CURRICULUM VITAE

Geoffrey Gorham

Department of Philosophy

Macalester College 

1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105

ggorham@macalester.edu

Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Minnesota. Minor in History of Science. Dissertation: "The Structure of Theoretical Progress." Advisor: Ronald N. Giere, 1994. 

M.A. in Philosophy, University of Calgary. Thesis: "Explanatory Inference and Entity Realism." Advisor: John Heintz, 1988. 

B.A. in Philosophy, University of King’s College, First Class Honours, Dalhousie University Gold Medal, 1986. 

AOS: Early Modern Philosophy and Science, History and Philosophy of Science

AOC: American Philosophy, Metaphysics, Ancient Philosophy

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Macalester College, Professor of Philosophy, current (2026).

-- Interim Chair, Fall 2026/Spring 2027. 

-- Professor and Chair of Philosophy, 2012-2021

-- Associate Professor of Philosophy, 2008-2012.

Visiting APA Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. University of Edinburgh. June - July, 2026.

Dibner Library, Resident Scholar, Smithsonian Libraries, July 2018. 

University of Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science: Visiting Fellow, Fall 2017.

University of Western Ontario, Rotman Center: Visiting Collaborative Researcher, June 2013.

Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL. Visiting Researcher, Center for History of Philosophy and Science, April-May 2011.

University of Minnesota: Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science since 2000; Visiting, 2020. Assistant Professor: 2010; 2012.

St. Olaf College: Visiting Assistant Professor 2000-01, 2003-4; Associate Professor, 2007-8.

University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire: Assistant Professor, 2004-2007.

Macalester College: Visiting Assistant Professor, 2002-3. 

Gustavus Adolphus College: Visiting Assistant Professor, 2001-2.

Cornell College: Visiting Assistant Professor, 1995-7; Assistant Professor, 1997-2000.

Marycrest International University: Visiting Assistant Professor, 1994-1995.

PUBLICATIONS

A. In Progress/Under Review (I = Invited; P = Peer-Reviewed)

"Early Modern Theories of Space and Time". With Edward Slowik. For volume on the History of Space and Time. Cambridge University Press. (I) In Preparation.

Symposium on Marcus Adams's (2025) Hobbes's two sciences: politics, geometry, and the structure of philosophy for Hobbes. Oxford University Press. For Hobbes Studies. (I) Completed.

'The Emergence of Science in Colonial America: Johnson, Colden, and Franklin'. Preparing for submission to HOPOS journal or another good HPS journal. (P) In Preparation.

'Newtonianism Among Early American Scientists: Cadwallader Colden'. Preparing for submission to Journal of Scottish Philosophy or similar. (P)

'Was Hobbes a Becomingist?' In progress. 

'Leibniz on the Parallelism of Space and Time: The Correspondence with Clarke'. In progress

B. Published or In Press

1.           'Claude Buffier on Duration and Existence'. With Miren Boehm. In Claude Buffier: Metaphysics, Commons Sense and Sociability. Ed. Anik Waldow & Darío Perinetti. Oxford University Press, 2026 pp. 206-234.

2.           'Newton and Leibniz on Time'. Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Time. Edited by Nina Emery. New York: Routledge Press. 2025. pp. 57-67.

3.           "The Most Inscrutable Problem of Time Travel." For Wanna Talk Philosophy. Published online @ https://www.instagram.com/p/DPf0OrogAp6/ 2025.

4.           ‘Norman Kemp Smith on the Experience of Duration'. British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 31: 295-313. 2023. 

5.           ‘Space and Time'. In Handbook to Early Modern Women and Philosophy. Ch. 11, pp. 157-163. New York: Routledge Press, 2023. Eds. K. Detlefsen and L. Shapiro.

6.           ‘The Debates about Body and Extension'. With Edward Slowik. In Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution, Ch. 12, pp. 406-23. Eds. Dana Jalobeanu and David Miller. Cambridge University Press, 2022.

7.           'Locke on Causation and the Laws of Nature'. In The Lockean Mind, Ch. 32, pp. 299-308. Eds. J. Gordon-Roth and S.  Weinberg. New York: Routledge Press, 2022.

8.           'The Stoic Background to Hobbes's Natural Philosophy and First Philosophy'. Ch. 2, pp. 45-56. In Blackwell Companion to Hobbes. Ed. Marcus Adams. London: Blackwell Press. 2021.

9.           ‘Locke on Space, Time and God: The Van Limborch Correspondence’. Ergo: an Open Access Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 7, No. 7. 2020.

