Writings:

Some new things and things in progress:

      • Why Think That? Reason, Argument and Ethics: A Guide To Making Moral Progress. A short book on logic and critical thinking that focuses on how to think (not what to think) about ethical questions that is geared toward students and scientists, called (see http://www.WhyThinkThat.com). The book is designed to bridge the 'gap' between how philosophers / logicians often think about moral issues -- especially the methods they use -- and how non-philosophers often address moral issues, and address some of common cognitive, emotional and social barriers to using philosophical methods in addressing moral questions.
      • African-American Philosophy: A Short Analytical Introduction to Philosophy of Race
Synopsis: I argue that common reasons to think that no moral judgments are true suggest that epistemic judgments, e.g., that some belief is rational, justified or should be held, are not true either. I argue that these epistemic anti-realisms are rationally unacceptable and that the major premises that entail them are false. Thus, I undercut the case against moral realism, which rests on these premises. Chapters:
 1. Moral & Epistemic Realisms
 2. Defending Epistemic Deontologies
 3. Ayer and Stevenson's Ethical and Epistemological Emotivisms
 4. Hare's Epistemological Universal Prescriptivism
 5. Mackie's Epistemic Nihilism
 6. Harman's Epistemic Relativism
 7. Contemporary Moral and Epistemic Irrealisms

Courses and teaching / advising materials:

Links: