Faculty and Staff Profiles

Blatti's primary area of research is metaphysics—specifically, the problem of personal identity—though his work extends to related topics in philosophical psychology, in philosophy of biology, in ontology, and at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics. He is the co-editor of two volumes forthcoming from Oxford University Press—Essays on Animalism (with Paul Snowdon) and Ontology After Carnap (with Sandra Lapointe)—and his work has appeared in American Philosophical Quarterly, Analysis, Journal of Medical Ethics, Philosophical Psychology, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He is the recent recipient of a Templeton Foundation grant in support of his work on book tentatively titled Being of Life: Human Animals, Mortality, and the Human/Nonhuman Divide.

Education

• D.Phil Philosophy - University of Oxford - 2008
• B.Phil Philosophy - University of Oxford - 2000
• BA Philosophy - Ohio State University - 1997

• Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy - University of Memphis - 2014-present
• Director, Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities - University of Memphis - 2014-present
• Affiliate Faculty Member, Institute for Intelligent Systems - University of Memphis - 2009-present
• Full Member, Graduate School - University of Memphis - 2014-present
• Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy - University of Memphis - 2008-14
• Editor, The Southern Journal of Philosophy - University of Memphis - 2009-13
• Associate Member, Graduate School - University of Memphis - 2008-14
• Managing Editor, The Southern Journal of Philosophy - University of Memphis - 2008-09
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy - Duke University - 2006-08
• Managing Editor, Journal of the History of Philosophy - Duke University - 2006-08
• Visiting Lecturer, Department of Philosophy - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill - 2005-06
• Philosophy Consultant, Oxford Scholarship Online - Oxford University Press - 2003-04
• Oxford Fellow and Master of Humanities, Interdisciplinary - The Lawrenceville School - 2000-02

• Top Paper Award - New England Undergraduate Philosophy Conference - 1998
• Phi Beta Kappa - Ohio State University - 1997
• Magna cum laude - Ohio State University - 1997
• Distinction in Philosophy - Ohio State University - 1997
• Excellence in Scholarship Award - Ohio State University - 1997
• Undergraduate Research Scholarship - Ohio State University - 1996-97
• Bingham Prize for Undergraduate Excellence in Philosophy - Ohio State University - 1995
• Scarlet and Gray Scholarship - Ohio State University - 1994
• Summa Award for Superior Scholarship - Ohio State University - 1994
• Honors Prize in Classics, Honorable Mention - Ohio State University - 1994

• Graduate Seminar: Ontology of Life (with Mary Beth Mader) - University of Memphis
• Graduate Seminar: Death - University of Memphis
• Graduate Seminar: Personal Identity - University of Memphis
• Teaching Skills - University of Memphis
• Nature, Mind, and Knowledge - University of Memphis
• Elementary Logic (including Honors) - University of Memphis
• Biomedical Ethics (online & traditional formats) - University of Memphis
• Foundations of Western Philosophy: Modern Period - University of Memphis
• Readings and Research - University of Memphis
• History of Modern Philosophy - Duke University
• Social and Political Philosophy - Duke University
• Introduction to Philosophy - Duke University
• Bioethics - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Ethics (TA) - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Bioethics (TA) - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Metaphysics and Epistemology - University of Oxford
• Knowledge, Reality, and Mind - University of Oxford
• Philosophy of Mind - University of Oxford
• History of Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant - University of Oxford
• Introduction to Philosophy (online) - University of Oxford, Dept. of Continuing Education
• Philosophy: of Mind and Morals - Oxford Tradition
• Concepts of Good and Evil - Oxford Tradition
• Logic: Principles of Reasoning - Center for Talented Youth
• Introduction to Philosophy - Summer Institute for the Gifted
• Philosophy, English, Humanities - The Lawrenceville School

• Co-Founder, Artifact Theatre Company - 1998-2002 - Oxford, England / Buenos Aires, Argentina -  
• "Judith: A Parting from the Body" (Producer & Sound Designer) - July 19-22, 2000 - Berlin, Germany - Cameron Mackintosh Board of Contemporary Drama, et al.
• "Quartet" (Producer & Sound Designer) - October 16-20, 1999 - Oxford, England - Cameron Mackintosh Board of Contemporary Drama, et al.

