After completing a PhD at the Johns Hopkins University, I taught at Colgate University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, before coming to the University of Alberta in 1998. I am currently serving as my department's Undergraduate Program Director
My main areas of research and teaching expertise are in Ethics (Normative and Applied), the History of Moral Philosophy, and Environmental Ethics. My chief philosophical indulgence is Aesthetics (especially Film Aesthetics.) You can find links to some of my publications on my Academia.edu page (link to the right.)
History of Moral Philosophy:
My historical work has mainly focused on naturalist theories/theorists. After completing a dissertation on John Dewey's ethics, I have done research and published on the theories of classic American Pragmatists (Dewey and William James), contemporaries such as G.E. Moore and Bertrand Russell, as well as on earlier figures such as John Locke, Bernard Mandeville, and David Hume. I have also edited a collection on Virtue Ethics. Recent work includes:
Environmental Philosophy:
I am a founding director of the Canadian Society for Environmental Philosophy/Société canadienne de philosophie environnementale (CSEP/SCEP) (link to the right.) I am currently working on a book on The Ethics of Environmental Stewardship, for which I received research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Funding Council (SSHRC.)
Recent and forthcoming work in environmental philosophy includes:
UndergraduateTeaching:
I regularly teach undergraduate courses in Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Philosophy of Art. Scroll down the page to see which courses I will be teaching this year.
Graduate Seminars:
In the Winter term (2022) I will be teaching a seminar on Aesthetics and Nature. For a short video introduction, click here.
In recent years, I have also offered seminars on Social Justice, De-Extinction and Zombie Species, Inter-Generational Ethics, and Virtue Ethics and the Environment
Study of philosophical issues raised by films: distinguishing film from other arts (photography, theatre, video games), whether films depict or represent reality, emotional engagement, the relation of moral and aesthetic values, and approaches to film criticism.
Fall Term 2022A study of ethical issues arising in health care and in the practice of health professions.
Fall Term 2022