Robert F. Almeder
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Robert F. Almeder (born December 11, 1939) is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at
Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...
. He is known in particular for his work on the
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...
, and has also written on the
philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are add ...
,
epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...
and
ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
. He is the author of 24 books, including ''The Philosophy of Charles S. Peirce'' (1980), ''Death and Personal Survival'' (1992), ''Harmless Naturalism: The Limits of Science and the Nature of Philosophy'' (1998), ''Human Happiness and Morality'' (2000), and ''Truth and Skepticism'' (2010). Almeder served as the editor of the '' American Philosophical Quarterly'' (1998–2003), and co-edited the annual ''Biomedical Ethics Reviews'' (1983–2004). He was the inaugural McCullough Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at
Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
in New York (2005–2007), where he taught courses on human rights, biomedical ethics and the law.


Background

Almeder completed his PhD on "The Metaphysical and Logical Realism of Charles Peirce" at the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. Since then he has been the president of the Charles S. Peirce Society as well as president of the Georgia Philosophical Association. He joined the philosophy faculty at Georgia State University in 1972 as an associate professor, and became a full professor in 1980. He retired in 2005. Almeder received the Outstanding Educator of America Award in 1973, and the Georgia State University Alumni Distinguished Professor Award for teaching and research in 1984 and 1995. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in 1992 and then again in 2005., Georgia State University. Georgia State University instituted a student award in honour of Almeder upon his retirement, the Robert F. Almeder Prize, awarded to the student who writes the best paper at the annual Georgia State Student Philosophy Symposium.


Views on mind

Almeder was strongly influenced by
Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...
,
Ian Stevenson Ian Pretyman Stevenson (October 31, 1918 – February 8, 2007) was a Canadian-born American psychiatrist, the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a professor at th ...
, and W.O. Quine, and subscribes to
Cartesian dualism Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to: Mathematics * Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory *Cartesian coordinate system, moder ...
, broadly rejecting scientism and materialism. Stevenson's
reincarnation research Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
work on children who claimed to remember past lives convinced Almeder that minds are irreducible to brain states. He has argued in several papers and in his ''Beyond Death: The Evidence for Life After Death'' (1992) that Stevenson's critics, most notably the philosopher Paul Edwards, have misunderstood the nature of Stevenson's work.


Editorial roles

Almeder served as the editor of the ''American Philosophical Quarterly'' from 1998–2003, and co-edited the annual ''Biomedical Ethics Reviews'' from 1983 to 2004. He has also served on several editorial boards, including: *''The American Philosophical Quarterly'' (1978–1998) *''The History of Philosophy Quarterly'' (1983–1994) *''The Journal of Business Ethics'' (1983–1996) *''Journal of Philosophical Research'' (1980–present) *''The Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal of American Philosophy'' (1980–present) *''The International Journal of Applied Philosophy'' (1982–present) *''The Journal of Value Inquiry'' (1991–present) *''Public Affairs Quarterly'' (1995–present)


Works


Selected books

Almeder has authored and co-authored 24 books, including:Robert Almeder's books
/ref> *(2010). ''Truth and Scepticism''. Rowman and Littlefield. *with James Humber (eds.). (1983–2004). ''Biomedical Ethics Reviews''. Humana Publishing Corporation (new edition each year). *with Cassandra L. Pinnick and Noretta Koertge (eds.) (2003). ''Scrutinizing Feminist Epistemology: An Examination of Gender in Science''. Rutgers University Press. *(2000). ''Human Happiness and Morality: A Brief Introduction to Ethics''. Prometheus Press. *(1998). ''Harmless Naturalism''. Open Court. *(1992). ''Death and Personal Survival: The Evidence for Life After Death''. Rowman and Littlefield. *with James Fetzer (1992). ''Glossary of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science''. Paragon Press. *with M. Snoeyenbos and J. Humber (eds.) (1992). ''Business Ethics: Corporate Values and Society''. Prometheus Press (revised edition). *(1991). ''Blind Realism: An Essay on Human Knowledge and Natural Science''. Rowman and Littlefield. *(1987). ''Beyond Death: The Evidence for Life After Death''. Charles C Thomas; translated into Japanese, 1992. *(1982). ''Praxis and Reason: Studies in the Philosophy of Nicholas Rescher''. The University Press of America. *(1980). ''The Philosophy of Charles S. Peirce: A Critical Introduction''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, and Rowman and Littlefield. *with James Humber (eds.). (1979). ''Biomedical Ethics and the Law''. Plenum Press.


Selected papers

*(2001)
"On reincarnation: A reply to Hales"
''Philosophia''. *(1997)
"Carnap and Quine on Empiricism"
''History of Philosophy Quarterly'', Vol. 14, No. 3 (July), pp. 349–364. *(1997)
"A Critique of Arguments Offered Against Reincarnation"
''Journal of Scientific Exploration'', 11(4), pp. 499–526. *(1994)
"Liberal Feminism and Academic Feminism"
''Public Affairs Quarterly'', Vol. 8, No. 4 (October), pp. 299–315 *(1988). "Response to 'Past Tongues Remembered'," ''Skeptical Inquirer'', vol. 12 (Spring). *(1974)
"Truth and Evidence"
''The Philosophical Quarterly'', Vol. 24, No. 97 (October), pp. 365–368


References


External links

* about Stevenson's reincarnation research {{DEFAULTSORT:Almeder, Robert F. 1939 births American ethicists Philosophers from Georgia (U.S. state) Epistemologists Living people Philosophers of science Philosophers of mind Distinguished professors of philosophy