Curriculum Vitae
Last updated 1//24
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Philosophy, Purdue University, Indiana, 2022.
Committee: Michael Bergmann (chair), Paul Draper, Patrick Kain, and Jan Cover.M.A. Philosophy, Purdue University, Indiana, 2020.
M.A. Interdisciplinary Humanities, Trinity Western University, British Columbia, 2018.
B.A. Philosophy, Trinity Western University, British Columbia, 2016.
A.A. General Studies, Whatcom Community College, 2014.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Areas of Specialization: Ethics; Epistemology; Philosophy of Religion.
Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Mind; Cognitive Science of Religion.
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
University of Minnesota, Morris, Teaching Specialist (2022-2023)
BOOKS
32. (under contract) The Case Against Diversity Statements. [tentative title] Palgrave Macmillan.
31. (2023) Skeptical Theism. Palgrave Macmillan.
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
30. (forthcoming). "Abortion Restrictions are Good for Black Women," The New Bioethics.
29. (forthcoming). "The Pregnancy Rescue Case: Why Abortion is Immoral." The Journal of Medical Ethics.
28. (forthcoming). "Deontological sceptical theism proved." Religious Studies.
27. (2023). "The proper basicality of belief in God and the evil-god challenge." Religious Studies 59(1): 55-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412522000026
26. (2022). (with Samantha Seybold) "Unauthorized Pelvic Exams Are Sexual Assault" The New Bioethics 28(4): 368-376. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20502877.2022.2102132
25. (2022). “Causal Connections, Logical Connections, and Skeptical Theism: There Is No Logical Problem of Evil” Religions 13(7): 1-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070668
24. (2021). “The Axiology of Abortion: Should we Hope Pro-Choicers or Pro-Lifers are Right?” Ergo 7: 774-788. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/ergo.1126
23. (2021). (with Kirk Lougheed). "Conceptions of Faith" Oxford Bibliographies Online. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780195396577-0421.
22. (2021). [online first] "How to Debunk Animism" Philosophia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-021-00401-y.
21. (2021) [online first]. “My body, not my choice: against legalised abortion” The Journal of Medical Ethics . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-107194.
20. (2021). “Divine Hiddenness or De Jure Objections to Theism: You Cannot Have Both” Analysis 81 (1): 27-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anaa043
19. (2021). “We are not in the Dark: Refuting Popular Arguments Against Skeptical Theism” American Philosophical Quarterly 58 (2): 125-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/48614000.
18. (2021). (with Bruce Blackshaw) "Fine-Tuning The Impairment Argument" The Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (9):641-642. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106904.
17. (2020). (with Bruce Blackshaw) “Strengthening the Impairment Argument Against Abortion” The Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (7):515-518. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106153.
16. (2020). “The Subject’s Perspective Objection to Externalism and Why it Fails” Logos & Episteme 11 (3): 323-331. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/logos-episteme202011324.
15. (2020). “Skeptical Theism Proved” The Journal of the American Philosophical Association (6): 2: 264-274. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/apa.2019.45.
14. (2020). “Skeptical Theism Unscathed: Why Skeptical Objections to Skeptical Theism Fail” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 101 (1): 43-73 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/papq.12293.
13. (2020). (with Tina Anderson) “Does the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism Defeat God’s Beliefs?” Sophia 59: 489-499. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-019-00748-6.
12. (2020). “Response to Wunder: objective probability, non-contingent theism, and the EAAN,” Religious Studies 56 (2): 292-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412518000306. [published online in 2018]
11. (2019). “(Regrettably) Abortion remains immoral: The impairment argument defended” Bioethics 33 (8): 968-969. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12644.
10. (2019). “The Nature of Skeptical Theism: Answering Non-Standard Objections to Skeptical Theism” Philosophia Christi 21 (1): 105-119. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/pc201921112.
9. (2019). “Why the embryo rescue case is a bad argument against embryonic personhood” Bioethics 33 (6): 669-673. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12588.
8. (2019). “Even if the fetus is not a person, abortion is immoral: The impairment argument,” Bioethics 33 (2): 245-253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12533. (Top cited article in Bioethics 2018-2019)
7. (2019). (with Kirk Lougheed) “Undermining the Axiological Solution to Divine Hiddenness” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 86 (1): 3-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-018-9693-y.
6. (2018). “There is no right to the death of the fetus” Bioethics 32 (6): 395-397. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12455.
5. (2018). “How to be a Skeptical Theist and a Commonsense Epistemologist” Faith and Philosophy, 35 (3): 354-355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil2018614107.
4. (2018). “Sceptical theism and the evil-god challenge,” Religious Studies 54 (4): 549-561. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412518000094.
BOOK CHAPTERS
3. (2023). “Axiarchism: How to Narrow the Gap Between Pro-Theism and Anti-Theism,” in Kirk Lougheed (ed.) Value Beyond Monotheism: The Axiology of the Divine (Routledge): 114-128.
