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Employment

• Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Illinois State University, 2012–present
• Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005–12

Education

• Ph.D., Philosophy, UCLA, 2005
  • Dissertation: Being and Time: The Metaphysics of Past and Future in a Dynamic World
  • Committee: Calvin Normore (chair), David Kaplan, Terry Parsons, Philippe Schlenker
• M.A., Philosophy, UCLA, 2003
• B.A., Philosophy, Reed College, 1996
  • Thesis Advisor: Mark Hinchliff

Areas of Specialization

• Metaphysics, Medieval Philosophy

Areas of Competence

• Philosophy of Language, Logic, Ancient Philosophy

Research

Publications

• “Taftazani on the Liar Paradox,” with Ahmed Alwishah, forthcoming in Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy.
• “Frivolous Fictions,” forthcoming in Res Philosophica.
• “Worlds Enough for Junk,” Res Philosophica (93:1) 2016 (online, May 2015)
• “Presentism and Truthmaking,” with Ben Caplan, Philosophy Compass (6:3) 2011: 196–208.
• “The Way Things Were,” with Ben Caplan, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (81.1) 2010: 24–39.
• “The Early Arabic Liar,” with Ahmed Alwishah, Vivarium (47:1) 2009: 97-127.

Work in Progress

• “Potential Parts”
• “Maximal Possibilities”
• “Once Present, Now Past”

Presentations

• “Taftazani on the Liar Paradox”
  • NEH Summer Institute, “Between Medieval and Modern: Philosophy from 1300-1700”, University of Colorado, Boulder, July 2015
• “Heterogeneous Simples”
  • NEH Summer Institute, “Between Medieval and Modern: Philosophy from 1300-1700”, University of Colorado, Boulder, July 2015
• “Temporal Passage”
  • Physics Department, Illinois State University, November 2014
• “Worlds Enough for Junk”
  • Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Winnipeg, October 2013
  • Illinois State University, February 2012
  • Kenyon College, November 2011
• “Passage and Past Facts”
  • Workshop on the Metaphysics of Time, Université de Lausanne, July 2013
• “Frivolous Fictions”
  • OSU-Maribor-Rijeka Conference on Art and Reality, June 2013
• “Locality and Necessity” (with Ben Caplan)
  • Pacific APA, Pasadena, CA, March 2008 (refereed)
• “The Essentially Unreal Past”
  • Central APA, Chicago, IL, April 2007
• “The Way Things Were” (with Ben Caplan)
  • Canadian Philosophical Association Annual Congress, University of Western Ontario, May 2005 (refereed)
  • Central APA, Chicago, IL, April 2005 (refereed)
  • Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference, University of Idaho and Washington State University, April 2005 (refereed)
• “The Once Present and the Now Past”
  • University of Rochester, February 2005
  • University of Manitoba, January 2005
  • Ohio State University, January 2005

Comments

• Dan Zeman, “The Variadic Functions Approach to Tense”
  • Pacific APA, San Diego, April 2014
• Simona Vucu, “Henry of Ghent and Godfrey of Fontaines on Sine Qua Non Causes and Causation”
  • Central APA, Chicago, February 2014
• Jeff Snapper, “Egalitarianism is Brutal”
  • Illinois Philosophical Association, Edwardsville, November 2013
• Daniel Rabinoff, “Incoherence in an Ageing Universe”
  • Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Winnipeg, October 2013
• David Liebesman, “Necessarily, Sherlock Holmes is not a Person”
  • Illinois Philosophical Association, Champaign-Urbana, November 2012
• Ned Markosian, “A New Answer to the Special Composition Question”
  • Pacific APA, Seattle, WA, April 2012
• Amy Seymour, “The Advantages of Falsism”
  • Central APA, Chicago, IL, February 2012
• Dana Goswick, “Counterfactual Analysis & Causal Overdetermination”
  • Pacific APA, Portland, OR, March 2006
• Marie Pannier, “Presentism and Singular Propositions”
  • Western Canadian Philosophical Association Meeting, Winnipeg, October 2005
• Kelly Trogdon, “Dualism, Mental Causation, and Counterfactuals”
  • Pacific APA, San Francisco, March 2003.

Teaching

Graduate Seminars (at OSU)

• Metaphysics of Modality (Spring 2012)
• Tense and Passage (Winter 2010)
• Nonexistent Objects (Fall 2007)
• Time and Change (Spring 2006)
• First Year Proseminar, with William Taschek (Fall 2011)
• First Year Proseminar, with Ben Caplan (Fall 2008)
• Dissertation Seminar (Spring 2011)

Undergraduate Courses (at ISU)

• Topics in Metaphysics: Properties (Spring 2015)
• Topics in Metaphysics: Modality (Fall 2013)
• Topics in Metaphysics: Material Constitution (Spring 2013)
• Visions of the Self (Fall 2013, Fall 2012)
• Advanced Symbolic Logic (Fall 2012)
• Symbolic Logic (Every term since Spring 2013)
• Introduction to Philosophy (online) (Summer 2013)

Undergraduate Courses (at OSU)

• Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Religion: Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Eternity (Fall 2010)
• Advanced Metaphysics: Modality and Time (Winter 2009)
• Introduction to Metaphysics (Winter 2010, Winter 2007)
• Medieval Philosophy (Spring 2012, Fall 2008, Fall 2007, Spring 2007, Winter 2006)
• Ancient Philosophy (Winter 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2009, Winter 2009, Winter 2008, Winter 2007)
• Symbolic Logic (Spring 2011, Winter 2008)
• Informal Logic (Winter 2006)
• Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 2009 (Honors), Spring 2007, Spring 2006 (Honors))

Undergraduate Courses (at UCLA)

• Topics in Early Modern Philosophy: Place and Nature in Descartes, Newton, and Leibniz (Summer 2003)
• Symbolic Logic (Summer 2001)

Teaching Presentations

• “Material Composition,” ISU Undergraduate Philosophy Club, March 2015
• “The Rule Following Paradox,” ISU Undergraduate Philosophy Club, December 2014
• “Paradoxes,” ISU Undergraduate Philosophy Club, April 2014
• “Holes,” ISU Undergraduate Philosophy Club, December 2013
• “Nonstandard Tense Realism,” OSU Undergraduate Philosophy Club, March 2009
• “Fatalism and Future Contingents,” OSU Undergraduate Philosophy Club, November 2005

Graduate and Undergraduate Advising

Dissertation Committee Member (at OSU)

• Scott Brown, on essence, modality, and the limits of contingency, in progress
• Wesley Cray, Modal Inconstancy: How Our Interests Influence How Things Could Be, 2012
• Cathy Muller, Harry Potter and the Rescue from Realism: A Novel Defense of Anti-Realism about Fictional Objects, 2012
• Eric Carter, Objectivity and Communication, 2011
• Vassilis Tsompanidis, Tensed Belief (UC Santa Barbara), 2010

Graduate Qualifying Exam Committee Member (at OSU)

• David Blanks, on the metaphysics of dispositions, 2012
• Scott Brown, on the limits of contingency, 2011
• James McGlothlin, on god and logical truth, 2011
• Wesley Cray, on modality de re, 2009
• Patrick Reeder, on infinitesimals and contact, 2009
• Cathy Muller, on the ontology of fictional characters, 2008

Graduate Candidacy Exam Committee Member (at OSU)

• Raleigh Miller, on perspectival facts, 2012
• David Blanks, on the metaphysics of dispositions, 2011
• Ben Horne, on well-being and the non-identity problem, 2011
• Scott Brown, on universals, 2010
• Daniel Pearlberg, on mental causation and over-determination, 2009
• Conrad Robinson, on Kant and mathematics, 2009
• Wesley Cray, on modality, 2008
• Andrew Choi, on Kantian ethics and virtue ethics, 2007
• Thomas Evans, on content and vehicle externalism, 2007
• Cathy Muller, on fiction and pretense, 2007

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Committee Member (at OSU)

• Gabbrielle Johnson (Philosophy), “Reference Magnetism and Macro-Naturalism,” 2011
• Dan Giglio (Philosophy), “Quantum Individuality,” 2011
• Ben Flowers (Philosophy), “Rule A and Responsibility: A Defense of the Compatibility of Moral Responsibility and Causal Determinism,” 2009
• Matthew Grover (Psychology), “Using Attitude Formation Towards Novel Stimuli to Predict Changes in Depressive Symptoms,” 2009

Undergraduate Honors Thesis External Examiner (at Oberlin)

• Rachel Randall (Philosophy), “The Ethics of Creation of Persons,” 2007
• Michael Siniscalchi (Philosophy), “Can Representationalism Bridge Levine’s Gap?” 2007

Awards and Grants

• Summer Scholar, NEH Summer Institute, “Between Medieval and Modern: Philosophy from 1300-1700”, University of Colorado, Boulder, July 2015
• ISU Pretenure Faculty Initiative Grant, 2014-2015
• ISU New Faculty Initiative Grant, 2013-2014
• UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2004-2005
• UCLA Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, 2004
• Robert M. Yost Prize for Excellence in Teaching, UCLA Philosophy Department, 2000
• UCLA Department of Philosophy Fellowship, 1996-97

Refereeing

American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Erkenntnis, Oxford University Press, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy of Science, Religious Studies, Southwest Philosophy Review, Southern Journal of Philosophy

Departmental Service

At ISU

Colloquium Organizer: 2013-14; Curriculum Committee: 2013-14; Curriculum Revision Committee: 2013-14; History of Philosophy Search Committee, 2012-13

At OSU

Bingham Committee, 2008-09; Colloquium Committee, 2005-12; Curriculum Committee, 2005-06; Executive Committee, 2006-07; Fink Committee, 2005-06, 2011-12; Hiring Committee, 2008-09; Research Committee, 2007-08; Salary Committee, 2009-10; Undergraduate Committee, 2005-06, 2008-09;

Other Service

• Category Editor, Philpapers.org, Nonexistent Objects http://philpapers.org/browse/nonexistent-objects
• Co-organizer (with Ben Caplan and Boran Berčić), 2013 Ohio State-Maribor-Rijeka conference at the Inter University Centre in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Topic: Art and Reality.
• Session Chair: Central APA, 2015; IPA, 2014; Metaphysics on the Mountain, 2014; WCPA, 2013; Central APA, 2010; Central APA, 2009; Pacific APA, 2006