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Tomas Bogardus Faculty Profile

Tomás Bogardus

Professor of Philosophy
Religion and Philosophy Division, Seaver College
CAC 114

Biography

Tomás Bogardus earned his BS in biology at UC San Diego, his MA in philosophy at Biola University, and his PhD in philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He works mainly in metaphysics and epistemology, and is most interested in the mind-body problem, the rationality of religious belief, and the nature of gender.

Education

  • PhD in Philosophy, the University of Texas at Austin, 2011
  • MA in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, Biola University, 2004
  • BS in General Biology, UC San Diego, 2002

 

  • “A Defense of Explanationism against Recent Objections,” co-authored with Pepperdine alumnus Will Perrin, Episteme (forthcoming)

  • “Some Reluctant Skepticism about Rational Insight,” co-authored with Pepperdine alumnus Mike Burton, International Journal for the Study of Skepticism (forthcoming)

  • “If Naturalism is True, then Scientific Explanation is Impossible,” Religious Studies 59(1): 115–138 (2023)
  • “Why the Trans Inclusion Problem cannot be Solved,” Philosophia 50: 1639–1664 (2022)

  • “Knowledge is Believing Something Because It’s True,” co-authored with Pepperdine student Will Perrin, Episteme 19(2): 178-196 (2022)

  • “Evaluating Arguments for the Sex/Gender Distinction,” Philosophia 48(3): 873-892 (2020)

  • “Some Internal Problems with Revisionary Gender Concepts,” Philosophia 48(1): 55-75 (2020)

  • “How to Tell Whether Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God,” co-authored with Pepperdine student Mallorie Urban, Faith and Philosophy 34(2): 176-200 (2017)

  • “Only All Naturalists Should Worry about Only One Evolutionary Debunking Argument,” Ethics 126(3): 636-661 (2016)

Service:

  • Member, Diversity Committee, Society of Christian Philosophers (2023)
  • Member, Freedom of Inquiry Committee, Society of Christian Philosophers (2021-2022)
  • Member, Outreach Committee for the American Catholic Philosophical Association (2017-2021)
  • “Science and Religion”
    • April 2024, Thomistic Institute of UC San Diego
  • “The ‘Elsewhere, Elsewhen’ Objection to Religious Belief”
    • November 2023, Thomistic Institute of the Catholic University of America
  • “What is Biological Sex? A Proper Function Account”
    • November 2022, Symposium with Alex Byrne (MIT) and Holly Lawford-Smith (University of Melbourne). 6th Annual Meeting of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society. New Orleans.
    • February 2024, University of Maine
  • “An Argument from Minds to God”
    • October 2022, Thomistic Institute of the University of Georgia.
  • “Two New Arguments against Naturalism”
    • November 2021. Thomistic Institute of UC Santa Barbara.
    • November 2021. Thomistic Institute of UT Austin.
    • February 2022. Thomistic Institute of the University of Arizona.
    • March 2022. Thomistic Institute of the University of Georgia.
    • April 2022. Thomistic Institute of Mississippi State University.
  • “Can the Trans Inclusion Problem Be ‘Deflated’?”
    • February 2020. Gender Critical Philosophy Workshop. Invited.
    • February 2021. Central APA Symposium. Invited by Raja Halwani.  
    • March 2021. Rhode Island College. Invited by Matt Duncan. 

Topics

  • What is the relationship between the mind and the body?
  • Can we know that God exists?
  • Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
  • What is the nature of knowledge?
  • What is the nature of gender?

Courses

  • Epistemology
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Logic
  • Western Civilization (1815-present)
  • Ethics
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • Introduction to Philosophy