VA Philosophers

Updated May 2014. This list is a work-in-progress. Please send additions and corrections to the secretary.

Map of Virginia's Colleges and Universities

VA PHILOSOPHY CENTERS and INSTITUTES

JMU's Logic and Reasoning Institute

GMU's Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy

W&L's Roger Mudd Center for Ethics

PRIVATE NON-PROFIT FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS offering an Undergraduate Philosophy Major

Many of these institutions are members of The Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV).

Many of these institutions are members of The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC)

Christendom College (Front Royal)

• Douglas Flippen
• John Cuddeback
• Steve Snyder
• Raymund O'Herron
• Mark Wunsch
• Michael Brown

Emory & Henry College (Emory)

• Ben Letson (ethics, bioethics, modern and contemporary philosophy, comparative philosophy)
• Brynn Welch (ethics, political philosophy)

Ferrum College (Ferrum)

• Gary Angel (phenomenology and existentialism, philosophy of religion and theology, hermeneutics, metaphysics)
• Jack Corvin (ethics, philosophy of law, philosophy of history, 19th century continental philosophy

Hampden-Sydney College (Hampden-Sydney)

Events & Speakers

• Marc Hight (early modern philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of social science)
• James Janowski (ethics, philosophy of art, social philosophy)
• Patrick Wilson

Hollins College (Roanoke)

• James Patrick Downey (metaphysics, critical thinking, logic)
• Michael Gettings (philosophy of art, modal logic, modal metaphysics, language

Liberty University (Lynchburg)

• Gary Habermas (religious doubt, personal suffering)
  • Edward Martin (metaphysics, philosophy of religion, early modern philosophy)
  • Edward Baggett (ethics, philosophy and popular culture, philosophy of religion, philosophy of sport)
• David Beck (philosophy of religion)
• Mark Foreman (bioethics)
• Craig Hinkson (Kierkegaard)
• Michael Jones (comparative philosophy and philosophy of religion)
• Thom Provenzola (religious epistemology and philosophy of religion)

Lynchburg College (Lynchburg)

Events & Speakers

• Thomas Brickhouse (ancient)
• Stephen Dawson (political philosophy, philosophy of religion)
• Lesley Friedman (early modern, epistemology, metaphysics, Peirce)
• Ron Martin (applied ethics, existentialism, aesthetics)

Marymount College (Arlington)

• Michael Boylan (ethics, social/political philosophy, philosophy of science, history of philosophy, philosophy and literature)
• Ariane Economos
• Adam Kovach (metaphysics, philosophy of psychology)

Randolph College (Lynchburg)

• David Schwartz (applied ethics, aesthetics)
• Kaija Mortensen (metaphilosophy, epistemology, mind)

Randolph-Macon College (Ashland)

• Donna Turney
• Benjamin Huff (ethics, comparative philosophy, ancient greek philosophy, philosophy of mind)
• Robert Gray

Roanoke College (Salem)

• Brent Adkins (19th and 20th century European philosophy, modern philosophy, political philosophy)
• James Peterson (bioethics)
• Monica Villhauer (ethics, social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, ancient philosophy, 19th & 20th century European philosophy)
• Hans Zorn (philosophy of religion, ancient & medieval philosophy, metaphysics

Southern Virginia University (Buena Vista)

• Jan-Erik Jones (modern philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics)
• John Armstrong (ancient philosophy, ethics, political philosophy)

University of Richmond (Richmond)

Events & Speakers

• Geoffrey Goddu (language, mind, logic, science fiction)
• Uygar Abaci (early modern philosophy, especially Kant)
• David Lefkowitz (political philosophy, philosophy of law, ethics)
• Miriam McCormick (early modern, epistemology, ethics)
• Brannon McDaniel (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science)
• Ladelle McWhorter (20th century French and German philosophy, queer theory, political theory)
• Nancy Schauber (ethics, philosophy of law, ancient philosophy)

Virginia Union University (Richmond)

• Peter Sutton (philosophy of language, decision theory, logic, philosophy of mind, metaethics, applied ethics)

Virginia Wesleyan College (Norfolk)

• Steven Emmanuel (moral and religious philosophy)
• Patrick Goold (early modern philosophy)
• Larry Hultgren (bioethics)
• Cathal Woods (ancient philosophy, reasoning, happiness)

Washington & Lee University (Lexington)

