Furman University Department of Philosophy

Faculty Profiles

Erik A. Anderson, (2001) Associate Professor. Dr. Anderson received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy from the University of Connecticut. His research interests are in social and political philosophy and the philosophy of religion. In 2003-2004, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Center on Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia. His publications include "The Paradox of Public Secularism: A Critical Assessment of Robert Audi's Religious Commitment and Secular Reason," Faith and Philosophy (2006) and "Public Reason, State Neutrality, and the Recognition of Religious Differences under the Establishment Clause," in Civility and Its Discontents: Essays on Civic Virtue, Toleration, and Cultural Fragmentation (University of Kansas Press, 2004). At Furman he teaches courses in introduction to philosophy, logic, ethics, philosophy of law, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of religion, and a First Year Seminar on the ethics of sex.

Office: Furman Hall 125B
Office phone: (864) 294-3278
Email: erik.anderson@furman.edu

Eiho Baba, (Rong-Fong Chang) (2008) Assistant Professor. Dr. Baba received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy, and M.S. (M.P.S.) in Travel Industry Management with specialization in Hotel Management from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. His research interests include Chinese philosophy, comparative philosophy, metaphysics, and epistemology. He is currently working on a monograph on an 11th century Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi and a book chapter on the process metaphysics of li and qi for the forthcoming anthology Zhu Xi Now: Contemporary Encounters with the Great Ultimate (SUNY Press, 2009). At Furman, he teaches introduction to philosophy and Chinese philosophy. He plans to offer courses in metaphysics, epistemology, and a series of courses in Chinese philosophy from the 20th century New Confucian movement to the exciting new archeological finds on Pre-Qin philosophers.
Office: Furman Hall 125A
Office phone: (864) 294-2389
Email: eiho.baba@furman.edu

Tom Buford, Professor Emeritus. Dr. Buford received his B.D. degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston University. His research interests are in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of education. He is the author of a number of books and articles including Personal Philosophy, the Art of Living (1984), In Search of a Calling (1995), and Personalism Revisited (2002). At Furman he teaches courses in introduction to philosophy, philosophy of religion, and logic.

Office: Furman Hall 225
Office phone: (864) 294-3139
Email: tom.buford@furman.edu

James C. Edwards, (1970) Professor. Louis G. Forgione University Professor in the Department of Philosophy. Dr. Edwards received his M.A. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests are in Wittgenstein, bioethics, philosophy of religion, and contemporary continental philosophy. His publications include Ethics Without Philosophy: Wittgenstein and the Moral Life (1982), The Authority of Language: Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and the Threat of Philosophical Nihilism (1990), and The Plain Sense of Things: The Fate of Religion in an Age of Normal Nihilism (1997), which won the John Findlay Prize from the Metaphysical Society of America. In 1975, he was awarded the Alester G. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching. He is currently at work on a book titled Reason, Ritual, and Belief: Wittgenstein on Religion. At Furman he teaches courses in introduction to philosophy, ancient philosophy, ethics, continental philosophy, and 20th century philosophy.

Office: Furman Hall 125H
Office phone: (864) 294-3142
Email: jim.edwards@furman.edu

M. Carmela Epright, (1999) Associate Professor. Dr. Epright received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy and an M.A. in applied ethics from Loyola University, Chicago. She teaches courses in ethics, bioethics, and feminist philosophy. In 2004 she was awarded the Alester G. Furman, Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching. In addition to her work as a professor Dr. Epright serves as a clinical bioethicist and ethics consultant to numerous medical and social service entities, including the South Carolina Medical Association, the Greenville Hospital System, VistaCare Hospice, and SpringBrook Behavioral HeathCare. She has published articles in bioethics, feminist philosophy, moral theory, and moral psychology. Her current research focuses upon the legal and moral implications of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.

