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Dr. Guy Axtell
Professor of Philosophy; Faculty Fellow, Radford University Honors Academy
gsaxtell@radford.edu
Hemphill Hall 4205
540-831-5025
Ph.D. University of Hawai'i
Bio: Dr. Guy Axtell is Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Fellow of the Radford University Honors Academy. He received the Outstanding Scholar Award for 2012-2013 in the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences. His research addresses how we can apply epistemology, the theory of knowledge, to real-life issues of social concern, such as belief polarization, and responsibility in inquiry. When not teaching or writing, “Dr. Ax” often seeks his ataraxia* through biking, tennis, skiing, windsurfing, and curiously speaking about himself in the third person.
*Ataraxia: Ancient Greek term for psychic balance and “freedom from disquiet.”
Teaching interests: Philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, “STS” or science, technology and society studies, applied epistemology, and philosophy of religion.
Research interests: Sampling of recent and forthcoming research included below.
Papers and abstracts are available at PhilPapers and Academia.edu.
Awards
- 2022 NEH Fellow, Summer Institute (4 weeks) 2022: David Hume in the 21st Century: Perpetuating the Enlightenment.
- 2022 Hayek Travel Award, from George Mason University’s Institute of Humane Studies.
Books
- Problems of Religious Luck: Assessing the Limits of Reasonable Religious Disagreement. Lexington Books, Jan. 2019.
- Epistemic Paternalism: Conceptions, Justification, and Implications. Co-edited with Amiel Bernal (VT ASPECT Ph.D./PHRE Adjunct). Rowman & Littlefield, June 2020.
- Objectivity. In Key Concepts in Philosophy from Polity Press (Cambridge, UK, Dec. 2015),
Papers and selected publications
- 2022a. “Natural Thoughts and Unnatural ‘Oughts’: Lessing, Wittgenstein, and the ‘Ugly, Broad Ditch’” In Robert Vinten (ed.), Wittgenstein and the Cognitive Science of Religion. Bloomsbury, forthcoming.
- 2022b. “Wittgenstein and the ABC’s of Religious Epistemics.” In Wittgenstein and the Epistemology of Religious Belief, Duncan Pritchard and Nuno Carlos Venturina (eds.). Oxford University Press.
- 2022c. “Partiality Traps and the Need for Risk-Aware Ethics and Epistemology” forthcoming in Virtuous and Vicious Partiality [Proceedings of conference, Christopher Newport U, Feb. 2022]
- 2022d. “Epistemic Virtue, Duty, and Value” In Rebus Introduction to Epistemology [OpenSource textbook]
- 2022e. “Risk-Limited Indulgent Permissivism,” Synthese 200 (302).
- 2023a. “David Hume and the Evolution of Social Co-operation” (conference paper, under review)
- “Navigating the Dialectics of Objectivity.” In The Future of Social Epistemology: A Collective Vision. James Collier (ed.) Rowman & Littlefield (2015), 97-106.
- “Moral Learning, Imagination, and the Space of Humor.” Draft for 11th East-West Philosopher’s Conference, Honolulu, U. of Hawaii, East-West Center, 2016.
- “William James on Pragmatism and Religion.” In William James, Moral Philosophy, and the Ethical Life: The Cries of the Wounded. Jacob Goodson (ed.), Lexington Books (2016).
- “The Emotions in James’ Principles of Psychology.” In William James, Moral Philosophy, and the Ethical Life: The Cries of the Wounded. Jacob Goodson (ed.), Lexington Books (2016).