Events & Speakers

• Paul Gregory (philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, quine)
• Melina Bell (social and political philosophy, philosophy of law, feminist philosophy)
• Greg Cooper (professional and normative ethics, public policy, philosophy of science)
• Nathaniel Goldberg (epistemology, modern philosophy, philosophy of language, metaphysics)
• James Mahon (moral philosophy, early modern philosophy)
• Angela Smith (moral and political philosophy, moral psychology, ancient philosophy)
• Florentien Verhage (phenomenology, continental philosophy, cognitive science, feminist philosophy)

GRADUATE PROGRAMS in Philosophy

George Mason University (Fairfax)

• Erik Angner (history and philosophy of economics, ethics, social and political philosophy)
• Derek Boyd (political philosophy, economics, ethics, bioethics)
• Rose Cherubin (ancient philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy)
• Martin De Nys (19th & 20th century continental philosophy, political philosophy, ontology)
• Christopher Diteresi (philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, American pragmatism)
• Lisa Eckenwiler (bioethics, health care ethics, public health ethics, feminist ethical and political theory)
• Wayne Froman (contemporary continental, phenomenology, hermeneutics, aesthetics)
• Donald Gregory (logic, critical thinking, history of philosophy, philosophy of religion)
• Emmett Holman (epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology)
• Rachel Jones (Kant, Irigaray, Nietzsche, feminist theory)
• Theodore Kinnaman (early modern philosophy)
• Andrew Light (environmental ethics and policy, ethics of emerging technologies, risk assessment)
• Roger Paden (social and political philosophy, ethics and applied ethics, environmental ethics)
• Mark Sagoff (public policy, environmental ethics, bioethics, philosophy of technology, philosophy of economics)
• Marek Sojka (philosophy and literature)
• Gwynne Taraska (public policy (energy and climate), classical and nonclassical logics)
• Erick Valdes (bioethics)

University of Virginia (Charlottesville)

Events & Speakers

• Sahar Akhtar (political philosophy, bioethics, philosophy of economics)
• John Arras (bioethics, ethics, political philosophy)
• Laura Biron (legal and political philosophy, bioethics, philosophy of religion)
• Talbot Brewer (ethics, legal and political philosophy)
• James Cargile (epistemology, ethics, history of philosophy, logic, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics)
• Daniel Devereux (ancient, metaphysics)
• Brie Gertler (mind, epistemology, metaphysics, methodology of philosophy)
• Paul Humphreys (philosophy of science, logic, metaphysics, epistemology, mind)
• Harold Langsam (mind, epistemology)
• Antonia LoLordo (early modern philosophy)
• Loren Lomasky (ethics, legal and political philosophy, philosophy of gastronomy)
• Trenton Merricks (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, mind)
• Dominic Scott (ancient philosophy, ethics, the philosophy of organizations)
• Jorge Secada (early modern philosophy, medieval, ethics, political philosophy)
• John Simmons (ethics, legal and political philosophy)
• Rebecca Stangl (ethics, history of philosophy)

Virginia Tech (Blacksburg)

Events & Speakers

• Benjamin Jantzen (philosophy of science)
• Jim Klagge (Wittgenstein, moral philosophy, metaphysics, 20th century analytic philosophy)
• Deborah Mayo (philosophy of statistics, philosophy of science)
• Michael Moehler (moral and political philosophy)
• Tristram McPherson (metaethics, normative ethics, epistemology)
• Walter Ott (history of modern philosophy, philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology)
• Lydia Patton (history and philosophy of science, Kant and Neo-Kantianism)
• Joseph Pitt (history and philosophy of science and technology)
• Kelly Trogdon (history and philosophy of science and technology)

PUBLIC NON-PROFIT FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS offering an Undergraduate Philosophy Major

Christopher Newport University (Newport News)

Events & Speakers

• Deborah Campbell (19th & 20th century continental, existentialism, phenomenology, medical ethics, feminism)
• Matthew Homan (early modern philosophy)
• Elizabeth Jelinek (classical, philosophy of science, medieval philosophy, epistemology and metaphysics)
• John Park (ethics, philosophy of mind/language, philosophy of cognitive science, social & political philosophy)
• Kip Redick (philosophy of space/place, environmental studies, religious communication and aesthetics)
• Eric Silverman (medieval , ethics, philosophy of religion, history of philosophy, popular culture and philosophy)
• George Teschner (comparative philosophy, continental, language and literature, environmental philosophy)
• Lori Underwood (Kant studies, logic and critical thinking, epistemology, legal reasoning, philosophy of law)

College of William & Mary (Williamsburg)