2. (2022). “The Impairment Argument Against Abortion” in Bruce Blackshaw, Nicholas Colgrave, and Daniel Rodgers (eds.) Agency, Pregnancy, and Persons. (Routledge): 162-175.
1. (2020). “Skeptical Theism, Pro-Theism, and Anti-Theism” and “Replies to Almeida, Dumsday, and Oppy” in Kirk Lougheed (ed.) Four Views on the Axiology of Theism: What Difference Does God Make? (Bloomsbury Academic): 43-44; 83-86; 95-115; 129-136; 164-167.
SELECT PRESENTATIONS (* = invited)
9. Debate with P.Z. Myers: Does God Exist?* (University of Minnesota, Morris), December, 2023.
8. The Pregnancy Rescue Case: Why Abortion is Immoral,"* Romanell Center for Clinical Ethics and the Philosophy of Medicine (University at Buffalo), May, 2023.
7. "The Impairment Argument,"* Romanell Center for Clinical Ethics and the Philosophy of Medicine (University at Buffalo), November, 2022.
6. "Two Kinds of Skeptical Theism,"* Virginia Philosophy of Religion Workshop (Virginia Commonwealth University), November, 2021.
5. "Axiarchism: How to Bridge the Gap Between Pro-Theism and Anti-Theism,"* Mini-Conference on The Axiology of Theism (Ryerson University (online)), June, 2021.
4. "The Real Commonsense Problem of Evil," Mountain-Pacific Meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers (online), May 2021. (Winner of Best Graduate Student Paper Award.)
3. "Skeptical Theism Proved," Midwest Meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers (Hope College), September 2019. (Winner of Best Graduate Student Paper Award.)
2. "Against the Divine Deception Objection to Skeptical Theism," Northwest Philosophy Conference (Washington State University), October 7, 2017,
1. "Objective Probability, Non-Contingent Theism, and The Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism," Conference on the Philosophy of Alvin Plantinga (Voronezh State University (Russia)), September 2017.
OTHER WRITING
3. "My Body, Not My Choice: The Complicated Ethics of Abortion" Blog of The American Philosophical Association, January 25. https://blog.apaonline.org/2023/01/25/my-body-not-my-choice-the-complicated-ethics-of-abortion/)
2. "A Publishing Guide for Graduate Students" Daily Nous, January 21, 2021. (https://dailynous.com/2021/01/21/publishing-guide-graduate-students-guest-post/)
1. “Abortion is Immoral Even if the Fetus is not a Person: The Impairment Argument” Philosophers on Abortion, Daily Nous, June 10, 2019. (http://dailynous.com/2019/06/10/philosophers-on-ethics-politics-abortion/)
SUBSTANTIAL DISCUSSIONS OF MY WORK
35. Simkulet, William. (forthcoming). "Ectogenesis Rescue Case: A Reply to Hendricks" Journal of Medical Ethics.
34. Gillham, Alex. (forthcoming). "Four Problems for The Pregnancy Rescue Case" Journal of Medical Ethics.
33. Davies, Nathan. (forthcoming). “The Pregnancy Rescue Case: a reply to Hendricks” Journal of Medical Ethics.
32. Blackshaw, Bruce. (forthcoming). “Defending the impairment argument” Journal of Medical Ethics.
31. Slater, Joe. (forthcoming). “The SIA Can't Just Go with the Flo.” HEC Forum.
30. van Oosterum, Kyle and Emma Curran. (forthcoming) “Impairing the impairment argument” Journal of Medical Ethics.
29. Bobier, Christopher. (forthcoming). “The impairment argument and future-like-ours: A problematic dependence.” Journal of Bioethical Inquiry.
28. Gillham, Alex. (forthcoming). "The impairment argument, ethics of abortion, and nature of impairing to the n+1 degree," Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy.
27. Simkulet, William. (forthcoming). "Three Problems with The Impairment Argument" Asian Bioethics Review.
26. Gillham, Alex. (forthcoming). "The impairment argument, ethics of abortion, and nature of impairing to the n + 1 degree" Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy.
25. Van Oosterum, Kyle. (forthcoming). "My body, still my choice: an objection to Hendricks on abortion." The Journal of Medical Ethics.
24. Cushing, Simon. (2023). "Why the wrongness of intentionally impairing children in utero does not imply the wrongness of abortion." Journal of Medical Ethics 49(2): 146-147.
23. Simkulet, William. (forthcoming). "Abortion, Rights, and Cabin Cases" The New Bioethics.
22. Singh, Prabhpal. (2022). “Killing and Impairing Fetuses.” The New Bioethics 28(2): 127-138.
21. Howard, Nathan. (forthcoming). “Maternal Autonomy and Prenatal Harm,” Bioethics.
20. Gillham, Alex. (forthcoming). “Abortion, the Impairment Argument, and Theories of Well-Being.” The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy.
