Contact
Associate Professor, St Joseph's College
- nek@ualberta.ca
- Address
-
0-08 St. Joseph's College
114 St - 89 AveEdmonton ABT6G 2J5
Overview
About
I received a PhD in philosophy from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (now simply "KU Leuven"), Leuven, Belgium in 2006. I also received an MPhil (Licentiate, MA equivalent) in philosophy from the same institution in 2003. I completed an MCS (Master of Christian Studies, also an MA equivalent) in interdisciplinary studies from Regent College, Vancouver, Canada in 2002 (also received 2003). I received a BA (Honours) in philosophy from the University of Alberta, Canada, in 1998. Somewhere in the middle of all that I got married, had two kids, and got a job! :)
Research
Research Areas and Interests:
Environmental Philosophy
- Wilderness
- Relationship between Nature and Culture
- Intersections with Philosophy of Technology
- Intersections with Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology
Environmental Ethics
- Hunting
- Nonhuman Animals
- Environmental Radicalism (including Deep Ecology)
- Reformist Environmentalism and Social Acquiescence
Philosophy of Religion
- Problem of Natural Evil
- Divine Alterity
- Axiological Transcendence
Philosophy of Culture
- Civilization, Primitivism, and Anarchism
- Non-agrarian Hermeneutics
Philosophy of Technology
- Technological Societies (Jacques Ellul)
- Technological Enframement (Martin Heidegger)
Teaching
I teach undergraduate courses in the following areas:
- Philosophy
- Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
- Theology (Christianity and the Environment)
I supervise graduate students (MA or Phd) in Religious Studies working in the area of Religion and Ecology.
Courses
PHIL 219 - The Art of Living Well: Meaning and the Good Life
Philosophies of the good life. Topics may include integrated wellness, attentiveness, objects of devotion, and community in historical and contemporary contexts.
PHIL 269 - Moral Philosophy and the Christian Tradition
Analysis and evaluation of selected moral and social issues.
PHIL 279 - Philosophy of Hunting
The moral, conceptual, existential, environmental, socio-political, and spiritual issues raised by the practice of hunting by humans.
PHIL 355 - Environmental Ethics
Philosophical dimensions of issues raised by our relationship to the environment.
PHIL 359 - Topics in Christian Philosophy
STS 200 - Introduction to Studies in Science, Technology and Society
An examination of the interrelations of science, technology, society and environment, emphasizing an interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences perspective. Note: not to be taken by students with credit in INT D 200.
Featured Publications
Animal Difference in the Age of the Selfsame
Nathan Kowalsky
Animals in Our Midst: the Challenges of Co-existing with Animals in the Anthropocene. 2020 January; ed. Bernice Bovenkerk & Jozef Keulartz (Cham, Switzerland: Springer):79-98
Going Outside
Nathan Kowalsky
Canadian Environmental Philosophy. 2019 January; ed. Byron Williston, C. Tyler DesRoches, and Frank Jankunis (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press):137-156
The God(s) of November
Nathan Kowalsky
Encountering Earth: Thinking Theologically With A More-Than-Human World. 2018 January; ed. Trevor Bechtel, Matthew Eaton, & Timothy Harvie (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, Wipf & Stock):166-177
Anti-hunting as Heresy: Andrew Linzey’s Animal Gnosticism
Nathan Kowalsky
God, Nimrod, and the World: Exploring Christian Perspectives on Sport Hunting. 2017 October; ed. Bracy V. Hill, II and John B. White (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press):312-332
Nathan Kowalsky
Environmental Philosophy. 2016 January; 13 (2):239-267
Nathan Kowalsky, Randolph Haluza-DeLay
Environmental Ethics. 2015 January; 37 (1):75-97
Nathan Kowalsky
Indigenous Perspectives of North America: A Collection of Studies. 2014 January; ed. E. Sepsi, J. Nagy, M. Vassanyi & J. Kenyeres (Cambridge Scholars Publishing):2-31
Nathan Kowalsky
Found in Alberta: Environmental Themes for the Anthropocene. 2014 January; ed. R. Boschman and Mario Trono (Wilfrid Laurier University Press):281-302
Nathan Kowalsky
Old World and New World Perspectives in Environmental Philosophy: Transatlantic Conversations. 2014 January; ed. M. Drenthen & J. Keulartz (Springer):209-227