The Department of Philosophy is fortunate to have on its faculty experts in a broad
range of philosophical topics. All the traditional areas of philosophy, as well as
several major sub-specialties, are represented. The following list of the department
members will tell you a bit about us.
Please help us welcome Dr. Scott Hill and Dr. Angela Sager, who will join us this fall as Assistant Teaching Professors, and to Dr. Chris Fox, who will join us as a lecturer!
Main Office: 110 Fiske Hall
Phone: (316) 978-3125
Hours: 8am-noon
Susan Castro, Department Chair until August 3. 316-978-7880
Patrick Bondy, Department Chair starting August 4, 2024. 316-978-7789
Brian Hepburn, Undergraduate Coordinator. 316-978-7887
Areas of Interest: Epistemology, Ethics, Metaethics, Metaphysics, Formal and Informal
Logic
Dr. Bondy joined the Department in 2018, having previously held limited term positions
as Assistant Professor at Saint Mary's University, Brandon University, and Trent University,
and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University. His primary research interests
are in contemporary epistemology, including especially the nature and normative force
of epistemic reasons and rationality, the epistemic basing relation, epistemic luck,
informationally rich testimony, and epistemological problems of peer disagreement
and deep disagreement.
One track follows her graduate work, which is centered in Kant scholarship and informed
by current science, with a broadly interdisciplinary aim. She is currently working
on a book about Kant's metaethics, specifically how to establish a metaphysics of
morals as a non-empirical science. More broadly in this track, Dr. Castro is interested
in the family of phenomena involved in acting or cognizing as if, in a wide range of contexts that include an imagination-centered Kantian theory
of autism, algorithmic agency and social justice, Immanuel Kant's peculiar moral imperative
to "act as if your maxim were to become by your will a universal law of nature" (aka
Kant's formula of nature), and Japanese philosophy of art (mastery and performance
in renga and Noh).
The second track in Biomedical Humanities derives from taking a philosophical perspective
towards her work on the Human Genome Project at UCLA and for the Institute of Molecular
Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. This track includes current issues in philosophy
of medicine and cyberethics. She serves as the founding Director of The Academic Center for Biomedical and Health Humanities (HealthHum), which will support collaboration from campus to community in conjunction
with the downtown Wichita Biomedical Campus.
At WSU Professor Castro has taught Late Modern Philosophy, Metaethics, Ethical Theory,
Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Medicine, Philosophy of Feminism, Philosophy of the
Arts, Business Ethics, Philosophy of Humor, and Ethics of Big Data. She will be teaching
Biomedical Engineering Ethics and Ethics and Computers in Fall 2024.
BASc, Physics and Philosophy, 1999, University of Lethbridge. PhD, History and Philosophy
of Science, 2007, University of Pittsburgh. Postdoctoral Fellow: University of British
Columbia 2007-2011; Aarhus University (Denmark) 2011-2014.
Professor Hepburn's current research interests are scientific explanation, problem
solving and innovation, particularly all three in interdisciplinary contexts. His
dissertation was on how the concept of equilibrium was used in explanations in 18th
century physics, and how this usage was connected to mathematical changes. He continues
to work on an historical and philosophical picture of how the descriptive and explanatory
resources we have available contribute to the problems we can solve. Especially interesting
is when resources from different domains (whether scientific or not) can be integrated
in some way. He hopes to use these insights to inform education in Science Literacy
and Science Proficiency.
Jeffrey Hershfield
Associate Professor, Director of the Legal Education Accelerated Degree program (LEAD), Director of Masters of Liberal Studies Program
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Religion,
Philosophy of Sex and Love.
Professor Hershfield is faculty advisor to the Pre-law Student Association and pre-law
coordinator for WSU.
Scott Hill
Assistant Teaching Professor
Dr. Hill received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his
BS from Kansas State University. His research is about ethics and religion. Before
joining the Philosophy Department at WSU in Fall 2024, he worked at the University
of Innsbruck, the University of Colorado Boulder, and Auburn University. He especially
enjoys teaching ethics to engineering and computer science students.
Areas of Interest: Ancient Chinese Philosophy, Social/Political Philosophy, Feminism,
and Ethics
Professor Lu earned a B.A. in English from the Beijing Second Institute of Foreign
Languages, an M.A. in Philosophy and Women's Studies from Southern Illinois University
at Edwardsville, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Kansas. Her current
research interests include Classical Chinese philosophy, Euro-American feminist theories
and their relation to Third World women, and Marxism and its impact on Chinese society.
