Faculty
Belmont Philosophy faculty have a wide range of expertise and specialties. To go to the professor's website, use the link to the right.
Dr. Mark Anderson
Specialties: Ancient Philosophy; Nietzsche; Ancient Greek language, art, literature, and history
Dr. H. Mike Awalt
Specialties: Existentialism and Phenomenology, Postmodernism, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Philosophy of Film. Recent areas of research and publication: Philosophy and Film (Boston: Copley Publishing). Faculty sponsor of Phi Sigma Tau Belmont's chapter of the National Honor Society in Philosophy.
Dr. Noel Boyle
Specialties: Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Science. Areas of Competence: Metaphysics, Phenomenology, and Plato's Ethics. Recent areas of research and publication: Phenomenology, Psychology and Neuroscience: Towards a Three-Tiered Intertheoretic Model of Explanation .
Dr. Andrew Davis
Specialties: 18th, 19th and 20th century German Philosophy (esp. Kant, Hegel)
Recent Areas of Research and Publication: A translation of Schelling’s “On Construction in Philosophy” (Forthcoming); The impact of Platonic texts on German Idealism; Modern theories of ideas; Hegel’s use of images
Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn, Chairman
Specialties: Comparative Philosophy, especially Chinese thought, Ethics, Early Modern Thought, Wittgenstein, Hume, and Russell. Recent areas of research and publication: Books: Becoming Uncarved Wood: the Story of Daoism; Polishing the Chinese Mirror: Essays in Honor of Henry Rosemont, Jr ; Riding the Wind: New Essays on the Daoist Classic the Liezi. Articles in Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy: Philosophy East and West; Journal of Ethics and Leadership; Ching Feng; Southeast Review of Asian Studies; East-West Connections: Review of Asian Studies. Member of the Executive Boards of The Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy; the Southeastern Regional Conference of Asian Studies; and The Association of Regional Centers of the Asian Studies Devlopment Program
Dr. Virginia Osborn
Specialties: Classical and Analytical Philosophy, Aristotle, Epistemology, Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, Philosophy and Feminism. Recent areas of research and publication: Friendship and Forgiveness Current work in progress On Beauty.
Dr. Thomas Leonard-Martin
Areas of Specialization and Interest: the philosophy of science, especially evolution, and philosophy of biology; the philosophy of religion, especially science, religion, and intelligent design issues; Classical American philosophy; Social and Political philosophy, especially feminism, race and class; and Environmental, Medical and Research Ethics. Most of Dr. Leonard-Martin’s professional life has been involved with clinical research and medical imaging services in ophthalmology, especially diabetic retinopathy.
Dr. Sam von Mizener
Specialties: Wittgenstein, History of 20th century analytic philosophy, ethics. Recent areas of research: Schopenhauer’s influence on the ethical in Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, specifically with a view to understanding why Wittgenstein claims that ethics and aesthetics are one and the same. Current areas of interest: comparative analysis of William James and (the later) Wittgenstein with respect to how they see the role and meaning of religious beliefs. I am an active member of the Tennessee Philosophical Association, and have read a paper at the TPA’s annual conference for the past three years.
