Guy Axtell

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 11^th 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).