Research

Books:

1. Evil and Theodicy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 2023.

2. God, Suffering, and the Value of Free Will (New York: Oxford University Press), 2021.

3. Agency and Responsibility: Essays on the Metaphysics of Freedom (Boulder: Westview Press), 2001. [(New York: Routledge), 2018.] Edited, with Introduction.

4. Free Will: A Philosophical Study, Focus Series in Philosophy (Boulder: Westview Press), 2000. [(New York: Routledge), 2018.]

Book manuscript in progress:

Dialogues on Free Will (New York: Routledge), series editor Andrew Beck, under contract.

Articles Published in Academic Journals and Edited Volumes:

1.  “Precis” and “Replies to Kittle, O’Connor, and Senor,” Faith and Philosophy, book symposium on God, Suffering, and the Value of Free Will, forthcoming.

2.  “Forgiveness and the Emotions,” A Companion to Free Will, ed. Joseph K. Campbell (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell), forthcoming 2023.

3.  “Autonomy, Authenticity, and Free Will,” in The Routledge Handbook of Autonomy, ed. Benjamin Colburn (New York: Routledge, 2022), pp. 138-146.

4. “God, Moral Requirements, and the Limits of Freedom,” Religions vol. 12, no. 5 (2021): 285. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050285

5. “The Practical Life of God,” in Current Controversies in Philosophy of Religion, ed. Paul Draper (New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 109-126.

6. “Luck and Libertarianism,” in The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy and Psychology of Luck, eds. Robert Hartman and Ian Church (New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 239-247.

7. “Conscious Gestalts, Apposite Responses, and Libertarian Freedom,” in Free Will and the Law: New Perspectives, eds. Michael Sevel and Allan McCay (New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 44-55.

8. “Toward a Plausible Event-Causal Indeterminist Account of Free Will,” Synthese, vol. 196, no. 1 (2019): 127-144. (first online 04 July 2016, DOI: 10.1007/s11229-016-1143-8.)

9. “Compassion in Medicine,” in The Moral Psychology of Compassion, eds. Justin Caouette and Carolyn Price (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), pp. 113-128.

10. “Event-Causal Libertarianism,” The Routledge Companion to Free Will, eds. Neil Levy, Kevin Timpe, and Meghan Griffith (New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 62-71.

11. “The Cost of Freedom,” Free Will and Theism: Connections, Contingencies, and Concerns, eds. Kevin Timpe and Daniel Speak (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 62-78.

12. “Religion on the Cheap,” Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 6 (2015): 87-113.

13. “Rational Abilities and Responsibility,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 86, no. 2 (2013): 459-466.

14. “A Christian Theodicy,” in The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil, eds. Daniel Howard-Snyder and Justin McBrayer (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013), pp. 266-280. 

15. “Liars, Medicine, and Compassion,” The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Vol. 37, no. 2 (2012): 159-180.

16. “Free Will Is Not a Mystery,” in The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, second edition, ed. Robert Kane (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 366-380. 

17. “Ambivalence and Authentic Agency,” Ratio 23, no. 4 (December 2010): 374-392. Reprinted in Agents and Their Actions (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), pp. 20-38.

18. “Volition and the Will,” in The Blackwell Companion to the Philosophy of Action, eds. Timothy O’Connor and Constantine Sandis (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 99-107.

19. “Alienation, Autonomy, and the Self,” Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Vol. 29 (2005): 45-67.

20. “Autonomy and Personal Integration,” in Personal Autonomy: New Essays on Autonomy and Its Role in Contemporary Moral Philosophy, ed. James S. Taylor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 143-161.

21. “Inviting Sex,” Public Affairs Quarterly, Vol. 18, no. 3 (July 2004): 187-204.

22. “Suffering as Religious Experience,” in Christian Faith and the Problem of Evil, ed. Peter van Inwagen (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Press, 2004), pp. 95-110. Reprinted in Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology, eds. Michael Rea and Louis Pojman, sixth edition (Wadsworth, 2012), pp. 392 – 401.