10.        Four entries in the Springer Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences, Ed. Dana Jalobeanu and  Charles Wolfe: (i) ‘Time in Early Modern Philosophy and Science’ (7K words); (ii) ‘Locke’s Philosophy’ (3K words);  (iii) ‘Locke and Newton’ (3K words); (iv) ‘Concepts of Body’ (with Edward Slowik; 5K words). 2020 and ongoing. 

11.         ‘American Immaterialism: Samuel Johnson’s Emendations of Berkeley’. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce  Society 54: 441-456. 2018.

12.         ‘Descartes on the Infinity of Space vs. Time’. Infinity in Early Modern Philosophy. Ed. Ohad Nachtomy and Reed Winegar. Brill Publishers, 2018. 

13.        ‘Hobbes and Evil’. Evil in the History of Early Modern Philosophy. Routledge Press. Ed. Chad Meister and Charles Taliaferro. London: Routledge University Press. 2018.

14.         Creation and Conservation’. Blackwell Encyclopedia for the Philosophy of Religion, Ed. Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro. 2020.

15.        ‘Leibniz on Time vs. Duration’. Proceedings of the 2016 Leibniz Kongress X,Hannover. GE. 2017

16.        ‘Time and Temporal Experience in the Seventeenth Century’. Routledge Handbook of Temporal Experience. Ed. Ian Philips. Routledge Publishers, 2017.

17.        The Language of Nature: Reassessing the Mathematization of Nature in the Seventeenth Century. Minnesota Studies  in the Philosophy of Science XX. Co-edited/introduced with Benjamin Hill, Edward Slowik and C. Kenneth Waters.  Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2016.

18.        "Embodied God: Hobbes, Stoics and Deists'. In Embodiment, Ed. Justin E. H. Smith. Oxford University Press, 2016. 

19.        “Hobbes on the Reality of Time”. Hobbes Studies (special issue on Hobbes’s Natural Philosophy) 27 80-103.  2014,

20.         “Spinoza on the Ideality of Time”. Idealistic Studies 43 (2014): 27-40. 

21.         “Newton and Locke on Absolute Time and its Sensible Measure”. With Edward Slowik. In Newton and Empiricism, ed. Zvi Biener and Eric Schliesser. Oxford University Press. 2014.

22.        Five x 1500-word entries for the Cambridge Descartes Lexicon: (i) “Extension”; (ii) “Mode”; (iii) "Body”; (iv) "Bacon”; (v) “Infinite/Indefinite”. Ed. Lawrence Nolan. Cambridge University Press, 2016.

23.        “Mixing Bodily Fluids: Hobbes’s Stoic God”. Sophia: International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 53 (2014):  33-49.

24.         “The Theological Foundations of Hobbesian Physics: A Defense of Corporeal God”. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 21 (2013): 240-61.

25.         Seventeenth Century Absolute Space and Time: I edited a special issue of Intellectual History Review 22 (2012). Co-editor and Introduction (with Edward Slowik). Includes articles by Richard Arthur, Emmaline Bexley. Michael Futch, Geoffrey Gorham, Hylarie Kochiras, and Edward Slowik. 

26.        “’The Twin-Brother of Space’: Spatial Analogy in the Emergence of Absolute Time”. Intellectual History Review 22 (2012): 1-17. 

27.         “Newton on God’s Relation to Space and Time: The Cartesian Framework”. Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie,  93 (2011): 281-320. 

28.        “How Newton Solved the Mind-Body Problem”. History of Philosophy Quarterly 28 (2011): 21-44.

29.         “Spinoza, Locke and the Limits of Dutch Toleration”. Macalester International Studies Journal, 2011. 

30.        “Early Scientific Images of God”. In A New Book of Nature. Ed. Charles Taliaferro and Jil Evans, Oxford University Press, 2011.

31.         “Theism in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy”. Routledge Companion to Theism. Routledge, 2011.

32.         “Descartes on Persistence and Temporal Parts”. In Time and Identity: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 6.  Ed. Joseph Campbell and Michael O'Rourke. MIT Press, July 2010. 

33.        Philosophy of Science: A Beginner's Guide. Oxford: One World Press, October 2009. Chinese Translation, 2019. 

34.        “Early Modern Philosophical Theology in Great Britain”. Blackwell Companion to the Philosophy of Religion.  Blackwell Publishers, 2010.

35.        . “God and the Natural World in the Seventeenth Century: Space, Time and Causality”. Philosophy Compass 4/5: 859- 872, 2009. 

