Joseph Anderson, PhD

Dr Anderson’s work focuses on structures of beliefs, particularly around beliefs about that which transcends experience. I’m particularly interested in the relationship between those beliefs and human flourishing. I’m particularly disturbed by the ways in which the socially enforced beliefs in our cultures detract from human flourishing.

Dr Anderson is trained in the history of early modern philosophy, especially the relationship between concepts from metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and science/natural philosophy.

Education

Chateaubriand Fellow, Universite Paris I: Pantheon—Sorbonne. 2013-4. Project advisor: Paul Rateau

PhD, Philosophy, University of South Florida, 2014. Dissertation: “Leibniz’s Theodicies.” Major Professor: Roger Ariew.

MA, Philosophy, University of South Florida, 2012.

BA, Philosophy, University of Central Florida, 2006.

Select Publications

“The ‘Necessity’ of Leibniz’s Rejection of Necessitarianism”, Journal of Early Modern Studies, 10.1 (2021), 75-91.

“Wagering with and without Pascal”, JA and Daniel Collette, Res Philosophica, 95.1 (2018), 95-110.

“Cartesian Privations: Material Causation in Pierre-Sylvain Regis’s Cartesian Account of Sin”, Journal of Early Modern Studies, 5.2 (2016), 81-100.

“Two Misreadings of Leibniz’s Theory of Metaphysical Evil”, La modernidad en perspectiva: A trescientos anos del fallecimiento de Leibniz. Edited by R. Casales Garcia and J.M. Castro Manzano. Editorial Comares.

(Selected) Appointments and Courses

University of Virginia (2022-2024)

  • Philosophical Perspectives on Liberty

  • Intro to Moral and Political Philosophy

  • Forms of Reasoning

Allen University (2020-2022)

Western Thought

Central Michigan University (2015-2020)

  • Early Modern Philosophy

  • Philosophy of Religion

  • Moral Problems

  • Intro to Philosophy

Saint Leo University (2015- )

Philosophical Foundations for Theology (Graduate Course)