23. “Free Will, Chance, and Mystery,” Philosophical Studies, Vol. 113 (March, 2003): 153-180.

24. “Libertarianism and Frankfurt-Style Cases,” in The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, first edition, ed. Robert Kane (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 309-322.

25. “Indeterminist Free Action,” in L. Ekstrom, ed., Agency and Responsibility: Essays on the Metaphysics of Freedom (Boulder: Westview, 2001), pp. 138-157.

26. “Introduction,” in L. Ekstrom, ed., Agency and Responsibility: Essays on the Metaphysics of Freedom (Boulder: Westview, 2001).

27. “Keystone Preferences and Autonomy,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Vol. 59, No. 4 (December, 1999): 1057-1063.

28. “Protecting Incompatibilist Freedom,” American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 3, (July, 1998): 281-291.

29. “Freedom, Causation, and the Consequence Argument,” Synthese, Vol. 115, No. 3 (June, 1998): 333-354.

30. “Causes and Nested Counterfactuals,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 73, No. 4, (December, 1995): 574-578.

31. “A Coherence Theory of Autonomy,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 53, No. 3 (September, 1993): 599 - 616. 

PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS

1. February 23, 2023. “Précis” and “Replies to Finch and Speak,” Author Meets Critics session on God, Suffering, and the Value of Free Will, Society of Christian Philosophers Meeting at the Central A.P.A., Denver, CO (invited). Critics: Daniel Speak and Alicia Finch.

2. January 28, 2022. “God, Suffering, and the Value of Free Will: Reply to Critics,” Author Meets Critics session on God, Suffering, and the Value of Free Will at The Significance of Human Persons and The Image of God Conference, Pacific Atlantic University (invited). Critics: Tim O’Connor, Simon Kittle, and Thomas Senor.

3. December 8, 2021. “Free Will’s Value,” Department of Philosophy, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada (online conference) (invited).

4. September 26, 2019. “Indeterminist Free Will,” Free Will and Causation Conference, University of Düsseldorf, Germany (invited).

5. October 7, 2017. “Whose Fault Is Hell?” Theistic Ethics Workshop, William & Mary, co-directed by Chris Tucker, Mark Murphy, and Christian Miller (invited).

6. April 2, 2016: “Free Will Skepticism, Event-Causal Libertarianism, and Forgiveness,” Pacific A.P.A. Author-Meets-Critics symposium on Derk Pereboom’s Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life, San Francisco, CA (invited).

7. October 19, 2015: “Suffering and the Value of Free Will,” The Butler Society, Oriel College, Oxford University, Oxford, England (invited).

8. October 14, 2015: “Suffering and the Value of Free Will,” University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England (invited).

9. May 7, 2015: “Comments on ‘Religious Experience Without Belief? Faith, Imagination, and Emotion’ by Amber Griffioen” Logos Workshop on Religious Experience, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN (invited).

10. September 26, 2014: “Commentary on Alvin Plantinga’s ‘Law, Cause, and Occasionalism’,” Faith and Reason: Themes from Swinburne Conference, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (invited).

11. August 5, 2014: “Would God Create Beings With Libertarian Free Will?” Conference on Divine Action, University of Innsbruck, Austria (peer reviewed).

12. April 23, 2014: “Libertarianism, Luck, and Value,” Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ (invited).

13. March 7, 2014: “Hope for Free Will Libertarianism?” Freedom, Determinism, and Responsibility Conference, The Queen’s College, Oxford University, England (invited).

14. May 10, 2013: “Religion on the Cheap,” Logos Workshop on Theological Realism and Theological Anti-Realism, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN (invited).

15. November 9, 2012: “The Cost of Freedom,” Baylor-Georgetown-Notre Dame Philosophy of Religion Conference, San Antonio, TX (invited).

16. April 20, 2012: “Evil, God, and Love,” Department of Philosophy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (invited).

17. November 18, 2011: “Luck and Human Agency,” Department of Philosophy Colloquium Series, University of Virginia (invited).