36.         "Descartes on God's Relation to Time". Religious Studies 44: 1-19, 2008. 

37.         “Cartesian Temporal Atomism: A New Defense, A New Refutation.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 16: 625-637, 2008. 

38.         “Descartes on Time and Duration.” Early Science and Medicine 12: 28-54, 2007.

39.        "The Metaphysical Foundation of Cartesian Physics: The Law of Rectilinear Motion." Perspectives on Science, 13:  431-451, 2005. 

40.         “Norman Kemp Smith”. Encyclopedia of Modern British Philosophers, Thoemmes Press, 2005.

41.        "NKS" Encyclopedia of Modern American Philosophers. Thoemmes Press, 2005.

42.         Substantially revised version (of above) published in Biographical Encyclopedia of British Idealism. 

43.        “Cartesian Causation: Continuous, Instantaneous, Overdetermined.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 42: 389- 423, 2004. 

44.        “Descartes’s Dilemma of Eminent Containment.” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review 42: 3-25, 2003. 

45.        “Descartes on the Innateness of All Ideas.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy. 32: 355-388, 2002.

46.        "Causation and Similarity in Descartes." In New Essays on the Rationalists, R. Gennaro and C. Huenemann, ed., Oxford University Press, 1999. 

47.        "Does Scientific Realism Beg the Question?" Informal Logic: A Journal of Theory and Argumentation, 18: 225-233, 1996. 

48.        "Similarity as an Inter-theory Relation." Philosophy of Science, 63 (Supplementary Volume): 220-29, 1996.

49.        "The Concept of Truth in Feminist Sciences." Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy (Special Issue on Analytical Philosophy and Feminism), 10: 99-116, 1995. 

50.        "Mind-Body Dualism and the Harvey-Descartes Controversy." Journal of the History of Ideas, 55: 211-34, 1994. 

51.        "Planck's Principle and Jeans's Conversion." Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, 22: 471-97, 1991.

BOOK REVIEWS

1.  Newtonian Metaphysics, by Patrick Connolly. Oxford University Press, 2026, for Journal of the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS). (I) Forthcoming. 

2. The Cartesian Mind, Ed. Secada et al., Routledge, 2026, for Journal of the History of Philosophy. (I) Forthcoming.

3.  Love Troubles:  A Philosophy of Eros. By Federica Gregoratto. New York: Columbia University Press. 2025. Philosophy in Review, 45:18-21, 2025.

4. Materialism from Hobbes to Locke. By Stewart Duncan (Oxford University Press, 2022); Philosophy in Review 4: 121, 2024. 

5. George Berkeley: A Philosophical Life. Tom Jones. (Princeton University Press, 2021). Church History 91: 166-168.

6. Space: A History. Oxford Philosophical Concepts Series. Edited by Andrew Janiak. (Oxford University Press, 2020).  Journal of the Society for the History and Philosophy of Science (HOPOS). 12: 322-325. 2022.

7.  Absolute Time. Emily Thomas. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Locke Studies. Forthcoming.

8.  Cambridge Companion to Descartes’ Meditations. Edited by David Cunning. Notre Dame Philosophical Review, July 29, 2014. 

9.  Leibniz: Body, Substance, Monad. Daniel Garber (Oxford University Press, 2009). ISIS, 2012.

10.  John Locke and Natural Philosophy. Peter Anstey. (Oxford: Oxford University Pres, 2011). Early Science and Medicine 60 (2011): 230-34.

11.  The Collapse of Mechanism and the Rise of Sensibility: Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1680- 1760. Stephen Gaukroger (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). Philosophy in Review XXXI (2011),

12.  Causation & Laws of Nature in Early Modern Philosophy, Walter Ott (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).  HOPOS 1. No. 2 (2011), 371-75. 

13.  Descartes on Forms and Mechanisms, Helen Hattab (Oxford University Press, 2009). Metascience 20 (2011): 287-90. 

14. Cartesian Reflections, John Cottingham (Oxford University Press, 2008). Philosophy in Review 30, 1, 2010.

15. Descartes on Causation, Tad M. Schmaltz (Oxford University Press, 2008). Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical  Review 49: 1-4, 2009.

16. Jonathan Edwards and the Metaphysics of Sin, Oliver Crisp (Ashgate Publishing Co., 2005). Faith and Philosophy, 2006.

17. Early Modern Philosophy: Mind, Matter and Metaphysics, ed. Christia Mercer and Eileen O’Neill, (Oxford  University Press, 2005). Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, October 2005. 

