ADAM SWENSON
Current position
- Assistant Professor of Philosophy
California State University, Northridge
Education
- Rutgers University, 2006
- Ph.D. in Philosophy
- University of California Los Angeles, 1999
- Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
- Bachelor of Arts in Japanese
- Departmental Honors in Philosophy
- Summa cum Laude
Areas of Specialization
- Ethics (Meta, Normative, and Applied)
- Philosophical issues concerning pain
- Axiology
- Social and Political Philosophy
- Philosophy of Mind
Areas of Competence
- Human Rights
- Philosophy of Law
- Metaphysics
- Buddhist Philosophy
- Hobbes
Foreign Languages
- Japanese (research ability)
- Korean (some conversational)
Teaching
California State University, Northridge
- Advanced Social and Political, 2008, 2009
- Advanced Ethical Theory, 2007
- Ethical Theory, 2006
- Humanities Capstone Seminar: The Body in Pain, 2006
- Philosophy and Public Affairs, 2007, 2008, 2009
- Philosophical Topics, 2009
- Senior Seminar, 2007, 2008
Rutgers University, Newark (as adjunct)
- Applied Ethics, 2003, 2004
- Introduction to Ethical Theory, 2002, 2003
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
(as lecturer)
- Introduction to Philosophy, 2005
- Ethics and Practical Reasoning, 2004, 2005, 2006
- Love, Personhood, and Sexual Morality, 2003, 2004
- Buddhist Philosophy, 2003, 2004
- Current Moral and Social Issues, 2004
- Introduction to Logic, 2002
Research
Disseration
- Title: Pain and Value
- Committee: Larry Temkin (advisor), Ruth Chang, James Griffin, Howard McGary, Jeff McMahan
- Completed: July 2006
- Link
Publications
- Pain’s Evils (Utilitas Vol. 21 No. 2 June 2009) Details
- Privation Theories of Pain (International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 2009) Details
Works in progress
- What Pains Are
- Pain or Suffering
- Does it Suck to Be a Shrimp?
- Squaring Fair Play and Political Obligations Details
- Hobbes’s State of Nature Argument
Blog
- Editor: Pain for Philosophers http://dolor.blogspot.com
Talks
- Hurts So Good: What's Bad About Masochistic Pain Details
- Pain and Privation, 11th Annual Southern California Philosophy Conference, 2007
- Kernels or Contexts: The Nature of Pains. Rutgers Graduate Philosophy Association, 2004
- Pains: What They Are. Rutgers Undergraduate Philosophy Club, 2004 Nominated for university-wide best club lecture
- More Threshing. Commentary on Matthew Lister’s Separating the Wheat From the Chaff in Kant’s Sexual Ethics. Rutgers-Princeton Graduate Philosophy Conference, 2002
- Autonomy and Fair Play. Rutgers Graduate Philosophy Association, 2001
Graduate Coursework
Area Test
- Metaphysics, 2002
Graduate Courses (for credit)
- Temkin: Ethics, 2001
- Hawthorne: Epistemology, 2001
- McGary: Political Legitimacy and Obligation, 2001
- Maudlin: Aristotle, 2001
- Strawson: Philosophy of Mind, 2000
- Loewer: Nomological Necessity, 2000
- Lepore: Donald Davidson, 2000
- Kivy, Aesthetics, 2000
- Lepore: Philosophy of Language, 2000
- Maudlin: Philosophy of Science, 2000
- Thomas: Mathematical Logic, 2000
- Egan: Philosophy of Mind, 1999
- Klein: Epistemology, 1999
- Bolton: 17th Century Philosophy, 1999
- Lepore, et al: Proseminar in Cognitive Science, 1999
Graduate Courses (audited)
- Parfit and Temkin: Value Theory, 2005
- McGary: Reparations, 2005
- Griffin: Human Rights, 2004
- Temkin: Equality, 2004
- Husak: Philosophy of Law, 2003
- Chang and Temkin: Parfit’s Metaethics, 2003
- Husak and McGary: Social and Political Philosophy, 2003
- Griffin: Human Rights, 2002
- Husak: Philosophy of Law, 2002
- McLaughlin and Hawthorne: Metaphysics, 2002
- Arntzenius: Decision and Game Theory, 2002
- Parfit: Metaethics, 2002 (at NYU)
- Stich, Doris, et al: Philosophy of Psychology, 2000 (at Princeton)
Panels, and commentaries
- Hurts So Good: What's Bad About Masochistic Pain
- Commentor: Matthew Liao's Crisp on Buckpassing Theories of Value, Pacific APA 2009
- Invited participant, Griffin Workshop
- AAC&U Summer Institutes 2007, 2008
- Chair: xxx Pacific APA, 2008
- Torture, Lelani Hall’s Humanities Seminar, 2006
- How to go to Graduate School, Panelist, 2006
Professional Activities
Grants chaired
- AACU Core Commitments Grant (Primary Investigator), 2006-9
Centers
- California State University, Northridge Center for Ethics and Value
- Director, 2008-2010
- Chair of advisory committee, 2007
- California State University, Northridge Center for Sex and Gender Research
- Advisory board member, 2008-
- Webmaster, 2007-
Organizational
- ‘Lunchtime Lectures on Pain: A Three Part Series’, 2006
- Supported by two grants by The College of Humanities [names]
- [Names; including affiliations]
- ‘Nature of Value’ workshop for Larry Temkin and Joseph Raz, 2004
- Peter Singer’s ‘Ethics and Intuitions’ colloquium at Rutgers, 2004
Departmental service
- Departmental recording secretary, 2009-
- Appointment’s Committee, 2006
- Speakers Committee, 2006-2007
- Strategic Planning Committee, 2006-
College service
- Philosophy department representative to Academic Council
- Humanities Interdisciplinary Program Advisory Board
Other service
- Rutgers TA/GA Grievance Committee
Professional Training
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons: Seminar on Integrative Pain Medicine, 2005
Professional Societies
- American Philosophical Association
- International Association for the Study of Pain
Awards
- Finalist: Charles Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship
- University Dissertation Teaching Assistantship, 2004-06
- Teaching Assistantship 2002-03
- Rutgers University Excellence Fellowship, 1999-2002; 2003-04
Honor Societies
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Golden Key National Honor Society
References
- Ruth Chang, Rutgers
- James Griffin, Rutgers and Oxford
- Jacob Hale, CSUN
- Howard McGary, Rutgers
- Jeff McMahan, Rutgers
- Larry Temkin, Rutgers
- Gregory Velazco y Trianosky, CSUN