Office: Furman Hall 125D
Office phone: (864) 294-2288
Email: carmela.epright@furman.edu

David I. Gandolfo, (2004-05, 2006) Assistant Professor . Dr. Gandolfo received his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago, and his M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University.~ His research interests include globalization, international justice, poverty, and Latin American philosophy.~ He teaches courses in all of these areas as well as in African philosophy and 19th Century Philosophy.~ His recent publications include: "Liberation Philosophy," in The Blackwell Companion to Latin American Philosophy (Blackwell, 2009, forthcoming); “Global Standpoint Aesthetics: Towards a Paradigm,” co-authored with Sarah Worth, in The Continuum Companion to Aesthetics (Continuum, 2009, forthcoming); "The Past, Present and Future of Globalization: Colonialism, Terrorism, and the Need for Democratic Supranational Governance," Review Journal of Political Philosophy (2009, forthcoming); "A Role for the Privileged? Solidarity and the University in the Work of Ignacio Ellacuría and Paulo Freire," Journal for Peace and Justice Studies (2008); "The Ethical Threshold: Democratic Supranational Governance As A Necessary Condition for Non-Neocolonial Globalization," Philosophy in the Contemporary World (Spring 2008); and "Ignacio Ellacuría: Liberation Struggles and the Question of Non-Violence,@ Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict (2004).~ Recent presentations include: “What’s the Right Price? Ethical Lessons for a Globalizing World,” South Carolina Society for Philosophy (2009); “The Ethical Threshold: Minimum Requirements for a Non-Neocolonial Globalization,” Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World (Morelia, Mexico, 2007); “An Ethical Evaluation of Globalization? Only From the Perspectives of the Poor and Oppressed,” North American Society for Social Philosophy (2007); “Evaluating Religious and Non-Religious Arguments in Favor of a Preferential Option for the Poor,” Society for Christian Philosophers (2007); “American Liberation Philosophy: Reforming the Center by Taking Account of Critiques from the Margins,” North American Society for Social Philosophy (2006); and “Human Responsibility and the Moral Status of the Invisible Hand,” Conference on Value Inquiry (2006). Dr. Gandolfo did his doctoral research on the Latin American Liberation Philosophy of Ignacio Ellacuría at the Universidad Centroamericana, where he has also taught. Prior to his work in philosophy, he spent many years engaged in grassroots “development” work in West and Southern Africa. The thread that ties his research and teaching interests together is an interest in what the Global center has to learn from critiques of the status quo offered from the standpoints of the Global margins.

Office: Furman Hall 125E
Office phone: (864) 294-3238
Email: david.gandolfo@furman.edu

David Edward Shaner, (1982) Professor. Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Gordon Poteat University Chair in Philosophy and Asian Studies. Dr. Shaner received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Hawaii specializing in Japanese Buddhist philosophy. He is the founding editor of the Philosophy and Biology book series with the State University of New York Press (36 volumes published to date). He is the author of The Bodymind Experience in Japanese Buddhism (SUNY, 1985), Science and Comparative Philosophy [with Shigenori Nagatomo and YUASA Yasuo] (E. J. Brill, 1989) and two new books (forthcoming) on personal development and organization development. At Furman, he teaches courses in introduction to philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Indian philosophy, and the philosophy of science.

Office: Furman Hall 125G
Office phone: (864) 294-3141
Email: david.shaner@furman.edu

Mark Stone, (1997) Associate Professor. Dr. Stone received his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. His research interests are in modern philosophy and the philosophy of Descartes. At Furman he teaches courses in introduction to philosophy, environmental ethics, American philosophy, and the history of philosophy. He currently has a manuscript for a logic book on writing arguments under review for publication. Mark served as president of the South Carolina Philosophical Society in 2003.

Office: Riley Hall 109N
Office phone: (864) 294-3344
Email: mark.stone@furman.edu

Sarah Worth, (1999) Associate Professor. Dr. Worth received her M.A. in philosophy from the University of Louisville and her Ph.D. in philosophy from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her research interests are in aesthetics and the philosophy of literature and narrative. She has published articles in the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, The British Journal of Aesthetics, The Journal of Aesthetic Education, The Norwegian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy in the Contemporary World, has written and reviewed articles for the Philosophy and Popular Culture series, and has recently co-authored an article with David Gandolfo on Global Standpoint Aesthetics. Currently she is working on a paper exploring the seeming necessity for accuracy in autobiography and the phenomenon of fraudulent memoirs. At Furman she teaches courses in introduction to philosophy, ancient philosophy, aesthetics, Brain and Mind (team-taught with a biologist) and recently she team-taught a class with another biologist on Disease and Culture.
Office phone: (864) 294-3140
Email: sarah.worth@furman.edu