18. God, Time, and Eternity, William Lane Craig (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001). Faith and Philosophy, October  2002.

19. Descartes’s Legacy: Minds and Meaning in Early Modern Philosophy, David Hausman and Alan Hausman  (University of Toronto Press, 1997). Philosophy in Review, August 1998.

20.  The End of the World: The Science and Ethics of Human Extinction (Routledge, 1996). Philosophy in Review, April 1998.

PRESENTATIONS & COMMENTARIES (P = Peer Reviewed; I = Invited)

1.  "Nation-Making: Cadwallader Colden, philosopher-politician in Colonial America" July 16, 2026. Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh. (I)

2. "Cadwallader Colden and Early America: A Scottish-American Philosopher-King?". May 26, 2026. Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh. https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/event/constituting-nation-scots-and-1776 (I)

3.   "Wanna Talk Philosophy: Symposium on Time." (I) July 28 - August 1, 2025. Invited online workshop aimed at undergraduates and younger, youth-originated in the South Bay are of California. Other participants included Jonathan Tallant (Nottingham); Gabriealla LaRose (U. of Arizona); Craig Callender (UC San Diego). https://wannatalkphilosophy.org/activities/discussion-series-time/ (P)

4.  "Newtonian Metaphysics in Early American Philosophy." Atlantic Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS. July, 2025. (I)

5.   "Was Hobbes a Becomingist?" International Hobbes Association. American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting, San Francisco, April 19, 2025. (P)

6.   Chair of American Philosophical Association, Central Division session on "Early Moderns on Extension and Motion". Remote. (I).

7.   "Newtonianism in Early Modern American (Colonial) Philosophers". Workshop on Newton, hosted by Patrick Connolly, Johns Hopkins University. 10/20/24 (I)

8.  "Radical Themes in Early American Philosophy of Science". HOPOS. Vienna, Austria. 07/10/24. (P)

9.    "Comments on Forsman". In Submitted Symposium: Teresa’s Demons: Teresa of Ávila’s Influence on the Cartesian Skeptical Scenario of Demonic Deception". American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, New Orleans, LA. Feb. 21-24, 2024. (I) 

10.    “Eminent Containment in Locke: Comments on Connolly”. American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Chicago, Feb. 25, 2022. (I)

11.  "American Immaterialism". Workshop on 'Religion, Theology and Enlightenment'. Dept. of (Early Modern) History, University of Minnesota. Feb. 17, 2021. (I)

12.    “Make American Philosophy Great Again!”. Minnesota State University, Mankato, Feb 6, 2020. (I) 

13.   “Locke and Presentism”. International Locke Society Meeting, Helsinki, Finland. July 29, 2019. (P)

14.    “Locke on God, Space and Time.” Annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, New  York, January 10, 2019. (I)

15.   “Berkeley and (the American) Samuel Johnson”. Berkeley Workshop, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. October  20, 2018. (P)

16. “Debates about Body”. Revolutions in Early Modern Philosophy and Science. Iowa State University, July 23, 2018. (I) 

17.    “Varieties of Presentism in the Seventeenth Century: Descartes, Locke and Hobbes”. Workshop ‘Philosophy of Time:  A View from the Past’. University of Milan, May 17, 2018. (I) 

18.  “The Emergence of Absolute Time: A Conceptual Framework.” University of Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science, September 11, 2017. (I) 

19.  “Locke on Space, Time and God: Insights from the Van Limborch Correspondence”. Western University Locke Workshop, London, Ontario, June 23, 2017. (I)

20.   “Samuel Johnson: American Immaterialist”. Southeast Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of South Florida, March 9-11, 2017. (P) 

21.  “Space-Time Parallelism in the Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence: The Case of Vacua”. North American Leibniz Society Meeting, University of Houston, TX, Nov. 5, 2016. (P)

22. “Rationalism”. Introduction to session at ‘Descartes Day 3’. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, October 15, 2016. (I) 

23. 22.            “Locke and Berkeley on the Idea of Time”. Midwest Conference on British Studies. Iowa State University, September 17, 2016. (I) 

24.  “Leibniz on Time and Duration”. International Leibniz Congress, Hanover, GE, July 19, 2016. (P)

25.   “Descartes on the Infinity of Time and Space”. New York Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Jerusalem, Israel, June 19, 2016. (P) 

26.   “Locke on the Measures of Space and Time” (with Edward Slowik). Locke Workshop on Measure, Rotman Center,  Western University, May 1, 2015. (P)

