Dr. Jennifer Wilson Mulnix

Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Associate Director of the University Honors Program

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508-910-6869
jmulnix@umassd.edu
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Page last updated 11/05/10

Higher Education

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, Ph.D. Philosophy, conferred July 2006.
Dissertation Title: Naturalism, Rationalism, and Rethinking the A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction.
Dissertation Supervisor: Richard A. Fumerton, F. Wendell Miller Professor, University of Iowa.

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, conferred May 2004.

University of Nebraska-Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, B.A. Philosophy and Political Science, summa cum laude, conferred May 1999.

Research Interests

My main areas of research focus on a priori knowledge, rationalism, and naturalism. I am also interested, more generally, in reliabilism, the rationalist-empiricist debate in the history of Early Modern Philosophy, rational intuition, mathematical knowledge, issues in philosophy of mind, and semantic externalist accounts of self-knowledge. I also work in the areas of critical thinking, philosophy of happiness, and experimental philosophy.

Areas of Specialization: Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Critical Thinking

Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Happiness, Metaphysics, History of Early Modern Philosophy, Asian Philosophy, Ethics, Applied Ethics, and Political Philosophy.

Publications (in alphabetical order)

• “Patient Autonomy and the Freedom to Act against One’s Self-Interest,” Clinical Laboratory Science, Volume 21, Number 2, Spring 2008, 114-115. Peer-Reviewed.
• “Reliabilism, Intuition, and Mathematical Knowledge,” Filozofia, Volume 62, Number 8, October 2008, 715-723. Peer-Reviewed.
• “Thinking Critically About Critical Thinking.” Forthcoming in Educational Philosophy and Theory. Peer-Reviewed.
• “Using a Writing Portfolio to Teach Critical Thinking Skills,” co-authored with Dr. M.J. Mulnix of Salem State University. Teaching Philosophy, Volume 33, Number 1, March 2010, 27-54. Peer-Reviewed.

Works in Progress or Currently Under Review

• Monograph: Naturalism, Rationalism, and the A Priori
• “Rethinking the A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction”
• “Reliabilism and Demon World Victims”
• “Semantic Externalism, Self-Knowledge, and Slow Switching”
• “Explanatory Unification and Scientific Understanding”
• “Two Difficulties for Rorty’s Eliminative Materialism”
• “Meinong, Intentionality, and Nonexistent Objects”
• “Reliabilism, Demon Worlds, and Two Senses of Epistemic Evaluation”
• “Clairvoyance, Normativity, and Reliabilism”
• “On BonJour’s Views on the A Priori and Rational Insight”
• “What Counts as ‘Experience’ for the A Priori?”
• “The Rationalist-Empiricist Divide over the A Priori in Early Modern Philosophy”
• “Descartes’ Lumen Naturale”
• “Can the Empirical Psychologist Teach the Philosopher Anything about Happiness?”
• “Competing Conceptions of Happiness”
• “Does the Contemplation of Happiness Make One Happier?”
• “Does Using a Writing Portfolio Project Increase Students’ Critical Thinking Skills?”

Selected Conference Presentations

(separated by scope, and then in chronological order, beginning with most recent)

International Conference Presentations

• “A Reliabilist Account of Mathematical Intuition and A Priori Knowledge”
  “Calculation, Intuition, and A Priori Knowledge” Conference at the Tilburg Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science (TiLPS) at Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands, October 2010. Refereed conference.
• “What is Happiness, and Can the Mere Contemplation of It Make One Happier?”
  American Association of Philosophy Teachers 18th Biennial International Workshop Conference on Teaching Philosophy at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC, August 2010. Refereed conference.
• “Using a Service-Learning Project as a Real Life Application of Course Content”
  American Association of Philosophy Teachers 18th Biennial International Workshop Conference on Teaching Philosophy at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC, August 2010. Refereed conference.
• “Can the Empirical Psychologist Teach the Philosopher Anything about Happiness?”
  2010 Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Conference, at St. Anne’s College, Oxford, England. July 2-4, 2010.
• “West Meets East: How Western Philosophy Can Incorporate Buddhist Principles into an Environmental Ethic”
  The 2010 Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities, June 18-21, 2010. Osaka, Japan.
• “Measuring Critical Evaluation Skills through the Use of Writing Portfolio Projects”
• (co-presented with Dr. M.J. Mulnix of Salem State University).
  American Association of Philosophy Teachers 17th Biennial International Workshop Conference on Teaching Philosophy at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, August 2008. Refereed Conference.
• “Reliabilism, Intuition, and Mathematical Knowledge.”
  Fifth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, January 2007. Refereed conference.
• Rethinking the A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction.”
  Canadian Society for Epistemology, International Symposium on A Priori Knowledge, Sherbrooke University, 2004. Refereed conference.

National Conference Presentations

• “What is Happiness, and Can the Mere Contemplation of It Make one Happier?”
  MidSouth Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis, March 2010. Refereed Conference.
• Invited Commentator for “Fear of Death Revisited: Epicurus on the Relative Value of Lives” by Benjamin Rider. MidSouth Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis, March 2010.
• Invited Commentator for “Empirical Equivalence in the Quine-Carnap Debate” by Eric Loomis.
  Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, April 2005.

Regional Conference Presentations

• “What is Happiness, and Can the Mere Contemplation of It Make one Happier?”
  Northern New England Philosophy Association Conference at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, October 2009. Refereed Conference.
• “Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking.”
  Northern New England Philosophy Association Conference at Colby College, Waterville, ME, October 2008. Refereed Conference.
• “A Reliabilist Account of A Priori Knowledge.”
  Illinois Philosophical Association (IPA) meeting, 2003. Refereed conference.
• “A Reliabilist Account of A Priori Knowledge.”
  Iowa Philosophical Society (IPS) meeting, 2003. Refereed conference.

Invited Talks

• “Patient Autonomy and the Freedom to Act against One’s Self-Interest.”
  Salem State University Philosophy Department, March 1, 2010.
• “What is Happiness, and Can the Mere Contemplation of It Make one Happier?”
  Salem State University Graduate Research Day, May 2, 2009.

UMass Dartmouth Presentations

• “Buddhist Views of Environmental Sustainability.”
  UMD Panel on "Cross-Cultural Representations of Sustainability,” February 26, 2009.
• “Teaching Critical Thinking through the Use of Writing Portfolios.”
  UMD Center for Teaching Excellence “Talking About Teaching” Conference, January 21, 2009.

Upcoming Presentations

• “Does Teaching the Philosophy of Happiness Make One’s Students Happier?” (co-presenting with Dr. Christina Hendricks, University of British Columbia).
  AAPT session on “Teaching the Philosophy of Happiness” at the APA Pacific Division Meeting, San Diego, CA, April 20-23, 2011.

Professional Memberships (in alphabetical order)

• American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT)
• American Philosophical Association (APA)
• Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE)
• Commonwealth Honors Program (CHP) - Council Board Member
• National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC)
• Northern New England Philosophy Association (NNEPA)