William Cornwell
Professional Details
| Title: | Chairperson |
| Office: | SB-203B5 |
| Phone: | 978-542-6060 |
| Email: | william.cornwell@salemstate.edu |
| Website: | http://www.salemstate.edu/~wcornwell |
Spring Courses
| Cat. # | Term | Course # | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3722 | W1 | PHL125 | Critical Reasoning |
Professional Biography
William Cornwell received his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Connecticut, where he wrote a dissertation on naturalized epistemology and philosophy of mind under the supervision of Ruth Garrett Millikan. His undergraduate degree in philosophy is from San Jose State University in California.
Professor Cornwell's publications and presentations have been on epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of biology, ethics, just war theory, social philosophy, and history of philosophy. Dr. Cornwell previously held full-time positions at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.
Responsibilities
Professor Cornwell is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Salem State University, where he teaches Reality and Knowledge, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science, Symbolic Logic I and II, Critical Reasoning, and Introduction to Philosophy. He also is the coordinator for two programs at the university, one in applied ethics, and the other in philosophy of art and culture. He is a member of the university's Curriculum Committee.
Selected Publications
"Human Nature Unbound: Why Becoming Cyborgs and Taking Drugs Could Make Us More Human." In Values & Technology, Religion & Public Life vol. 37, ed. Gabriel Ricci (Piscataway, NJ: Transaction, 2010).
"The Burden of Autonomy: Non-combatant Immunity and Humanitarian Intervention." Ethical Perspectives 12.3 (September 2005): 341-355.
"Where Ethics and Epistemology Meet: Michael R. DePaul's Balance and Refinement." Journal of Value Inquiry 31.3 (September 1997): 399-406.
"Epistemological Holism and Semantic Holism." In Perspectives on Coherentism, ed. Yves Bouchard (Aylmer: Éditions du Scribe, 2002).
"Is Perception Inferential?" In Experience and Analysis: Papers of the 27th International Wittgenstein Symposium: August 8-14, 2004: Kirchberg am Wechsel, ed. Johann Christian Marek and Maria Elisabeth Reicher (Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria: Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, 2004).
Selected Presentations
SELECT PRESENTATIONS (PEER-REVIEWED)
"Dirty Hands Syndrome and the Waning of Trust in Government." Oxford Round Table, Oxford University. 08/2007.
"The Organism as Servant of Many Masters." American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting. Chicago, IL. 05/1998.
"Can the Ethical Naturalist Respond to Moore's Open-Question Objection?" Society of Value Inquiry in conjunction with the American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting. Chicago, IL. 04/2005.
"Some Problems with Peter Abelard's Moral Theory." International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. Fordham University in New York, NY. 10/2004.
"The Burden of Autonomy: Noncombatant Immunity and Humanitarian Intervention." Jus in Bello: The Ethics and Conduct of War. Institute of Applied Ethics at the University of Hull in England. 09/2004. The talk also was delivered as part of Salem State College's First Lecture Series in 03/2006.
"Doin' What Comes Natur'lly: Hobbes and the State of Nature." 28th Conference on Value Inquiry. Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. 04/2000.
"Making Sense of the Other: Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein." The Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy. Boston, MA. 08/1998. See the Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy. www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Comp/CompCorn.htm.
"Are There Any Immoral Acts? A Study of Abelard's Ethics." Representation and Interpretation in the 12th Century: An Interdisciplinary Conference. D'Youville College in Buffalo, NY. 04/1995.
"Pragmatism, Naturalism, and Political Philosophy." 22nd Annual Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. Waltham, MA. 03/1995.
"Ethical Nonobjectivism and Social Pluralism." 22nd Conference on Value Inquiry. Drew University in Madison, NJ. 04/1994.
PRESENTATIONS (INVITED)
"The Ethics of Cognitive Augmentation." Philosophical Psychology Lab Workshop at Gordon College (Wenham, MA). 01/2010.
"Can Fregean Senses Save the Ethical Naturalist from Moore's Open-Question Argument?" American Society for Value Inquiry Session in conjunction with the APA Central Division Meeting (Chicago, IL). Forthcoming in 04/2005.
Member of symposium, "Understanding Disabilities: Visible and invisible." Salem State College (Salem, MA): 11/2005.