2025
October 23, 7:00-8:00pm: What Is Time? Some Philosophical Alternatives at the Berea branch of Greenville County Library
Wednesday, November 5, 7:00-8:00pm, The People's Tap , "What is Consciousness?"
How exactly is it possible for consciousness to exist? Can it be reduced to purely physical parts and processes, or is there something about consciousness that evades materialistic explanations? And why do we have consciousness, anyway? Does it have a merely biological function, or does it confer some sort of unique moral status upon conscious organisms?
Friday, November 7. "Hume on Miracles, Part 1" at Greenville Classical Academy.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025. 2:15pm-3:15pm. "Locke's Second Treatise of Government." Greenville Technical College, Barton Campus, CHLS (101) Building, Room 122. As part of the Humanities Department's "Revolutionary Tribunal" Series, my esteemed colleague Dr. McAbee will give an overview of England's 1688 Glorious Revolution, and I will give an overview of John Locke's Second Treatise (often seen as a vindication of the Glorious Revolution). Open to the public.
Wednesday, November 19. "Hume on Miracles, Part 2" at Greenville Classical Academy.
Wednesday, December 3. "The Puzzle of Universals" at The People's Tap
One of the oldest questions in philosophy concerns the relationship between universals and particulars. We can easily point at particular items, like this equilateral triangle or that isosceles triangle. We call them both triangles because they supposedly share something in common: triangularity. But where is triangularity located? Can we see it or touch it? Is it even real? What is the relationship between triangularity and particular triangles, or, for that matter, between greenness and individual green things? Would there be such a thing as triangularity or greenness if all the individual triangles and green things were destroyed? Come find out if you’re a Platonist at the People’s Tap on December 3!
2026
Wednesday, January 7, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "What is a Table? Substances and Their Properties" at The People's Tap
We can perceive the properties of a table: its shape, its color, its weight, and so forth. But where is the table itself, the thing to which those properties belong? Is the table just the sum total of its properties, or is there an unseen substratum that bears or possesses them?
Thursday, January 29, 6:30pm-7:30pm. "What is a Table? Substances and Their Properties" at the Simpsonville Branch of Greenville County Library.
We can perceive the properties of a table: its shape, its color, its weight, and so forth. But where is the table itself, the thing to which those properties belong? Is the table just the sum total of its properties, or is there an unseen substratum that bears or possesses them?
Wednesday, February 4, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "What is Causation?" at The People's Tap
Monday, February 16, 2026, 6:30pm-7:30pm. "Are There Any Objective Moral Facts?" at the Mauldin (W. Jack Greer) Branch of the Greenville County Library.
When we say that an action is “right” or “wrong,”, we aren’t talking about anything physical or observable. So what exactly are moral “rightness” and “wrongness,” and how could we possibly know which actions have those properties?
Thursday, March 5, 2026. "Free Will" at Spartanburg Methodist University's"Question Everything" event. 3:30-4:30pm, Ellis Conference Room.
Wednesday, March 4, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "Why is there something instead of nothing?" at The People's Tap
Wednesday, April 1, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "Miracles and the uniformity of nature" at The People's Tap
Tuesday, April 14, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "Does Everything Happen for a Reason?" at the Simpsonville Branch of Greenville County Library.
Philosophers have historically debated the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which says that there is a sufficient reason for why everything exists or happens. Is it even true? Or are there “brute facts” which just don’t have any ultimate explanation? If the PSR is true, what does it imply? Some philosophers argue that the PSR proves God’s existence, while others argue that it disproves God’s existence. And is the PSR compatible with human free will? Come join the conversation!
Tuesday, April 21, 6:30-7:30pm. "Resist? Tyranny and revolution in political philosophy," at the Mauldin (W. Jack Greer) Branch of the Greenville County Library.
As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence reminds us, America was founded on the conviction that resistance to tyranny is morally justified. Political philosophers such as John Locke provide a theoretical basis for this conviction. But more conservative philosophers, such as David Hume, contest Locke’s theory, and Socrates even accepted an unjust death penalty rather than resist the legal authority of Athens. Come discuss these arguments over resistance and revolution with your fellow citizens!
Wednesday, May 6, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "Am I the same person as I was ten minutes ago? Personal identity through change," at The People's Tap
Wednesday, June 3, 7:00pm-8:00pm. "What is truth?" at The People's Tap