I am a professor of Philosophy at Martin University in Indianapolis, IN. I have over ten years of experience and training as a philosopher, including an MA in Philosphy at the University of Houston and a PhD in Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine--as well as five years' experience teaching Philosophy at several institutions of higher learning. (Further information about my academic career can be found at my academia.edu page here.)
My main philosophical interests are in questions of personal identity, the metaphysics of mentality and the philosophy of science. In other words: "Who are we, what are we, and what are we doing to ourselves?"
My philosophical training is in the Analytic tradition. This means the focus of my education was on bringing intensely an intensely rigorous practice of logic and clear thinking to bear on a variety of difficult problems. In school, I tended to gravitate towards abstract metaphysical issues with a science-fictional bent. (Can computers have minds? Do properties exist independently of objects? Things like that...) But I also found that the skills in clear and rigorously honest thinking that I'd acquired along the way were helpful for thinking through meatier practical questions (for example, is it rational to act purely on hope? And, can we choose what to believe?) and even particular concrete situations (should I require my children to take piano lessons?).
Cases like these, together with an abiding desire to help others see themselves and their problems in the light of rigorous clarity, were what led me to an interest in Philosophical Counseling.
Aside from Philosophy, I am also a gamer (both on computers and on the tabletop), a very occasionally published poet, a parent of four children, and a person who loves to get into friendly discussions about politics and religion. I also keep a blog which discusses all these things and more, here.