Events & Speakers

• Victoria Costa (social & political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of education, environmental ethics, bioethics)
• Timothy Costelloe (early modern philosophy, moral philosophy, aesthetics)
• Paul Davies (problems in biology, neuroscience, and psychology)
• Laura Ekstrom (metaphysics, philosophy of religion, applied ethics, action theory and moral psychology)
• Christopher Freiman (political philosophy, normative ethics, applied ethics, moral psychology)
• Joshua Gert (practical rationality, metaethics, philosophy of color, philosophy of language)
• Alan Goldman (epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of law)
• Matthew Haug (philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and philosophy of science)
• Noah Lemos (epistemology, ethics)
• Andreja Novakovic (19th & 20th century German philosophy, especially Hegel)
• Valerie Philbrick-DeBrava (normative and applied ethics)
• Elizabeth Radcliffe (early modern philosophy, moral philosophy and metaethics, action theory)
• Neal Tognazzini (metaphysics, ethics)

James Madison University (Harrisonburg)

• Thomas Adajian (metaphysics, aesthetics, logic)
• Pia Antolic-Piper (medieval and ancient philosophy, aesthetics)
• Charles Bolyard (medieval, epistemology, metaphysics, classical, early modern)
• Franklin Debrot
• Daniel Flage (history of modern, logic, critical thinking)
• Patrick Fleming (ethics, metaethics and history of modern philosophy)
• Jeffrey Goodman (metaphysics, language, mind, epistemology, metaphilosophy)
• William Hawk (social & political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of religion)
• Steven Hoeltzel (Kant, post-Kantian philosophy, Fichte, phenomenology, existentialism, contemporary philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind)
• William Knorpp (metaphysics, epistemology)
• Jason Johnstone-Yellin
• Tracy Lupher (physics, science, metaphysics, logic, language, analytical philosophy)
• Jesse Newton (early modern philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, and the philosophy of religion)
• Samuel Nicholson (philosophy of mind)
• William O'Meara (phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism, Karl Marx, ethics, critical thinking)
• Mark Piper (normative ethics, applied ethics, moral theory)
• Michael Trocchia
• Andrea Veltman (moral theory, social and political philosophy)
• Anne Wiles (ancient, medieval, metaphysics, epistemology)

Longwood University (Farmville)

• Mark Lukas (ethical theory, history of philosophy)
• Eric Moore (ethical Theory, social and political philosophy, applied ethics, metaethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, logic)
• Scott Senn (ethics, environmental ethics, bio-medical ethics, history of philosophy, ancient philosophy)

Old Dominion University (Norfolk)

• Robyn Bluhm (bioethics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science)
• William H. Brenner (Wittgenstein, philosophy of religion, modern philosophy, and logic)
• Melissa Bristow
• Anne Cahill (history of philosophy, applied ethics)
• Scott Girdner (philosophy of religion)
• David Godden (epistemology, logic)
• Lawrence Hatab (19th and 20th century continental, ancient)
• William Hathaway (philosophy of religion, philosophy of psychology)
• Shannon Love
• Mary Marshall (aesthetics)
• Dale Miller (ethics, social-political philosophy)
• Yvette E. Pearson (bioethics)
• Chad Weiner (ancient philosophy)
• Nicole Willock (Asian philosophy and religions)
• D.E. Wittkower (value theory applied to technology, business, media and popular culture, philosophy of race and gender)

Radford University (Radford)

• Guy Axtell (epistemology, metaphysics, science technology and society studies, philosophy of religion)
• Gilburt Goffstein (ethics, history of philosophy, critical social theory)
• Joe Jones (ancient, metaphysics, logic, ethics)
• Sharon Hartline (ethics, applied ethics, modern philosophy, feminist philosophy)
• Glen Martin (philosophy of religion, philosophy of language,history of philosophy, comparative philosophy, peace studies)

University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg)

• David Ambuel (ancient philosophy, Indian and Asian philosophy, metaphysics, Kant)
• Mehdi Aminrazavi (medieval philosophy, Islamic philosophy, philosophy of religion, Eastern religions, metaphysics)
• Jason Matzke (ethics, applied ethics, philosophy of law, social and political philosophy)
• Nina Mikhalevsky (aesthetics, ethics, political and social theory, American philosophy, history of philosophy)
• Craig Vasey (contemporary French and German philosophy, Marx, Nietzsche, feminism, race, phenomenology and existentialism)

Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)

Speakers & Events

• Ken Akiba (metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophical logic)
• Andrew Alwood (metaethics, philosophy of language)
• Anthony J. Ellis (ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of law)
• Lisa Leininger (philosophy of science and metaphysics)
• Eugene Mills (philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology)
• Donald Smith (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion)
• Catherine Sutton (metaphysics)
• Mikhail (Mike) Valdman (ethics, political philosophy)