Thomas J. McKay

July, 2007

Education:

B.A. Swarthmore College, 1969

M.A. University of Massachusetts, 1972

Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, 1974

Dissertation - "Essentialism and Quantified Modal Logic: Quine's Argument and Kripke's Semantics"

Academic Positions:

Syracuse University: Assistant Professor, 1973-1979

Associate Professor, 1979-1996

Professor, 1996-

Director of Syracuse Semester in Italy Program, 1980-81

Department Chair, 1995-2002

Areas of Specialization:

Logic, philosophy of language, and metaphysics

Book:

Plural predication, Oxford University Press. June, 2006.

(Introduction available online at http//:philosophy.syr.edu/)

Textbooks:

Reasons, Explanations and Decisions (Wadsworth), 2000.

Modern Formal Logic

First edition, Macmillan, 1989.

Second edition, Thomson, 2006.

Journal Articles:

"Essentialism in Quantified Modal Logic," Journal of Philosophical Logic 4 (1975), 423-438.

"Counterfactuals with Disjunctive Antecedents," with Peter van Inwagen, Philosophical Studies 31 (1977), 353-356.

"The Principle of Predication," Journal of Philosophical Logic 7 (1978), 19-26.

"Natural Kind Terms and Standards of Membership," with Cindy Stern, Linguistics and Philosophy 3 (1979), 27-34.

"On Proper Names in Belief Ascriptions," Philosophical Studies 39 (1981), 287-303.

"On Showing Invalidity," Canadian Journal of Philosophy 14 (1984), 97-100.

Critical Review of Michael Devitt's Designation, Noûs 18 (1984), 357-367.

"Actions and De Re Beliefs," Canadian Journal of Philosophy 14 (1984), 631-635.

"On Critical Thinking," American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy, Spring-Summer 1985, 19-20.

"His Burning Pants," Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 27 (1986), 393-400.

"Lowe and Baldwin on Modalities," Mind 95 (1986), 499-505.

"he himself: Undiscovering an Anaphor," Linguistic Inquiry 22 (1991), 368-373.

"Representing de re Beliefs," Linguistics and Philosophy 14 (1991), 711-739.

"Analogy and Argument," Teaching Philosophy, 20 (1997), 49-60.

"A reconsideration of an argument against compatibilism," Philosophical Topics, 24 (1996), 113-121. (Actually published in late 1997.)

Critical Notice of Words without Objects (a book by Henry Laycock), Canadian Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming.

Book chapters:

"Singular Terms in Modal Logic," Views on Language, edited by Reza Ordoubadian and Wallburga Von-Raffler Engle, Inter-University Publishing (Tennessee), 1975, 32-52.

"Against Constitutional Sufficiency Principles," Midwest Studies in Philosophy 11 (1986).

"De Re and De Se Belief," in Philosophical Analysis: A Defense by Example, edited by David Austin, Reidel (Dordrecht), 1988.

"Names, Causal Chains, and De Re Beliefs," Philosophical Perspectives 8 (1994), James E. Tomberlin, editor.

"Plural Reference and Unbound Pronouns," in Logic and Philosophy of Science in Uppsala, edited by Dag Prawitz and Dag Westerstahl, 1994.

Encyclopedia articles:

Definitions: "Opacity", "Indirect Discourse", "Connotation", "Denotation", and related material for the Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995, Robert Audi, editorial supervisor.

"Modal Logic, Philosophical Issues," for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward Craig

"Propositional Attitude Reports," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2000, 2005. (This is an online encyclopedia.) The 2005 version is co-authored with Michael Nelson.

Presentations (1987- ):

"Shifting the Burden of Proof," invited address, American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, March, 1987.

"Names, Causal Chains and De Re Beliefs," American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, March, 1988.

"On The Plurality of Worlds," American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, March, 1989. (Commentator)

"Names, Causal Chains and De Re Beliefs," American Philosophical Association, Central Division, May, 1989.

"Belief de re," American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, April, 1990. (Commentator)

"On Social Content," American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, March, 1991. (Commentator)

"Direct Reference and Reflexive Belief," University of Rochester Conference on Belief, May, 1991. (Commentator)

"Unbound Pronouns," IX International Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, Uppsala, Sweden, August, 1991.

"Unbound Pronouns," American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, December, 1991.

"A reconsideration of an argument against compatibilism" (with David Johnson), American Philosophical Association, Central Division, April 28, 1995.

"Reference and Belief," invited address, American Philosophical Association, Central Division, May, 1998.

"Essentialism wins," invited comments, Metaphysical Mayhem V, August, 2000.

"Plurals, Quantifiers and Non-Distributive Predication," University of Massachusetts, October, 2003.

"Plurals, Quantifiers and Non-Distributive Predication," University of Minnesota, November 2003.

"Plurals, Quantifiers and Non-Distributive Predication," Cornell University, April 2004.

"Plurals, Quantifiers and Non-Distributive Predication," Syracuse University Linguistics Colloquium Series, February 2005.