Hi, I'm Matt Sayball. I'm a twenty-first century philosopher in the making (partly because what it is (and/or what it means) to be a twenty-first century philosopher has not yet been determined). My research principally concerns the philosophy of language and extends to philosophical logic, metaphysics, and epistemology. I'm teaching two sections of PHIL 1204: Knowledge and Reality this semester at Virginia Tech and will teach two sections PHIL 1304: Morality and Justice during the Spring 2010 semester. Here is the link to my current PHIL 1204: Knowledge and Reality course page.
I completed the Master of Arts in Philosophy program at Virginia Tech last May. My thesis concerns Kit Fine's model theoretic supervaluation semantics for vagueness, what do and do not count as penumbral connections, and the nature of higher-order vagueness. Brian Epstein was my thesis advisor, and the other members of my committee were Jim Klagge and Walter Ott. You can view my thesis abstract here. Also, you can check out more about the road that led to my becoming a graduate student in philosophy here, and you can find a somewhat recent interview here. Go to my CV page for a list of my philosophical work and activities, or visit my Courses I've Taken page to see lists of courses I've taken grouped by topic. I have a few working papers in progress, which are listed on my Papers in Progress page. I highly value all feedback regarding the discussions and arguments in these papers, so please feel free to send me some at sayball@vt.edu . When I'm not doing philosophy I like to read, sleep, cook, eat, relax, visit with friends and family, and tell jokes (usually bad ones). I am a novice tennis experimenter. I've found tennis to be a great way to trick my body into running. Also, I've recently re-taken up golf, which, I've found, is another good way to trick myself into exercising. I attended two golf courses regularly this summer (both are 9 holes), and, after a while, I'm beginning to get some low marks. Ὁ βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή, ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς, ή δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερή, ἡ δὲ κρίσις χαλεπή. Life is short, the craft [art] is long, [and all the while] opportunity is fleeting, experiment is treacherous, and judgment is difficult. -- Hippocrates Aphorisms (section 1, number 1) |
