Philosophy Department

Fred Ablondi

Fred Ablondi

Professor of Philosophy and 
Director of the Marshall T. Steel Center for the Study of Religion and Philosophy

Curriculum Vitae

Office: Raney Building
Phone: (501) 450-1418
E-mail: ablondi@hendrix.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., Marquette University, 1995. Dissertation Title: "Malebranche and the Cartesian Problem of the Unconscious” (Dr. Thomas Prendergast, Director)
  • M.A., The Catholic University of America, 1989. Thesis Title: "Self and Society in Rousseau's Second Discourse" (Dr. Daniel Dahlstrom, Director)
  • B.A., The College of William and Mary, 1987

    Area of Specialization

    • Early Modern Philosophy

    Areas of Competence

    • Epistemology
    • Early Analytic Thought
    • Philosophy of Mind

      Selected Publications

      • Reading Nature’s Book: Galileo and the Birth of Modern Philosophy (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2016).
      • "Newtonian vs. Newtonian: Baxter and MacLaurin on the Inactivity of Matter.” Journal of Scottish Philosophy 11 (Spring 2013): 15–23.
      • "Hutcheson, Perception, and the Sceptic's Challenge."British Journal for the History of Philosophy 20 (March 2012): 269-281.
      • "Gabriel Biel and Occasionalism: Overcoming an Apparent Tension"(with J. Aaron Simmons). History of Philosophy Quarterly28 (April 2011): 159-173.
      •  "François Lamy, Occasionalism, and the Mind-Body Problem.” Journal for the History of Philosophy 46 (October 2008): 619-630.
      • Gerauld de Cordemoy: Atomist, Occasionalist, Cartesian (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2005).
      •  “Berkeley, Archetypes, and Errors.” Southern Journal of Philosophy (Winter 2005): 493-504.
      • “Almog’s Descartes.” Philosophy 80 (July 2005): 423-431.
      • “Kelly and McDowell on Perceptual Content.” The Electronic Journal of Analytic Philosophy 7 (2002).
        http://ejap.louisiana.edu/EJAP/2002/Ablondi.html  

      Recent Presentations

      • “Occasionalism and Secular Reason: Malebranche, Suarez, and Audi” 5 The Theory of Occasionalism: East and West, Harvard University, May 2013
      • “Hutcheson, Benevolence, and the Personal Virtue of Justice” The Virtue of Justice (Society of Christian Philosophers, Central Region), Hendrix College, March 2012
      • “Beattie on Human Nature” Practical Ethics and the Scottish Philosophical Tradition, Princeton Theological Seminary, March 2010
      • “Descartes, His Meditator, and the Source of Our Childhood Prejudices” North Texas Philosophical Association, University of North Texas, April 2008
      • “François Lamy, Occasionalism, and the Mind-Body Problem” Pacific Division meeting of the APA, Portland, Oregon, March 2006 South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Baylor University, November 2005