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Religion, Continental Philosophy (emphasis in 19th-century
European philosophy), Ethics, Ancient Philosophy (including ancient Chinese and Indian
traditions), and Japanese Philosophy (particularly the Kyoto School)
Dr. Sager earned her B.A. in Philosophy, B.A. in History, and Minor in Religion at
Wichita State University in 2012. She received her M.A. (2014), M.Phil. (2018), and
Ph.D. (2021) in Philosophy from Fordham University. She regularly teaches Bioethics
and Introduction to Japanese Philosophy as well as other courses like Introductory
Logic and Critical Reasoning.
Research: Dr. Sager's research centers currently around the Existential Problem of
Evil, or the fact that suffering can render a person's life meaningless. Specifically,
this research includes:
Outlining the therapeutic role of śūnyatā, or emptiness (particularly as the Buddhist
concept is depicted by Keiji Nishitani), in overcoming the hopelessness of anomy.
Illustrating a particular form of existential suffering dubbed as "onryoan corruption"
where—like vengeful spirits found in Japanese folklore and horror cinema — a victim
perpetuates evil by fixating on her suffering to the point that she lashes out at
the world in nihilistic rage.
Constructing an ameliorating, philosophical response to evil that stresses the importance
of eschatology and theosis (or divinized transformation) in restoring the loss of
the world's order and meaning.
SUSAN G. STERRETT
Curtis D. Gridley Distinguished Professor of History and Philosophy of Science
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, History and Philosophy of Science, Philosophy
of Mind, Analytic Philosophy.
Courses taught at WSU include: Women in Tech, Science and the Modern World, Minds
and Machines (Honors), Engineering Ethics.
Susan G. Sterrett joined the department in the Fall of 2013, after having taught at
Duke University, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh. Professor
Sterrett has a B. S. degree in engineering science from Cornell University, and an
M.A. in Mathematics, M.A. Philosophy, and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University
of Pittsburgh.
Research:
"My area of specialization is philosophy of science, broadly construed. Much of my
work concerns models and analogical reasoning in some way, whether in engineering,
physics, geophysics, biology (Darwin), or artificial intelligence. One of my contributions
has been to argue for the significance of the concepts of physical similarity and
physically similar systems, already recognized as important in science and engineering,
to philosophy of science. I use both historical and analytical approaches -- often
together.
Besides the major works on analogical reasoning, models and modeling: I've published
a group of papers on Alan Turing and natural and artificial intelligence. In an advanced
undergraduate interdisciplinary textbook on logic, I presented and discussed alternatives
to classical logic that are valuable in automated reasoning systems faced with inconsistent
information. Overall, I have published widely on the history and philosophy of science,
of technology, and of engineering methodologies."
Areas of Interest: Ethics; Social and Political Philosophy; Philosophy of Law; Eastern
thought; and Existentialism and Phenomenology.
Professor Gallegos earned his B.A. in Philosophy at Wichita State University in 1995.
He received his M.A. (1998) and Ph.D. (2002) in Philosophy at Purdue University. He
has delivered papers at the Hume Society, the Merleau-Ponty Circle, and the World
Congress of Philosophy, the last of which was included in the online published proceedings.
Outside of the academic arena, he has delivered "Ethical Issues for Bankers" seminars
in Austin, Texas and conducted presentations at the Wesley Medical Center's Ethics
Committee where he is also community member. Currently, he also teaches organizational
behavior, leadership, and corporate governance at another university full time.
My main teaching and research interests focus on understanding what it takes to live
well and ethically, together, within complex modern societies. More narrowly, I work
primarily within environmental ethics, disability ethics, and the ethics of cities.
I have taught courses on normative ethics, meta-ethics, economic markets, philosophy
of law, and personal identity. I enjoy living all over the world. I grew up in Kansas,
but have spent significant time in South Africa (in high-school), in Senegal (as a
Peace Corps Volunteer), in Tucson (for graduate school), in Flagstaff (as a university
instructor), and in India (as a university instructor). I currently divide my time
between family, teaching, and a textbook project on engineering ethics.
BA in English Literature, Wichita State University
MA in Philosophy, University of Kansas
I have a BA in Philosophy and a BA in English Literature from Wichita State. I also
have an MA in Philosophy from the University of Kansas. I teach Business Ethics online
and am interested in applied ethics and philosophy of language.
In Memoriam, A.J. Mandt
We are terribly sorry that Dr. Mandt passed away on June 20, 2024. Services are being
provided by Downing and Lahey.
Associate Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. Vanderbilt University (1978)
Areas of Interest: 19th Century Philosophy; Continental Philosophy; Philosophy of
Culture
B.A., 1972, Trinity College (Hartford, CT); M.A., 1974, Ph.D., 1978, Vanderbilt University.
