on Proto-people.” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, April 1984.

  69. “Vico on Myth as the Prerequisite of people.” South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March, 1984.

  70. “Myth and Rationality in Mandeville.” Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 1983.

  71. “Is Scientific Progress Rational?” Scientific Research Society of America (Sigma Xi), South Alabama Chapter, February 1983.

  72. “Myth and Discovery in 17th and 18th Century people.” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, April 1981.

  73. “Inventive Genius and Discovery.” Spring Hill College Sesquicentennial Lecture series, April 1981.

  74. “Fable Writing and Changing Attitudes Toward Children.” Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, February 1980.

  75. “The Political and Philosophic Use of Fables by London Authors in the Eighteenth Century.” Southern Conference on British Studies, November 1979.

  76. “Fables and Fabular Thinking in Seventeenth Century English people.” Rocky Mountain Conference on British Studies, October 1979.

  77. “Civility and Sociability: Hobbes on Man and Citizen.” Alabama Philosophical Society, November 1978.

  78. “Descartes’ Treatment of Lumen Naturale.” Missouri Philosophical Association, October 1976.

AREA OF SPECIALIZATION

Modern (17th- and 18th-Century) Philosophy: History and Historiography

AREAS OF COMPETENCE AND INTEREST

Current Continental Philosophy
History of Philosophy (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, 19th Century)
Philosophy of Literature; Literary Theory

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

International Berkeley Society, President (2006-2016); Vice-President (2004-06); lifetime membership
American Philosophical Association, lifetime membership
International Hume Society, paid up member until 2022
Leibniz Society of North America, paid up member until 2018
British Society for the History of Philosophy

PROFESSIONAL, UNIVERSITY, AND COLLEGE SERVICE

Professional Societies and Organizations

International Berkeley Society, President, 2006-2016; Vice-President, 2004-06
American Philosophical Association, 2013 Central Division Program Committee, 2012-2013
South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, founder and annual conference organizer, 1999-present
Wilson Center (Washington, D.C.) fellowship-application evaluator, 1990-1998
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies: Clifford prize (best article on the 18th Century) panel, 1989

Texas A&M University

Texas 4-H Ambassador Academy, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, annual speaker, 2012-2016
University Strategic Planning Forum, Departmental Representative, 2015
Phi Beta Kappa, chapter president, 2010-11; Committee on Graduate Admissions, 2009-13; chair 2009-11
Center for Teaching Excellence, Faculty Advisory Board, 2007-2010
Center for Teaching Excellence, Graduate Teaching Academy Professor, 2010-2014, 2007-2008
Center for Teaching Excellence, Faculty Teaching Academy Professor, 2006-2007
Association of Former Students University Level Teaching and Service Awards Committee, 1999, 2006, 2010
General Studies Degree Subcommittee, Undergraduate Task Force, 2005
Creative and Scholarly Activities Grant Selection Committee, Office of the VP for Research, 2003
Salary Dispute Resolution Committee, Office of the Dean of Faculties, 2003
Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell Scholarships Interview Panel, University Honors Program, 2003
University Faculty Mentor, Leadership in Medicine Program, 1992-2000
University Faculty Mentor, New Women Faculty Program, 1991-1992
University Honors Program Committee, 1990-1994
University Faculty Senate, Liberal Arts Faculty Senator (Caucus Leader, 1988-89), 1987-1990
University Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee (Chair, 1989-90), 1987-1990
University President’s Committee for Summer School Schedule Revision, 1989
University Brown-Rudder Award Committee, 1988-1989
University Ad Hoc Phi Beta Kappa Committee, 1988-1989
University Coordinating Committee, Engines of History Conference, 1987-1988

Liberal Arts College, Assessment Liaisons Committee, 2017-2018
Liberal Arts College, Fasken Chair Graduate Teaching Awards Committee, 2013-2017
Liberal Arts College reviewer, Humanities & Arts fellowship program TAMU Div Res, 2015
Liberal Arts College, Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching, 2007-2012
Liberal Arts College, Religious Studies Program Director Search Committee, Chair, 2009
College of Liberal Arts Committee on Student Evaluations of Teaching, 2007-08
College Development Council “Great Conversations” Discussion Leader, 2008
College of Liberal Arts Presidential Teaching Award Nomination Committee, 2004
Religious Studies Program Review Commitee, 1997-present
College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Committee, 2000-2002
Center for Humanities Research Book Prize Committee, 2001
Association of Former Students College Level Teaching Awards Committee, 1999
Theater Arts Professor Promotion Committee, Chair, 1996
Liberal Arts College 25th Anniversary Steering Committee, 1995
Center for Humanities Research (formerly: Interdisciplinary Group for Humanities Studies/Interdisciplinary Group for Historical and Literary Studies) Steering Committee, 1994-2000
Liberal Arts College Academic Standards Committee (Chair, 1993-94), 1992-1995, 1986-88
Liberal Arts Council, at-large member (elected by College faculty), 1987-1990
Liberal Arts Council, Parliamentarian, 1988-1990
General and Comparative Literature Program Committee, 1989-1994
Liberal Arts Honors Advisory Council, 1989-1994
Dean’s Committee for Developing Liberal Arts Honors Program, 1988
Dean’s Committee for the Study of General and Comparative Literature, 1987-1988
Liberal Arts Eighteenth-Century Study Group, 1986-1989
Liberal Arts NEH Summer Stipends Review Committee, 1986
Liberal Arts College Graduate Committee, 1986-1987
Liberal Arts College Teaching Excellence Committee, 1985-1986
Liberal Arts College Undergraduate Advisors Committee, 1985-1990
Liberal Arts College Summer Faculty Grants Review Committee, 1985

