Biography
I have taught philosophy both at the university level and the high school level; my interests are primarily in applied ethics and critical thinking. I have also written a regular column for Britain's popular philosophy magazines (first for Philosophy Now and then for The Philosopher's Magazine); my column for TPM is now part of their online philosophy café. I have written/edited Ethical Issues in Business: Inquiries, Cases, and Readings (broadview press) and Should Parents be Licensed: Debating the Issues (Prometheus Books); I have also written a few chapters for McGraw-Hill's high school philosophy text, and am now preparing Longman's critical thinking text. I'm also hoping to write a second comic novel (the first is as yet unpublished).
I live with a dog in a cabin on a lake in a forest. We're very happy together.
Why I Wrote this Book
What If: Collected Thought Experiments in Philosophy was initially conceived as a handy reference for philosophers of all kinds and levels. We use thought experiments a lot and though the experiments themselves are memorable, we can never seem to remember the source.
However, it soon became apparent that the book would make a great supplement or intro philosophy courses: thought experiments are delightful door-openers (one of my classes spent some time discussing whether or not to blow me up – see Brandt's Spelunkers), and who knows, some student might be so intrigued by which way James walks home (see James' Way Home) or whether Jill knows that the political leader has been assassinated (see Harman's False Report) that she or he will decide to pursue a degree in philosophy, perhaps even establish a career in metaphysics or epistemology… And since it seems that those philosophers working in ethics are particularly fond of thought experiments, the book may fit quite nicely in ethics courses as well. Someone suggested using in critical thinking courses too - I hadn't thought of that, but now that I do…
Now that the book is done, I'm thinking it may, more than traditional philosophy texts, achieve three common and important objectives of philosophy courses: (i) awaken intellectual curiosity – because each thought experiment presents a puzzling, and sometimes addictively intriguing, situation that demands a response; (ii) demonstrate that philosophy is valuable – because many of these thought experiments address a genuine problem in life, despite appearing to be quite 'off the wall'; (iii) initiate students to the disciplined kind of thought required by philosophy – because in the course of working out their response, students will learn how to think clearly and coherently.
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