27.  “Locke and Berkeley on the Ideas of Duration and Time”. International Berkeley Society Meeting, American  Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, Philadelphia PA, December 28, 2014. (I)

28. = “Embodied God: Hobbes, the Stoics and the Mormons”. Workshop on Embodiment, University of Paris VII (Diderot),  December 13, 2014. (I) 

29. =  “Locke on Space and Time: Empiricism meets Absolutism”. Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy,  Milwaukee, WI, September 26-28, 2014.(P)

30. =  “Spinoza on Time, Duration and the Mathematization of Nature”. Biennial Meeting of HOPOS. Ghent BE, July 3, 2014. (P)

31.  “Spinoza on Time, Duration and the Mathematization of Nature”. South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station Texas, May 31, 2014. (I)

32.   “Newton’s Physico-Theology: Space, Time and God”. Department of Philosophy, St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN. September 25, 2013. (I) 

33.  “Hobbes’s Stoic Metaphysics: Space, Time and God”. International Hobbes Association Meeting, APA Pacific Division, March 2013. (P) 

34. “Hobbes on Motion, Time and Conatus: A Realist Account”. HOPOS, Halifax, June 21, 2012. (P) 

35. “The Theological Foundations of Hobbesian Physics: A Defense of Corporeal God”. Bethel University Philosophy  Colloquium. October 16, 2011. (I)

36.  “Hobbes on the Reality of Time”. Quebec Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Sherbrooke,  Sherbrooke, PQ, September 30, 2011. (P)

37.  “Locke and Newton on Absolute Space and Time and their Sensible Measures”. Center for History of Philosophy and  Science, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL, May 20, 2011. (I)

38.   “Locke and Newton on Absolute Time and its Sensible Measure”. ‘Distinguished Alumnus Lecture’, University of  Minnesota Science and Technology Colloquium, March 4, 2011. (I)

39.   “Hobbes’s Corporeal God: A Defense”. South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy. Texas A&M University.  November 12, 2010. (P)

40.  Chair and Organizer: "Early Modern Philosophy of Time", American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Chicago, IL. February 18, 2010.

41.  “Hobbes on Public Reason: Comments on Courtland”. Minnesota Philosophical Society Annual Meeting, November  6, 2010. (I) 

42. “Mind and Body: Newton vs. Descartes”. University of Ghent, Belgium. June 2, 2010. (I) 

43. “Newton & Locke: Space & Time”. Conference on Newton and Empiricism. Center for Philosophy of Science,  University of Pittsburgh, April 10-11, 2010. (P)

44. “Mind-Body Interaction: Newton vs. Descartes”. Iowa Philosophical Society Meeting, University of Iowa. November  14, 2009. (P)

45. “How Newton Solved the Mind-Body Problem”. Minnesota Philosophical Society Meeting, St. Catherine’s University.  November 7, 2009. (P) 

46. In Him we Live and Move: The Secular Space of Newton’s Physico-Theology”. Macalester College Humanities Faculty Symposium: ‘Engagements with the Secular’, October 23-25, 2009. (I)

47.  “Newton on Mind-Body Interaction: The Cartesian Connection”. Atlantic Canadian Seminar in Early Modern  Philosophy, Halifax, NS, Canada, August 7-10, 2009. (I) 

48. = “Cartesian Elements in Newton’s De Gravitatione”. NY/NJ Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, New York, NY,  March 9, 2009. (I) 

49.  “Pluralism and Progress: Comments on Newman”. Minnesota Philosophical Society Annual Meeting. Macalester  College, Nov. 8, 2008. (I) 

50. “Eminent Causality in Descartes and Newton”. Leiden-Duke Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy. Leiden, The  Netherlands, September 27, 2008. (P) 

51.  “Analogical Reasoning About Absolute Time: Gassendi and Barrow”. Society for the History of Philosophy of Science  (HOPOS), Vancouver, Canada, June 18, 2008. (P) 

52.   "What sort of Realism can Explain the Success of Science? Comments on Harker". American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 18, 2008. (I)

53. "The Twin-Brother of Space': Spatial Analogies in Precursors of Absolute Time". South Central Seminar in Early  Modern Philosophy, University of Tulsa, November 16, 2007. (P) 

54. "Scientific Understanding: Comments on Newman". Minnesota Philosophical Society Annual Meeting. Inver Hills  Community College, October 20, 2007. (I) 

55.  “Descartes, God, Eternity”. Canadian Philosophical Association, Annual Congress, Saskatoon, May 28, 2007. (P) 

56.  “Descartes and the Causal Connection: Comments on De Rosa”. American Philosophical Association, Central Division  Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 21, 2007. (I) 

