News

Philosophy graduate students Rushing and Vekony, together with Psychology graduate student Michael Long, published the surprising results of an x-phi study asking subjects about intentional action.

Sophie Arase successfully defended her dissertation "The Convergence-Construction Account of Identity: Making Sense of Identity and Bipolar Disorder" on March 11. Sophie's committee was chaired by Andrea Westlund.

Michael Zahorec successfully defended his dissertation "Scientific Kinds, Knowledge, and Ontology" on March 9. Michael's committee was chaired by Courtney Fugate.

Zachary Akin successfully defended his dissertation, "Essays on Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Alternative Possibilities," on Feb. 25. Zachary's committee was chaired by Randolph Clarke.

Congratulations to our former doctoral student, John Stigall, who has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for “The Haynes Project: Exhibiting the Historical Significance of the Philosophical Views of American Mathematicians.”

We are sorry to report that our former colleague, Marie Fleming, passed away on January 6. Marie taught in the department from 2006 to 2020. She received her doctorate from the London School of Economics and taught at the University of Western Ontario before coming to FSU. Her research focused on Critical Theory and Feminism. She was the author of The Anarchist Way to Socialism: Elisée Reclus and Nineteenth-Century European Anarchism (1979) and Emancipation and Illusion: Rationality and Gender in Habermas's Theory of Modernity (1997).

Congratulations to Lauren Willson, who successfully defended her dissertation, "Autonomy and External Constraint."

Congratulations to Eric Sievers, who successfully defended his dissertation, "Conceptual Jurisprudence: Engineering Legal Concepts."

Matthew Jernberg successfully defended his dissertation, "How Death Harms Us: A Defense of Fear," on November 3rd. Matthew's committee was chaired by Mark LeBar.

His paper, "Swinging Swords, Casting Spells, Killing Gods: On Intentions for Virtual Actions," won the prize for best graduate student essay at the 2025 meeting of the Mississippi Philosophical Association.