lmorton

Academic interests: Peirce, Goodman, Philosophy of Art, Teaching Philosophy.

Graduate degrees: M.A. (Art History), Washington University, 1967; Ed.D. (Art History), Ball State University, 1984; M.A. (Philosophy), Ball State University, 1985.

Representative publications & presentations: "Theories and Activities of Conceptual Artists: An Aesthetic Inquiry," in Working Papers in Art Education, ed. M. Zurmuehlen, 1983. "Visual Perception and Symbolic Representation," Review of Research in Art Education, 1983. "God or Game Players: The Cosmos, William Paley, and Stanislaw Lem," with T. Foster, The Polish Review (1989). "The Perfect Fake," Illinois Philosophical Association, Roosevelt University, Chicago IL, February 1990. "Review of S. Mendus and J. Rendall (eds.), Sexuality and Subordination: Interdisciplinary Studies of Gender in the Nineteenth Century," Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 48 (1990). "Goodman, Forgery, and the Aesthetic," with T. Foster, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 49 (1991). Invited Commentary on J. Sigman's "On Ambiguity in Art: A Discussion of Goodman's Symptoms of the Aesthetic," American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, Portland OR, March 1992. Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition, Volume 6: 1886-1890 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000), Research Associate.

Selected awards: Graduate Scholarship in Stone Sculpture, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH, 1959-1960. First Prize, Tri-State Stone Sculpture Competition, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH, 1961.

Regularly taught courses: Introduction to Philosophy (P110); Ethics (P120); Logic (P162). (**For course descriptions, see below.)

Course descriptions:

P110: Introduction to Philosophy (3 cr.):

Official description (from the course bulletin): An introduction to the methods and problems of philosophy and to important figures in the history of philosophy. Concerns such topics as the nature of reality, the meaning of life, and the existence of God. Readings from classical and contemporary sources, e.g., Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche, and Sartre.

A second description (from a recent syllabus): The objective of this course is to enable students to use the philosophical method of inquiry to analyze, understand, and apply to experiences in their own lives, the basic concepts and theories of historically important philosophers on key issues in the main branches of philosophy, namely, epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and value theory.

P120: Ethics (3 cr.):

Official description (from the course bulletin): An introductory course in ethics. Typically examines virtues, vices, and character; theories of right and wrong; visions of the good life; and contemporary moral issues.

A second description (from a recent syllabus): Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of moralityùthat is to say, questions about how we should treat other living beings. The two main objectives of this course are: (a) to introduce you to the basic questions, concepts, principles, and theories of the philosophical approach to morality; and (b) to enable you to apply the philosophical approach to contemporary moral issues.

P162: Logic (3 cr.):

Official description (from the course bulletin): A study of the principles of logic. The course covers a variety of traditional topics, selected for their practical value, within formal and informal logic. Among the topics typically covered are fallacies, syllogisms, causal hypotheses, logic diagrams, argument analysis, and truth-functional reasoning.

A second description (from a recent syllabus): The purpose of this introductory course in logic is to enable students to understand and apply the basic procedures for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating both deductive and inductive arguments. Writing out the assigned homework exercises and regular attendance is critical for passing this course. The text book gives you the theory and the exercises. In lectures, I teach you the concepts and procedures which you need to use to apply the theory and do the exercises. We will be going over the homework exercises in class every day, and active participation is required.