57.  “Descartes on God’s Relation to Time”. Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Chicago, March  3, 2007. (P) 

58.   “The Spatialization of Time in Seventeenth Century Natural Philosophy”. Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris. June 15, 2006. (P)

59.    "Enhancement and Achievement: Comments on Stieg”. Minnesota Philosophical Society Annual Meeting. University  of St. Thomas. St. Paul, MN. October 22, 2005. (I)

60. =   “Descartes on Persistence and Temporal Parts”. Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference. University of Idaho,  Moscow, ID. April 2, 2005. (P)

61.   "Descartes' Naturalism". Conference on Reason, Rationality and Knowing How. California State University, Long  Beach. February 18, 2005. (I)

62.     “The Crisis of the Cogito: Comments on Stephen Wagner”. Minnesota Philosophical Society Annual Meeting,  Mankato, MN, October 23, 2004. (I)

63.   “Why Cartesian Souls Lack Endurance”. Eastern Canadian Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy. Halifax, NS, July 9,  2004. (P)

64.    “Descartes’s Internalist Epistemology: Comments on Williston”. Canadian Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, Winnipeg, MB, May 29, 2004. (I)

65.  “Cartesian Time”. American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting, Pasadena, CA, March 27, 2004. (P)

66.  “Why Cartesian Souls Lack Endurance”. St. Olaf Philosophy Department Colloquium. Northfield, MN November 17,  2003. (I)

67.   “Material Falsity in Descartes: Response to Clemenson”. Minnesota Philosophical Society, St. Olaf College, October  4, 2003. (I)

68.  “Descartes on the Endurance of the Soul”. South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, St. Louis, September  27, 2003. (P)

69.   "Descartes on the Metaphysics and Physics of Time". Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science.  Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 31, 2003. (P)

70.  "Descartes on Freedom". Macalester College Philosophy Department Colloquium. Nov. 7, 2002. (I)

71.  “Problems of Disciplinary Pluralism: Comments on Kellert”. Minnesota Workshop on Scientific Pluralism. University  of Minnesota. October 12, 2002. (I)

72.  “Descartes on Circular Inertia: Comments on Slowik”. Minnesota Philosophical Society, University of Minnesota.  September 26, 2002. (I)

73.  “The Metaphysical Foundations of Cartesian Physics: The Law of Rectilinear Motion”. History of Philosophy of  Science (HOPOS) Society Biennial Meeting. Montreal, June 23, 2002. (P)

74.  “Descartes’ Rejection of Secondary Causality.” Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Spring Meeting.  University of Chicago, May 25, 2002. (P)

75. “Descartes on Divine Action and Human Freedom.” Minnesota Philosophical Society, College of St. Benedict.  Collegeville, MN, September 14, 2001. (P)

76.  “Descartes’ Dilemma: Pantheism or Something from Nothing.” American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. May 29, 2001. (P)      

77. “Cartesian Causation: Continuous, Instantaneous and Overdetermined.” University of Minnesota Studies in Science  and Technology Colloquium Series. Jan. 26, 2001. (I)

78.  “Boethius on Freedom of the Will: Comments on Nash-Marshall.” Minnesota Philosophical Society. University of St.  Thomas, October 28, 2000. (I)

79.  “Descartes on Continuous Creation and Simultaneous Causation.” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting, Boston, MA, Dec. 29, 1999. (P)

80. “Descartes' Problem of Body → Mind Causation.” University of Iowa Philosophy Department Lecture Series, Dec. 4, 1998. (I)

81. “Descartes on the Innateness of Sensory Ideas.” Iowa Philosophical Association, Iowa State University, Nov 8, 1997.  (P)

82.  “The Value of Truth: Comments on Adam Kovach.” Wheaton College Conference on Realism and Truth, Wheaton, IL, October 25, 1997. (I)

83.   “Body, Mind, and Causation in Descartes." Annual Congress of the Canadian Philosophical Association, St. John's, NFLD, June 3, 1997. (P)

84.   "Similarity as an Intertheory Relation." Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Cleveland, Ohio, November 2, 1996. (P)

85. "Conceptual Progress, Reference, and Structural Similarity." Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, Calgary, Alberta, June 12, 1994. (P)

86. " Explaining Scientific Progress." American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 24, 1993. (P)          

87.    "Truth-Realism vs. Progress-Realism." Minnesota Philosophical Society Meeting, Macalester College, October 17, 1992. (P)

88.  “The Descartes-Harvey Controversy." Annual Congress of the Canadian Philosophical Association, Charlottetown,  P.E.I., May 28, 1992. (P)

89.    "Stephen Stich's Pragmatic Epistemology." Discipuli Graduate Conference in Philosophy, University of Southern California, March 28, 1992. (I) 

AWARDS, DISTINCTIONS, GRANTS

2026: Wallace Research Support Grant for travel and support of Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh. $2900

2025: American Association of Philosophy Edinburgh Fellowship. Expected tenure: May-June, 2026.

