Philosophy is relevant to our everyday lives. In some ways it is the most comprehensive
study of life. Other disciplines focus on some aspect of the world. Biology studies
living things, chemistry, the basic elements of matter and their interactions; astronomy,
the laws of celestial bodies. But philosophy addresses issues and questions that help
to organize our lives in meaningful ways, and provide a direction for good living.
I’m particularly interested in how ethics can help us sort out many of our problems
and give us proper guidance. Getting a good moral compass is just as important as
finding a good career. It’s easy to get lost in the push and pull of all the social
forces and pressures that we experience, but having a good guide gives us agency,
and allows us to make better choices about what to do and what paths to take. It is
better to have a good understanding of these things ahead of what we do, then to do
things without such guidance, and live with the consequences of poor choices.
The Problematics of Truth and Solidarity in Peirce’s Rhetoric. Semiotica (2017)
A Semiotic Theory of Tropes. Language and Semiotic Studies, 2(4), 18-36. (2016)
Peirce’s Idea of Ethics as a Normative Science. Charles S. Peirce Society Presidential
Address. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, 50(4), 459-479 (2014)
New Directions in Pragmatic Ethics. Cognitio, 14(1): 51-62. (2013)
Books
The Semiotic of Myth: A Critical Study of the Symbol. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (1989)
A General introduction to the Semeiotic of Charles S. Peirce. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press; translated into Chinese and Korean (1996)
Moral Competence. An Integrated Approach to the Study of Ethics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall. (2002)
Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, Alaska Conservation Fund; 2010; board member
2006–2012
President, The Charles Sanders Peirce Society 2013–2014; Vice-president 2012–2013
Board of Ethics, Municipality of Anchorage, 2004–2007
Editorial Boards: Chinese Studies in Semiotic, 2016–present; Language and Semiotic Studies, 2016 to present; Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society; 2010–present; Environmental Ethics, 2002–2012; The Peirce Seminar Papers, 2000–2010