Philosophy Department Associate Department Head, 2017-2018
Philosophy Department Steering Committee, 2017-2018, 2004-2007, 1997-1998, 1986-1990
Philosophy Department Colloquium Committee, 2017-2018 (chair), 2003-2004, 2000-2001
Philosophy Department College of Liberal Arts Assessment Liaison, 2017-2018
Philosophy Department Honors and Awards Committee, Chair, 2014-2016, 2005-2006
Philosophy Department Faculty Annual Evaluation Advisory Committee, 2012-2016
Philosophy Department Graduate Program Advisory Committee, 2011-2014, 1997-2003
Philosophy Department Rules Committee, 2012-2014, 2004-2007
Philosophy Department Ph.D. Revision Committee, Chair, 2011-2012
Philosophy Department Strategic Planning Committee, Early Modern Philosophy, Chair, 2011-2012
Philosophy Department Visiting Assistant Professor Hiring Committee, 2011
Philosophy Department Undergraduate Program Advisory Committee, 2009-2011
Philosophy Department Ph.D. History of Philosophy Comprehensive Exam Committee, Chair 2010, 2007-2008
Philosophy Department Student Relations Committee, 2009-2010
Philosophy Department Faculty Search Committee, 2008-2009 (chair), 2000 (Chair), 1998, 1994, 1986-1988
Philosophy Department Promotion and Tenure Review Committee, 2012-2013, 2008, 2003-2004 (chair), 1999, 1998, 1995, 1991, 1986-1990 (Chair, 1987-1988)
Philosophy Department Library Committee, 1994-present (Chair, 1994-1999)
Philosophy Department Colloquium Committee, 2003-2004, 2000-2001
Philosophy Department Ph.D. Program Committee, 1994-1995, 2000
Philosophy Department Head Search Committee, 1993-1994
Philosophy Department Undergraduate Advising Committee, 1991-1993
Philosophy Department Curriculum Reform Committee, 1990-1992
Philosophy Department Curriculum Committee, 1986-1990
Coordinator, Philosophy and Humanities Course Scheduling, 1986-1990
Faculty Advisor, Philosophy Club, 1985-1990
Philosophy Department Graduate Program Committee, 1984-1990

Spring Hill College

Department Chairs Committee, Humanities Division, 1982-1983
Computer Use Advisory Committee, Humanities Division representative, 1981-1983
Faculty Moderator, Philosophy Club, 1981-1983

REFERENCES

Prof. Ted George, Dept. of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4237; 979-845-5605; t-george@tamu.edu

Prof. Gary Varner, Dept. of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4237; 979-845-8499; g-varner@tamu.edu

Prof. Kenneth Winkler, Dept of Philosophy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8306; Kenneth.Winkler@yale.edu

Prof. Thomas M. Lennon, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3K7; tlennon@uwo.ca

Prof. Bertil Belfrage, Eksjovagen 38, S 57162 Bodafors, Sweden; belfrage.research@telia.com

Prof. Daniel Conway, Dept. of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4237; 979-845-5660; conway@exchange.tamu.edu

Prof. John J. McDermott, Dept. of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4237; 979-845-5687; mcdermott@tamu.edu

Prof. Laurent Jaffro, Dept. de Philosophie, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France; jaffro@univ-paris1.fr

Prof. Martha Bolton, Dept of Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1411; mbolton@rci.rutgers.edu

Prof. Mark Kulstad, Dept of Philosophy, Rice University, MS 14, 6100 South Main Street, Houston, TX 77005-1892; kulstad@rice.edu

Prof. Alan Nelson, Dept. of Philosophy, University of North Carolina, CB #3125, Caldwell Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3125; anelson@unc.edu

Prof. Don Garrett, Dept. of Philosophy, New York University, 5 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003; don.garrett@nyu.edu

Prof. Margaret Atherton, Dept of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53201; atherton@uwm.edu

Prof. Don Rutherford, Dept. of Philosophy, Philosophy Department 0119, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0119; drutherford@ucsd.edu