• "The Dying Animal" - Templeton Foundation (Immortality Project) - $82,311 - 2014-15 research leave
• Human-Animal Studies Fellowship - Animals & Society Institute, Wesleyan University - $3,000 - 2011
• Philosophy Bursary - Royal Institute of Philosophy - £2,500 - 2004-05
• Oxford Philosophy Scholarship - University of Oxford Faculty of Philosophy - full scholarship for graduate study (B.Phil, D.Phil) - 1998-2004
• Overseas Research Scheme Award - University of Oxford - difference between international tuition and home/EU tuition - 1998-2004
• Old Members Travel Grants (6) - University College, Oxford - various amounts - 1999-2005
• Travel Grant - Ohio State University - $1,000 - 1995
• Faculty Research Grant - University of Memphis - $4500 - Summer 2012
• Professional Development Assignment - University of Memphis - salary - 2012
• Travel Enrichment Fund Award - University of Memphis - $500 - 2011
• Course Redesign Fellowship (Biomedical Ethics) - University of Memphis - $3000 - 2009

• Table Host, "Great Conversations" (invited) - Community, Donors - 2014 - College of Arts & Sciences, University of Memphis
• Presentation and Discussion: "Personal Identity" (invited) - Ethics Club, Tipton-Rosemark Academy (Millington, TN) - Spring 2012 -  

• University of Memphis - Promotion and Tenure Committee (Dept. of Philosophy) - 2014-present
• University of Memphis - Faculty Research Grant Review Committee - 2012-2014
• University of Memphis - Editor, The Southern Journal of Philosophy - 2009-13
• University of Memphis - Teaching Mentor Coordinator - 2013-14
• University of Memphis - Library Liaison - 2013-14
• University of Memphis - Webmaster and IT Advisor - 2008-12, 2013-14
• University of Memphis - Theoretical Philosophy Exam Committee - 2008-12
• University of Memphis - Philosophy of Science (MA) Exam Committee - 2010
• University of Memphis - Philosophy of Mind (MA) Exam Committee - 2009
• University of Memphis - History of Modern Philosophy Exam Committee - 2008-09, 2012-14
• University of Memphis - Student Research Forum - Spring 2010
• University of Memphis - Managing Editor, The Southern Journal of Philosophy - 2008-09
• Duke University - Undergraduate Honors Thesis Examination Committee - 2007
• University of Oxford - Organizer, Ockham Society - 2003-05
• University of Oxford - Graduate Joint Consultative Committee (Philosophy) - 1999-2000, 2003-05
• University of Oxford - Admissions Committee, St. John's College - 2004
• Ohio State University - Faculty Hiring Committee (Philosophy), Undergrad Representative - 1996-97
• Ohio State University - Vice President, Wexner Center for the Arts Student Association - 1994-95
• Ohio State University - President, Undergraduate Philosophy Forum - 1994-95
• Ohio State University - Deptartment of Philosophy, Undergraduate Representative - 1994-97
• American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division - Chair: Colloquium (Metaphysics) - 2015 meeting
• Academic Career Opportunities and Placement Committee, American Philosophical Association - Member (elected) - 2014-17
• Sloth: A Journal of Emerging Voices in Human-Animal Studies - Associate Editor - 2013-present
• American Philosophical Association, Central Division - Chair, Author Meets Critics (Jody Azzouni, Talking about Nothing: Numbers, Hallucinations, and Fictions) - 2013 meeting
• American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division - Chair, Symposium (Unconscious Perception) - 2012 meeting
• American Philosophical Association, Central Division - Member, Program Committee - 2010-11
• American Philosophical Association, Central Division - Chair, Author Meets Critics (Mark Johnston, Surviving Death) - 2011 meeting
• American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division - Session Chair, Aesthetics Colloquium - December 2008
• Brains (blog) - Invited Contributor - 2009-current
• Career Day, Cary Academy - "How 'The Matrix' Stole All of Philosophy's Good Ideas" - 2007
• Oxford Graduate Philosophy Conference - Chair - 2004
• University of Oxford - "Essential Study Skills" (University College) - 2004
• Cum Laude Society, The Lawrenceville School - Keynote address, induction ceremony - 2002
• University College Boat Club (1st VIII) - University College, Oxford - 1998-2000
• Oxford University Press - Referee - current
• Cambridge University Press - Referee - current
• Wiley-Blackwell Press - Referee - current
• Broadview Press - Referee - current
• McGraw Hill - Referee - current
• Pearson Press - Referee - current
• Polity Press - Referee - current
• Australasian Journal of Philosophy - Referee - current
• Dialectica - Referee - current
• Erkenntnis - Referee - current
• Ethics - Referee - current
• Journal of Consciousness Studies - Referee - current
• Mind - Referee - current
• Philosophical Psychology - Referee - current
• Sloth - Referee - current
• The Southern Journal of Philosophy - Referee - current
• Synthese - Referee - current
• Theoria - Referee - current
• Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology - Referee - current
• Oxford Graduate Philosophy Conference - Referee - 2004