2018: Visiting Fellow, Dibner Library, Smithsonian Institution. Summer 2018. $1500.

2018: Fall Semester. Visiting Fellow, University of Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science. $2000.

2014: Cargill Sustainability Grant to develop new FYC course. $2250. 

2014: New Perspectives on the Fine Arts Mellon Grant to develop new course on Aesthetics (with Janet Folina). $1000

2014: Wallace Travel grant to present paper on Spinoza in Ghent, BE. $3300

2013: Visiting Collaborative Researcher, Western University, London Ontario (Rotman Center), June 2013.

2013: Awarded SFCR Grant (with student Samuel Eklund): “The Emancipation of Time in the Seventeenth Century”.  $4400. Also 2016, van Fossen 2017; Sievert 2019; Harney 2020; Miao 2022

2012: Applied for and Awarded SSHRC grant: “The Mathematization of Natural Philosophy: A Re-Appraisal”; For 15- participant workshop in London, Ontario and volume of Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science (University of Minnesota Press). Co-PI with Benjamin Hill, University of Western Ontario. $25,000.

2011: ‘Visiting Researcher’, University of Radboud Center for History of Philosophy and Science Nijmegen, NL, April May, 2011. 

2010: Awarded $2000 Wallace Faculty Travel Grant for research in the Netherlands on Huygens’ and Spinoza’s theories of time, Spring 2011.

2010: Member of N.E.H. Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers: “Galileo, Descartes and Hobbes: Philosophy and Science, Politics and Religion in the Scientific Revolution”. Princeton University. Co-Directors: Daniel  Garber, Princeton University and Roger Ariew, University of South Florida.

2010: Successful application to Macalester College Faculty Development International Seminar in The Hague, Netherlands, June 2010. Proposed Project: “The Philosophical and Scientific Roots of Cosmopolitanism in the Dutch  Golden Age”.

2009: Applied for NSF Grant: “The Mathematization of Natural Philosophy: A Re-Appraisal”; Co-PI with C. KennethW aters, University of Minnesota and Edward Slowik, Winona State University (‘revise & resubmit, July, 2009. Re submitted February 2010; declined). 

2008: Wallace Travel Grant to present at University of Leiden conference on Early Modern Causality, The Netherlands,  September 2008: $2000

2008-2009: Elected President, Minnesota Philosophical Society. 

2007-2008: Elected Vice-President, Minnesota Philosophical Society. 

2008: Awarded Summer Faculty Curricular Development Grant for Workshop on “The Science Conversation”, St. Olaf  College: $3600. 

2006: Co-Author with Prof. Charlene Burns (Religious Studies) of Templeton Foundation ‘Metanexus’ Grant for a ‘Local  Societies Initiative’: $15,000 a year awarded for three years (matched by University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire). 

2005: Awarded University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire Research Grant (‘URCA’) for Spring 2006. 

2004: Member of N.E.H. Summer Institute for College and University Teachers: “The Intersection of Philosophy, Science  and Theology in the Seventeenth Century”. Co-Directors: Steven Nadler, University of Wisconsin, and Donald  Rutherford, University of California, San Diego.

2001: Elected Resident Fellow, Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota (ongoing). 2000: Member of N.E.H. Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers: “Descartes and His Contemporaries.”  Co-Directors: Roger Ariew, Virginia Tech, and Daniel Garber, University Chicago. 

1996: Member of N.E.H. Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers: “Central Themes in Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz.” Director: Jonathan Bennett, Syracuse University.

1993-94: University of Minnesota Dissertation Fellowship. 

1992, 1990, 1989: Minnesota Philosophy Department Quarter Fellowships.

1990: University of Minnesota Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

1988: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship. (Renewed 1989, 1990  and 1991.)

1986, 1987: Province of Alberta Graduate Scholarships. 

1986: Dalhousie University Gold Medal for Academic Distinction.

1985, 1983: King's College Academic Scholarships. 

