Gustavus Adolphus College

Professor
Philosophy

For many years now (really more than I care to count), my primary philosophical interests have focused on a variety of problems in virtue ethics, philosophy of religion, and issues raised by Wittgenstein. A brief sample of some of my recent articles concerning these issues may illustrate this tendency, “The Role of Character in Moral Judgments,” “Wittgenstein, Solipsism, and Religious Belief,” and “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Life and Work.” Forthcoming publications include: “Wittgenstein and the Futility of Skeptical Doubt,” and “Wittgenstein and Mysticism.”

Recent presentations include an invited talk at Oxford University on my play, Emil’s Enemies, which was also given a staged Reading, and presentation of my paper, “Wittgenstein and the Mystery of Consciousness,” in Calcutta, India.

As seen above, I am a playwright as well as a philosopher and I have had a number of professional productions of my plays over the years. Plays most recently produced are Emil’s Enemies, New York, NY (2001), and Bangalore, India (2003); and Ophelia, Santa Fe, NM (2004). Other plays include, Hungry Ghosts, The Blind Venetian (Midwest Theatre Finalist Award), Jean Paul Savage and the Reichenbach Fall (winner of the Gilmore Creek National Playwriting Competition), Caravanserai, and Minerva, Minnesota.

I am also very interested in international education and have led study abroad trips to Greece, Turkey, and India. This fall (2007) I will lead my third group for the Gustavus Adolphus College/Concordia College semester abroad program in India. I have also been a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University (two years) and a Visiting Professor at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara Turkey as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer (two years). During the winter and spring of 2008, I am scheduled to return to Oxford as a Visiting Fellow.

I am currently working on two new projects; a play, based on the life and work of B.R. Ambedkar, who was a founding father of modern India; and a short article on Bertrand Russell’s famous 1905 paper, “On Denoting.”