Professor Mandt's special area of interest was philosophy of culture, a focus which
grew out of his original interests in German Idealism and the history of philosophy.
Jay Mandt returned to the department full-time after 14 years as WSU's Honors director,
then retired to Emeritus status in 2016. He authored numerous articles on topics in
German philosophy and philosophy of culture as well as Honors education. He was a
fan of science fiction, and taught an Honors seminar on it several times. He was also
interested in military history, and developed an Honors seminar on that too. He was
an avid gardener, and active in his condo community, where he supervised the building
of a new community clubhouse and learning all sorts of things about architecture,
plumbing systems, and swimming pool design.
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Social Science, Metaethics, and Comparative Philosophy,
with current emphasis on the comparison of Asian and Western thought and culture.
Professor Feleppa has been at WSU since 1980. In 2001 he received the college's John
R. Barrier Distinguished Teaching Award; in 2004 he was promoted to full Professor.
Dr. Feleppa is working on a series of papers in Philosophy of Social Science. Click here for Dr. Feleppa's cv.
M.S., Computer Science, George Washington University (1990); Ph.D. Philosophy, The
Johns Hopkins University (1983)
Areas of Interest: Philosophy and History of Technology, Philosophy of Mind
Professor Radebaugh received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Johns Hopkins University
in 1983 and an M.S. in Computer Science from the George Washington University in 1991.
He served as Assistant Director of the Information Resources Division at the Federal
Reserve Board in Washington, DC until 2001. Areas of specialization include ethical
issues in computing and engineering, philosophy and history of technology, and information-processing
theories of cognitive behavior.
J.S. Johnson-Schwartz
Associate Professor, resigned 2024.
Professor Johnson-Schwartz earned her Ph.D in Philosophy at Wayne State University
and joined the department in the fall of 2014 where she taught until 2024. Among her
scholarly contributions while at WSU are The Value of Science in Space Exploration (Oxford University Press, 2020), Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration (Oxford University Press, 2023), The Ethics of Space Exploration (Springer, 2016). She has also published in: Philosophia Mathematica; Environmental Ethics; Ethics & the Environment; Space Policy;
Advances in Space Research; Theology & Science; International Journal of Astrobiology;
Futures; Journal of the British Interplanetary Society; and Astropolitics, among others.
Areas of Interest: History of Philosophy, with emphasis in Epistemology
Professor David Soles received a BA in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh
and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Johns Hopkins University. His primary areas of
research and teaching are in the History of Philosophy, especially Modern European
and Classical Chinese Philosophy. He has published numerous articles in the areas
of Early Modern Philosophy and Classical Chinese Philosophy, and is currently working
on a book project on Locke. He has received the Mortar Board Educator Appreciation
Award, the George A. Lewis Teaching Award, the John R. Barrier Distinguished Teaching
Award, The Wichita State University Leadership in the Advancement of Teaching Award,
the Wichita State University Excellence in Teaching Award, and The Presidents Distinguished
Service Award. He also has been selected as an Emory Lindquist Honors Society Mentor
several times. Dr. Soles served as President of the SOUTHWESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
from 2003-05. When not studying or teaching philosophy he enjoys gardening, hiking,
fly fishing in the Rockies and riding his horse named Jilly. Click here for Dr. Soles's cv.
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Language, Epistemology, Philosophy of Logic; currently
working on Donald Davidson on objectivity and belief.
Professor Deborah Soles routinely teaches Introductory Logic, and is responsible for
Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Logic, Theory of Knowledge, Analytic Philosophy,
and offers special courses such as seminars on Davidson and Wittgenstein. Professor
Soles received her B.A. from George Washington University and her Ph.D. from the Johns
Hopkins University. She has been teaching continuously at WSU since 1975. Her major
research area is the philosophy of language and adjacent topics in epistemology and
logic, and she has published work on both historical and contemporary treatments of
these topics. Currently she working on a book on Donald Davidson's epistemology. [click here for Dr. Soles's cv.] Since coming to WSU she has taught some dozen and a half different courses. She has
served several times as an Emory Lindquist Honors program mentor, as a McNair program
mentor, in 1999 was awarded the college's John R. Barrier Distinguished Teaching Award,
and in 2008 was awarded the University Excellence in Teaching Award. In 1998 she received
the President's Award for Distinguished Service to WSU. Dr. Soles is a Past President
of the Southwestern Philosophical Society, and served as President of the Faculty
Senate in 2009-2010.