SERVICE TO DISCIPLINE:

Co-Organizer (with Alan Love, University of Minnesota) of HOPOS 2016, June, Minneapolis, MN,

Organizer of many speaking visits to Macalester, e.g. Margret Atherton, Daniel Garber, Steven Nadler, Edward Slowik, Katherine Brading, Justin Smith, Jessica Gordon-Roth, Dwight Lewis,  Scott Pratt, David Wong, Mark Kulstad.

Organizer of Symposium, ‘Spinoza and Modern Science’, at 2014 Meeting of the Society for the History and Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), Ghent, BE, July 3, 2014. Symposium includes presentations by Geoffrey Gorham, Alison Peterman, Eric Schliesser and Alex Douglas.

Co-organizer: (with students) of 2014 Minnesota Undergraduate Philosophy (MUPS) Annual Meeting, Macalester College, April 26, 2014.

Organizer:  two invited symposia for the American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, February 17-20, 2010: (i) Seventeenth Century Philosophy of Time (Richard Arthur, Yitzhak Malemed, Donald Baxter, Geoff Gorham); (ii) Newtonian Metaphysics (Lisa Downing, Ted McGuire, Edward Slowik, Eric Schliesser, Andrew Janiak, Zvi Biener).

Organizer and Co-PI: Workshop and Co-Edited Volume (planned) of Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science on “The Book of Nature: Re-Appraising the Mathematization of Natural Philosophy in the Seventeenth Century”, University of Minnesota, October, 2011.

Organizer: (with Edward Slowik, Winona State University), Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Macalester College, April 30-May 2, 2010.

Coordinator: judging of Highview Middle School Philosophy Slam. Topic: “The Only Evil is Ignorance”. May 2010, 2011, 2012. Macalester Student Judges: Elizabeth Balskus, Emily Heckel, Sara Gottleib, Abigail Rankin.   

Guest Speaker: 2005-2012, Highview Middle School Philosophy Club, New Brighton, MN; Philosophy Class, Memorial High School, Eau Clare, MN.

Tenure Review: requested to serve as outside reviewer for Grinnell College tenure applicant; declined (not tenured myself); September 2009. Tenure Review, St. Olaf College

Program Committee: American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, 2009-10.

President: Minnesota Philosophical Society, 2008-09 (Vice-President 2007-2008).

Organizer: 2008 Minnesota Philosophical Society (MPS) Annual Meeting, Macalester College, November 8, 2008.

Organizer: (with students) of 2009 Minnesota Undergraduate Philosophy (MUPS) Annual Meeting, Macalester College, April 18, 2009. 

Organizer: Four-paper Symposium on ‘Seventeenth Century Origins of Absolute Space and Time’, Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), Vancouver, Canada, June 18, 2008 with Edward Slowik, Michael Futch, Katherine Dunlop, and Geoffrey Gorham.

Organizer: (with students) of 2004 Minnesota Undergraduate Philosophy Society Conference, St. Olaf College, April, 2004. (External advisor for 2005 Student Meeting, Macalester College.)

Referee for:

(i) numerous journals, mostly multiple times, including Perspectives on Science, Journal of the History of Philosophy (n times), Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (n times), Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review, Isis, Hume Studies, Journal of Modern Philosophy, History of Philosophy Quarterly (n times), Early Science and Medicine, Review of Metaphysics, Religious Studies, Southern Journal of Philosophy, HOPOS (n times), Philosopher’s Imprint, Ergo, Res Philosophica, Eidos, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Hobbes Studies (n times),  Ruch Philozoficzny, Intellectual History Review, Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophia, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Journal of the History of Biology, Locke Studies.

(ii) book publishers including Oxford University Press, Blackwell Publishers, Brill Academic Publishers, Broadview Press, Palgrave Macmillan, One World Publishers, Lexington Publishers, Continuum Publishers, Routledge Publishing, Wiley Publishing.  

(iii) academic conferences including American Philosophical Association (Central Division, Pacific Division); Canadian Philosophical Association; Minnesota Philosophical Society; Minnesota Undergraduate Philosophical Society; Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy; Wisconsin Philosophical Association; Atlantic Canada Seminar on Early Modern Philosophy.

(iv) granting agencies including National Science Foundation, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Flanders Research Foundation.

1991: Graduate Representative to Departmental Council and University Council of Graduate Students, University of Minnesota.

1987-1988: Vice-President of Graduate Students Association, and Member of University Senate, University of Calgary.

1985: Research Assistant for Prof. Stewart-Robertson, Philosophy, University of New Brunswick, Saint John. Duties: transcribing and editing unedited manuscripts of Thomas Reid.