19. Smith Tiddy. (2022). “How to Fail to Debunk Animism” Religions 13(7): 1-10.
18. Bobier, Christopher. (2022). “Extending the Impairment Argument to Sentient Non-Human Animals” Between the Species 25(1): 1-24.
17. Kaczor, Christopher. (2021). “Philosophy and Theology,” The National Catholic Bioethics Center. 127-132.
16. Curtis, Benjamin. (2021). [online first] "The Divine Hiddenness Objection is Not Costly for Atheists" Analysis 1-3.
15. Blackshaw, Bruce. (2021). [online first] “Strengthened Impairment Argument Does not Restate Marquis.” The Journal of Medical Ethics.
14. Lundgren, Bjorn. (2021). "Why the immorality of consuming alcohol during pregnancy cannot tell us that abortion is immoral: A reply to Hendricks" Bioethics 35(4):388-389.
13. Gillham, Alex. (2021). [online first] "Strengthened impairment argument: restating Marquis?" The Journal of Medical Ethics.
12. Simkulet, William. (2021). "On the impairment argument" Bioethics 35(5): 400-406.
11. Nobis, Nathan. (2020). "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Abortion." https://www.abortionarguments.com/2020/11/fetal-alcohol-syndrome-abortion.html
10. Chadwick, Ruth and Udo Schuklenk. (2020). This is Bioethics: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell. [Section 5.4.4 The Impairment Argument Against Abortion]
9: Crummett, Dustin. (2020). "The MIP Doesn't Save the Impairment Argument Against Abortion" The Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (7):519-520.
8. Gillham Alex. (2020). [online first] “Against the strengthened impairment argument: never-born fetuses have no FLO to deprive.” The Journal of Medical Ethics 1-6.
7. Rasanen, Joona. (2020). “Against the impairment argument: A reply to Hendricks” Bioethics 34(8): 862-864.
6. Crummett, Dustin. (2020). “Violinists, demandingness, and the impairment argument against abortion,” Bioethics 34 (2): 214-220.
5. Pickard, Claire. (2020). “Abortion is incommensurable with fetal alcohol syndrome” Bioethics 34 (2): 207-210.
4. Singh, Prabhpal. (2020). “Fetuses, Newborns, and Parental Responsibility” The Journal of Medical Ethics 46 (3): 188-193.
3. Blackshaw, Bruce. (2019b). “The impairment argument for the immorality of abortion revisited” Bioethics 34 (2): 723-724.
2. Blackshaw, Bruce. (2019a). “The impairment argument for the immorality of abortion: A reply” Bioethics 33 (6): 211-213.
1. Lancaster-Thomas, Asha. (2018). “The Evil-God Challenge Part II: Objections and Responses,” Philosophy Compass 13.8.
AWARDS
3. Best Graduate Student Paper Award “The Real Commonsense Problem of Evil,” Society of Christian Philosophers (online), 2021.
2. Best Graduate Student Paper Award “Skeptical Theism Proved,” Society of Christian Philosophers (Hope College), 2019.
1. The Ross Fellowship, Purdue University, 2018-2019.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor:
Epistemology (University of Minnesota, Morris)
Introduction to Logic (University of Minnesota, Morris)
Professional Ethics (University of Minnesota, Morris)
Philosophy of Religion (University of Minnesota, Morris)
Introduction to Philosophy (Purdue University)
Ethics (Purdue University)
Teaching Assistant
Biomedical Ethics (Purdue University)
Philosophy and Law (Purdue University)
Ethics for Engineers (Purdue University)
Religions of the East (Purdue University)
Introduction to Philosophy (Trinity Western University).
Contemporary Ethical Issues (Trinity Western University)
Interdisciplinary Studies (Trinity Western University)
Research Assistant
Epistemology and Metaphysics, for Michael Bergmann (Purdue University) 2022.
Cognitive Science of Religion, for Myron A. Penner (Trinity Western University) 2017-2018.
SERVICE
Academic Press Referee:
Bloomsbury Academic (2023, 2024)
Academic Journal Referee:
American Philosophical Quarterly (2021), American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly (2021), Bioethics (2019 3X), Ergo (2024), European Journal for Philosophy of Religion (2018), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2021), Journal of the American Philosophical Association (2022), Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (2022), Journal of Medical Ethics (2019, 2021), ,Journal of Philosophical Research (2018), The New Bioethics (2022), Philosophia (2021, 2022 2X), Philosophia Christi (2020, 2022), Philosophical Quarterly (2020), Philosophy Compass (2018), Sophia (2019, 2020, 2021).
REFERENCES
Professor Professor
Purdue University Purdue University
Professor Professor
Purdue University University at Buffalo