Robert Charles ("Rob") Koons () (born February 22, 1957) is an American philosopher. He is a professor of philosophy at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

(UT), noted for his contribution to

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and

philosophical logic Understood in a narrow sense, philosophical logic is the area of logic that studies the application of logical methods to philosophical problems, often in the form of extended logical systems like modal logic. Some theorists conceive philosophical ...

. Koons has also advocated for academic freedom and courses on

Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

. Koons was born in St. Paul. Son of Charles Bruce and Margaret Constance (Suter) Koons. Bachelor in Philosophy, Michigan State University, 1979. Master of Arts in Philosophy and Theology, Oxford University, England, 1981. Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy, University of California at Los Angeles, 1987. Koons was Assistant professor philosophy University Texas, Austin, 1987-1993, associate professor, 1993-2000, professor, since 2000. Koons was faculty affiliate Christian Leadership Ministries, Dallas, 1987. Member American Philosophical Association, Association Symbolic Logic, Society Christian Philosophers. He was named Claude R. Lambe fellow, Institute Humane Studies, 1986; recipient Gustave O. Arlt prize in humanities Council Graduate Schools, 1992; Richard Weaver fellow Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1985, Danforth fellow, Danforth Foundation, 1979, Marshall scholar, 1979.

Educational activities

Koons has been involved in debates over issues of academic freedom and has advocated for college exit exams as he believes the measures used currently don't measure how well students learn. He led an effort at UT to create a concentration in Western Civilization and American Institutions. The goal of the program was to promote the study of the "Great Books" of the Western tradition, especially the American founding. Koons stated that the program transcended political differences. Koons is a national Senator of the

Phi Beta Kappa Society The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...

, as well as a member of the executive committee of the

Society of Christian Philosophers The Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) was founded in 1978. The society is open to anyone interested in philosophy who considers himself or herself a Christian. Membership is not restricted to any particular "school" of philosophy or to any ...

Contemporary metaphysics

Koons is co-editor, with George Bealer, of ''The Waning of Materialism: New Essays in the Philosophy of Mind'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), a collection of articles by leading analytic philosophers critical of

physicalism In philosophy, physicalism is the metaphysical thesis that "everything is physical", that there is "nothing over and above" the physical, or that everything supervenes on the physical. Physicalism is a form of ontological monism—a "one substanc ...

and

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

. He is engaged in contributing to contemporary

and the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

, including ''Metaphysics: The Fundamentals'' (with co-author Timothy Pickavance; Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) and ''The Atlas of Reality: A Comprehensive Guide to Reality'' (with co-author Timothy Pickavance; Wiley-Blackwell, 2017). .

Works

*''Paradoxes of Belief and Strategic Rationality'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1992) *''Realism Regained: An Exact Theory of Causation, Teleology, and the Mind'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2000) *''The Waning of Materialism: New Essays'' (with George Bealer) (

, 2010) *''Metaphysics: The Fundamentals'' (with Timothy Pickavance), (

Wiley-Blackwell Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

, 2015) *''The Atlas of Reality: A Complete Guide to Metaphysics'' (with Timothy Pickavance), (

, 2017) *’’Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science’’ (with William Simpson and Nicholas Teh), (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, 2018)

References

External links

Robert Koons' faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koons, Robert C. Living people Philosophy academics American philosophers Analytic philosophers Catholic philosophers Metaphysicians Philosophers of mind Philosophers of religion Philosophers of education Critics of atheism 1957 births