I am Professor of Philosophy at Monash. I am a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanties. I am the foundation editor of the Australasian Philosophical Review. I am the Chief Organiser of the 25th World Congress of Philosophy, to be held in Melbourne in July 2023. 

I have a BSc./BA (Hons) from Melbourne, and a PhD from Princeton. My dissertation was on semantics for propositional attitude ascriptions (philosophy of language). Some of my early publications were in the areas of philosophy of language and aesthetics. Most of my recent publications have been in philosophy of religion (though I have also published in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of science).

I came to Monash in 1996 after a period as an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Philosophy Program in the Research School for Social Sciences (RSSS) at the Australian National University (ANU). I published a book on ontological arguments as an outcome of my ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship.

I am on the editorial boards of: Annales Philosophici, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Open Theology, Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy Compass, Religious Studies, Secular Studies, and Sophia.

I have held a number of ARC Project Grants. In particular, I had a large grant for a project on the history of philosophy in Australia and New Zealand that has issued in: a companion to philosophy in Australia and New Zealand, a book of interviews with philosophers in Australia and New Zealand, a book of public lectures by philosophers in Australia and New Zealand, and a two-volume history of philosophy in Australia and New Zealand (all co-edited with Nick Trakakis).

Other large grants on which I have been a CI include a project on Bayesian statistical inference, a project on critical thinking pedagogy, and a project on neglected problems about time. The project on Bayesian statistical inference led to the publication of a major paper on MML (in the British Journal for Philosophy of Science); the project on critical thinking pedagogy led to various publications, and to the creation of an innovative creative thinking unit; the project on neglected problems in time may eventually yield a book (currently still in process).

In 2017, with Nick Trakakis, I completed a large grant supported project on multi-faith dialogue, involving philosophers from a wide range of different religious traditions. In 2020, with Joy Damousi, Jane Lydon, Kylie Brass and Iva Glisic, I shall complete a LASP grant supported project on the future of the humanities in Australia. 

Apart from my book on ontological arguments, I have also written a book on arguments about the existence of God, a book on infinity, a book on divine attributes, a book on the best argument against the existence of God, a short introduction to philosophy of religion, a book on naturalism and religion, a book on atheism, a book on atheism and agnosticism. and (with Michael Scott) a textbook on philosophy of religion. With Nick Trakakis, I edited a five-volume History of Western Philosophy of Religion, and a four-volume work on interreligious dialogue. With Joe Koterski, I edited a book of arguments about theism and atheism. I have also edited a handbook of contemporary philosophy of religion, a volume of new essays on ontological arguments, and a companion to atheism and philosophy.

My major research interest has been in arguments about the existence of God. More generally, I have tackled a range of topics in philosophy of religion (including various questions about divine attributes, creationism, the epistemology of religious belief, and spirituality and healthcare). I have published most on: ontological arguments; cosmological arguments; Pascals' wager; and arguments from evil.

Other topics on which I have published include: the two-envelope paradox; the Turing Test; future individuals; new atheism; slingshot arguments; pantheism; the definition of art; supervenience; eschatology; two-dimensional time; omnipotence; teleological arguments; gods; minimalism about truth; minimalism about truth-aptness; local realism; causal models; norms of assertion; and resemblance nominalism.

Philosophy of Religion: arguments about the existence of God, divine attributes, religious disagreement, epistemology of religious belief

Metaphysics: time, cause, infinity, ontology, truth

Philosophy of Science: philosophy of physics, philosophy of mathematics

Epistemology: disagreement, Bayesian inference, argumentation

First Year:

Science, Religion and Witchcraft (1997-2001)

Time, Self and Mind (2019)

Primary Logic (2004-6)

Second Year:

God, Freedom and Evil (1997-8, 2000, 2002-3, 2005-6, 2009-present)

Philosophy of Mind (1996-7, 1999-2001, 2003)

Origins of Modern Philosophy (2001)

Ethics (2009-10)

Third Year:

Philosophy of Religion (1997-8, 2000-5, 2009-present)

Aesthetics (1997)

Mind and Meaning (1997-8)

Metaphysics (2000; 2017-present)

Honours:

Truth (1996)

Infinity (1997)

Metaphysics (1999-2001)

Epistemology (2009)

Philosophical Methodology (2014)

Metaphilosophy (2018, 2019)

Head, School of Philosophy, Linguistics and Bioethics, Feb 2001 - Dec 2001

Head, School of Philosophy and Bioethics, Jan 2002 - Dec 2004, Jan 2009 - Dec 2009

Head, School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Jan 2010 - Dec 2012

Associate Dean Research, Aug 2003 - Feb 2004, July 2004 - Dec 2007

Associate Dean Graduate Studies, Jan 2007 - Dec 2007

Academic Board, 2002-3, 2006-7, 2009-12

Academic Board Steering Committee, 2009-12

Arts Faculty Board, 2000-2007, 2009-2012

Medical Faculty Board, 2001-2005

Arts Faculty Executive 2001-2007, 2009-2012

Dean's Advisory Committee, 2003-2007

Chair, OSP Committee, 2005-2007