• Essays on Animalism: Persons, Animals, and Identity, edited + introduction with Paul Snowdon (Oxford University Press, forthcoming)
  
• Ontology After Carnap, edited + introduction with Sandra Lapointe (Oxford University Press, forthcoming)
  
• "The Lives of Human Animals," Southern Journal of Philosophy, Spindel Supplement, 52 (2014), edited + introduction.
  

• The Limits of the Self: Immunology and Biological Identity, Thomas Pradeu, Mind (under contract).
• Consciousness: From Perception to Reflection in the History of Philosophy, ed. Sara Heinämaa, Vili Lähteenmäki, Paulina Remes, Journal of the History of Philosophy 47 (2009): 463-64.
• The Rise and Fall of Soul and Self: An Intellectual History of Personal Identity, by Raymond Martin and John Barresi, Mind 117 (2008): 191–95.

• "Headhunters," in Essays on Animalism: Persons, Animals, and Identity, ed. Stephan Blatti and Paul Snowdon (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
  
• "Mortal Harm and the Antemortem Experience of Death," Journal of Medical Ethics 40 (2014): 640-42.
• “Animalism,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 edition), ed. Ed Zalta, URL=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/animalism.
• “A New Argument for Animalism,” Analysis 72 (2012): 685–90.
• "Death's Distinctive Harm," American Philosophical Quarterly 49 (2012): 317–30.
  
• “Material Constitution,” Continuum Companion to Metaphysics, ed. Robert Barnard and Neil Manson (Continuum Publishing, 2012), 149–69.
• “Animalism, Dicephalus, and Borderline Cases,” Philosophical Psychology 20 (2007): 595–608.
• “Animalism and Personal Identity,” Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships, eds. Marc Bekoff and Janette Nystrom (Greenwood Press, 2007), vol. 2: 430–33.
• “No Impediment to Solidity as Impediment,” Metaphysica 7 (2006): 35–41.
• "Editor's Note," The Southern Journal of Philosophy 48 (2010): 1-2.
  
• “Animalism,” The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy, eds. A. C. Grayling, Andrew Pyle, Naomi Goulder (Thoemmes Continuum, 2006), vol. 1: 108–09.
• “Disjunctivism,” The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy, eds. A. C. Grayling, Andrew Pyle, Naomi Goulder (Thoemmes Continuum, 2006), vol. 2: 856–57.