18. October 8, 2011: “Commentary on Dana Nelkin’s ‘Forgiveness and Free Will’,” Bowdoin College, Conference on Free Will, Brunswick, Maine (invited).

19. April 9, 2011: “The Nature of the Will,” Conference on The Will: Past and Present, University of Southampton, England, UK (invited).

20. October 23, 2010: “Accounting for Luck,” Keynote Address, Virginia Philosophical Association, Marymount University, Arlington, VA (invited).

21. March 31, 2010: “What Is the Will?” Pacific Division Meetings of the American Philosophical Association, read in absentia by Julie Tannenbaum, comments by Tamar Shapiro, San Francisco, CA (peer reviewed). 

22. October 31, 2008: “The Role of Will in Free Will Theory,” Mind, Body and Free Will Conference, University of California, Riverside, Department of Philosophy (peer reviewed).

23. July 9, 2007: “Libertarian Agent Control,” Joint Sessions of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, University of Bristol, England, UK (peer reviewed).

24. April 29, 2006: “Compassion, Autonomy, and Respect,” Central Division Meetings of the American Philosophical Association, Chicago, IL (invited).

25. March 24, 2006: “A Disease of the Mind,” Department of Philosophy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (invited).

26. March 14, 2006: “Ambivalence, Coherence, and Autonomy,” Department of Philosophy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (invited).

27. November 18, 2003: “Autonomy and Personal Integration,” Department of Philosophy, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA (invited).

28. October 18, 2002: “Abortion and Fetal Invitation,” Virginia Philosophical Association, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA (invited).

29. September 13, 2002: “Free Will, Chance, and Mystery,” Persons and Freedom Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (peer reviewed).

30. January 19, 2002: “Free Will, Chance, and Mystery,” Causation and Free Will Conference, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (invited).

31. November 10, 2000: “Autonomy and Victimization,” Philosophy Department, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA (invited).

32. May 23, 2000: “Suffering as Religious Experience,” God and Evil Conference, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (invited).

33. April 7, 2000: “Responsibility and Moderate Reasons-responsiveness,” Author Meets Critics session on Responsibility and Control by John Martin Fischer and Mark Ravizza, Pacific Division Meetings, American Philosophical Association, Albuquerque, NM (invited).

34. January 21, 2000: “Indeterminism in Human Agency,” Department of Philosophy, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (invited).

35. November 12, 1999: “Event-Causal Libertarian Theory,” Department of Philosophy, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA (invited).

36. March 6, 1999: “Indeterminist Free Action,” Mid-South Philosophy Conference, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN (peer reviewed).

37. February 11, 1999: “Freedom and Indeterminism,” Department of Philosophy, Davidson College, Davidson, NC (invited).

38. February 13, 1998: “Free Will and Significance,” Department of Philosophy, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI (invited).

39. January, 1998: “God and Evil,” Department of Philosophy, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA (invited).

40. December, 1996: “Lehrer on Keystone Preferences,” Eastern Division Meetings, American Philosophical Association, Atlanta, GA (invited).

41. May, 1995: “Knowledge and Social Norms,” Maine Philosophical Institute, Lewiston, ME (peer reviewed).

42. March, 1994: “Comments on ‘Causation and Causal Direction’ by Kadri Vihvelin,” Pacific Division Meetings, American Philosophical Association, Los Angeles, CA (invited).

43. February, 1993: “A Coherence Theory of Autonomy,” Department of Philosophy, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (invited).

44. January, 1993: “Causation, Counterfactuals, and Freedom,” Department of Philosophy, Bates College, Lewiston, ME (invited).

45. January, 1993: “Causation, Counterfactuals, and Freedom,” Department of Philosophy, Denison University, Denison, OH (invited).

46. January, 1993: “Causation, Counterfactuals, and Freedom,” Department of Philosophy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (invited). 

47. December, 1992: “Toward a Libertarian Theory of Freedom,” Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (invited).