• “Human Animal Persistence,” SnowdonFest: A Conference in Celebration of Paul Snowdon, University College London: June 2015.
• SnowdonFest: A Conference in Celebration of Paul Snowdon, University College London: June 2015 (conference co-director).
• “Unresting Death,” The Philosophy and Theology of Immortality, University of Hull: May 2015 (refereed).
• “The Dying Animal,” Templeton Foundation, Immortality Project Capstone Conference, University of California, Riverside: May 2015 (invited).
• “Mortality,” Time Bias and Future Planning Workshop, Vancouver, Canada: March 2015 (invited).
• “The Dying Animal,” Mississippi State University, Department of Philosophy: November 2014 (invited).
• The Lives of Human Animals, 32nd annual Spindel Conference, University of Memphis (Sept. 2013, conference director)
  
• Liberty, Nature, and the Question of Human Dignity, Liberty Fund Conference (Apr. 2013, invited participant)
  
• “Thinking Animals: Differences that Make a Difference and the Difference They Make,” Institute for Intelligent Systems (Cognitive Science Seminar: “Representing Meaning”), University of Memphis (Nov. 2012, invited)
  
• “Thinkers, Brains, and Animals,” Persons and their Brains, Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, University of Oxford: July 2012 (refereed)*.
• “Mortal Harm Across the Human/Nonhuman Divide,” Minding Animals, Utrecht University (Jul. 2012, refereed, unable to attend)
• "Unresting Death and its Distinctive Harm," Death: Its Meaning, Metaphysics, and Morality, Newcastle University (UK) (Jul. 2011, refereed)*
  
• "A New Argument for Animalism," Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and Mind Association, University of Sussex (UK) (Jul. 2011, refereed)*
  
• "The Dying Animal," Animals & Society Institute, Wesleyan University (Jul. 2011, refereed)*
• “An Ideal Predicament: Children and Moral Agency” (with Michael Burroughs, on behalf of Deborah Tollefsen), Philosophical Collaborations, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Mar. 2011, invited)
  
• "Another Argument for Animalism," Northwest Philosophy Conference (topic: "The Self"), Willamette University (Oct. 2010, refereed)*
  
• “A Plea for Bioethics,” Department of Biology, University of Memphis (Oct. 2010, Oct. 2011, invited)
  
• “Other Minds: What's All the Fuss?” Institute for Intelligent Systems (Cognitive Science Seminar: “Others’ Minds”), University of Memphis (Sept. 2010, invited)
  
• “An Evolutionary Argument for Animalism,” Department of Philosophy Colloquium, University of Mississippi (Mar. 2010, invited)
  
• “Death, Priorism, and Deprivation Harm,” American Philosophical Association, Central Division (Feb. 2010, refereed)*
  
• “Comments on Jaworski’s ‘Animalism and Personhood’,” American Philosophical Association, Central Division (Feb. 2010, delivered on behalf of Paul Snowdon)
  
• "Death's Harm" - Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SSPP), Savannah, GA (Apr. 2009, refereed)*
  
• “The Balkanization of Foundationalism: Comments on Hobson’s ‘Foundational Beliefs and the Structure of Justification’” - American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division (Mar. 2006, invited)
• “Persons, Animals, and What We Are” -  Dimensions in Personhood, University of Jyväskylä (Aug. 2004, refereed; unable to attend)*
• “Does Dicephalus Refute Animalism?” -  Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and Mind Association (Jul. 2004, refereed)*
• “One, Two, Many” -  Personhood: Mind, Will, Identity, University of Texas Graduate Conference (Apr. 2004, refereed)*
• “Neo-Lockeanism and the Uniqueness of Self-Conscious Persons” -  Columbia University/NYU Graduate Philosophy Conference (Mar. 2003, refereed)*
• “Being an Art Object” -  Philosophical Perspectives on Art and Experience, University of Southampton (Feb. 2003, refereed)*
• “Leibnizian Counterpart Theory” -  Brown University Graduate Philosophy Conference (Feb. 1999, refereed)*
• “Reduction and Explanation” -  New England Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Tufts University (Apr. 1998, refereed)*
• “What Reduction Isn’t” -  Yale University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference (May 1997, refereed)*
• “Locke on Extension in Atoms” -  Yale University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference (May 1996, refereed)*
• “Locke on Extension in Atoms” -  New England Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Tufts University (April 1996, refereed)*
• “Locke on Extension in Atoms” -  National Conference on Undergraduate Research, UNC Asheville (April 1995, refereed)*
• “Three Objections to Animalism” - Wake Forest University, Department of Philosophy (Nov. 2005, invited)
• “Being an Art Object” -  Ockham Society, University of Oxford (Mar. 2003)
• “Locke on Extension in Atoms” - Ohio State University, Department of Philosophy (June 1995, Bingham Award presentation)*

• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics
• Phil 1611 - Elementary Logic (honors)
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics (online)
• Phil 8002 - Teaching Skills
• Phil 1611 - Elementary Logic
• Phil 8051 - Graduate Seminar: Ontology of Life
• Phil 1611 - Elementary Logic (honors)
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics (online)
• Phil 3460 - Nature, Mind, and Knowledge
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics (online)
• Phil 7203/8203 - Graduate Seminar: Death
• Phil 4994 - Readings and Research
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics (online)
• Phil 4994 - Readings and Research
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics
• Phil 7203/8203 - Graduate Seminar: Recent Work in Personal Identity
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics
• Phil 3002 - History of Modern Philosophy
• Phil 3460 - Nature, Mind, and Knowledge
• Phil 3514 - Biomedical Ethics

• PhD Dissertation Co-Director (with Shaun Gallagher) - Sarah Vincent, "Empathy's Significance for the Moral Status of Nonhuman Animals" (in progress)
• PhD Dissertation Committee (Reader) - Justin Sledge, "Freedom, Solidarity, Revolution: Toward a Marxist Ethics" (PhD awarded, Spring 2014)
• PhD Dissertation Committee (Reader) - Michael Burroughs, "Ideal Adults, Deficient Children: The Child as Non-Adult in Western Philosophy" (PhD awarded, Fall 2012)
  
• PhD Dissertation Committee (Reader) - Arsalan Memon, "The Problem of Perception, Radical Reflection, and the Body: Towards Understanding Merleau-Ponty's Post-Kantian Transcendental Philosophy" (PhD awarded, Spring 2012)
  
• PhD Dissertation Committee (Reader) - Heidi Samuelson, "Out of Joint: The Nexus of Madness and Time-Consciousness" (PhD awarded, Spring 2012)
• PhD Dissertation Committee (Reader) - Tina Botts, "The Hermeneutics of Equal Protection Analysis" (PhD awarded, Spring 2011)
• PhD Dissertation Committee (Reader) - Tamara Haywood, "The Vindication Project of Alain Locke" (PhD awarded, Spring 2011)
• Teaching Mentor - William Allen (2010-14)
• Teaching Mentor - Josh Dohmen (2012-14)
  
• Teaching Mentor - Paul Hammond (2011-14)
• Teaching Mentor - Michael Burroughs (2010-12)
• Teaching Mentor - Nicolas Garrera (2009)

• Being of Life: Human Animals, Mortality, and the Human/Nonhuman Divide (in preparation)
• Life, edited (OUP’s Philosophical Concepts series, in preparation)
• Essays in Honor of Paul Snowdon, edited with Mike Martin (in preparation)
• "Animalism," in Introduction to Philosophy, ed. Lenny Clapp (Cengalla) (invited, in preparation)
• Review of The Limits of the Self: Immunology and Biological Identity, by Thomas Pradeu, Mind (under contract).
• “The Dying Animal” (draft)
• "Unresting Death" (in preparation)
  
• “Material Colocation and Art Objects” (draft)
  
• “Animalism Unburdened” (draft)

• "Animalism and the Science of Animals" ($109K), Templeton Foundation [not funded, 2012]
  
• "Training Program in Biomedical Research Ethics for Scientists in the Middle East" ($1.2M), National Institutes of Health, Fawaz Mzayek (PI), Stephan Blatti (CI), Satish Kedia (CI), Wasim Maziak (CI), Ken Ward (CI) [not funded, 2010]