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CURRICULUM VITAE (2004)

NAME: Felicia Nimue Ackerman

POSITION: Professor of Philosophy, Brown University

VISITING POSITIONS HELD:

Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UCLA, January-June 1976.

Visiting Honorary Lecturer in Logic and Metaphysics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, January-June 1983.

Senior Fulbright Lecturer in Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, January-June 1985.

EDUCATION:

A. B. Cornell University 1968, summa cum laude in philosophy, with distinction in all subjects and first in class.

Ph.D. University of Michigan 1976. Dissertation title: Proper Names, Natural Kind Terms, and Propositional Attitudes.

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:

Present: Philosophy in Literature, Bioethics, Moral Psychology,

Former: Philosophy of Language, Methodology of Philosophy, Epistemology.

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS:

Senior Fulbright Lecturer in Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, January-June 1985.

Fellow at Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences/National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, 1988-89.

Short story in W. Abrahams (ed.), Prize Stories 1990: The O. Henry Awards (Doubleday, 1990).

PUBLICATIONS:

a. Philosophy

“Plantinga, Proper Names, and Propositions,” Philosophical Studies, December 1976: 409-12.

Critical Notice on Jonathan Bennett’s Linguistic Behavior, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, December 1978: 785-99.

“Proper Names, Propositional Attitudes, and Nondescriptive Connotations,” Philosophical Studies, January 1979: 55-69.

“Proper Names, Essences, and Intuitive Beliefs,” Theory and Decision, March 1979 (special issue of invited papers in the philosophy of language): 5-26.

“De Re Propositional Attitudes Toward Integers,” Southwestern Journal of Philosophy, April 1979 (special issue of invited papers on Quine): 145-53; reprinted in R. Shahan and C. Swoyer (eds.), Essays on the Philosophy of W. V. Quine (University of Oklahoma Press, 1979).

“Natural Kinds, Concepts, and Propositional Attitudes,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 5: Studies in Epistemology (University of Minnesota Press, 1980): 469-86.

“Thinking About an Object: Comments on Pollock,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 5: Studies in Epistemology (University of Minnesota Press, 1980): 501-8.

“The Informativeness of Philosophical Analysis,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 6: The Foundations of Analytic Philosophy (University of Minnesota Press, 1981): 313-20.

“Two Paradoxes of Analysis” (abstract), Journal of Philosophy, November 1981.

“Wittgenstein, Rules, and Origin-Privacy,” Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Autumn 1983: 63-69.

“Plantinga’s Theory of Proper Names,” in P. van Inwagen and J. Tomberlin (eds.), Alvin Plantinga (Reidel, 1985): 187-98.

“Essential Properties and Philosophical Analysis,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 11: Studies in Essentialism (University of Minnesota Press, 1986): 305-13.

“An Argument for a Modified Russellian Acquaintance Principle,” Philosophical Perspectives I (1987): 501-12.

“A Man by Nothing is So Well Betrayed as by His Manners? Politeness as a Virtue,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 13: Ethical Theory: Character and Virtue (University of Notre Dame Press, 1988): 250-58; revised and reprinted in J. Heil (ed.), Rationality, Morality, and Self-Interest: Essays Honoring Mark Carl Overvold (Rowman & Littlefield, 1993): 151-61; and in David Benatar (ed.), Ethics for Everyday (McGraw-Hill, 2001): 778-87.

“Content, Character, and Nondescriptive Meaning,” in J. Almog, et al. (eds.), Themes From Kaplan (Oxford University Press, 1989): 5-21.

“A Vagueness Paradox and its Solution,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 14: Contemporary Perspectives in the Philosophy of Language II (University of Notre Dame Press, 1989): 395-98.

“Analysis, Language, and Concepts: The Second Paradox of Analysis,” Philosophical Perspectives IV (1990): 535-43.

“Imaginary Gardens and Real Toads: On the Ethics of Basing Fiction on Actual People,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 16: Philosophy and the Arts (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991): 142-51.

“The Significance of a Wish,” Hastings Center Report, July-August 1991: 27-29; reprinted in C. Levine (ed.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Bioethical Issues, 5th and subsequent edns. (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin,); in J. Arras and B. Steinbock (eds.), Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, 4th edn. (Mayfield, 1995): 288-91; in R. F. Card (ed.), Critically Thinking about Medical Ethics (Prentice-Hall, 2004): 251-54; and in M. Battin, et al. (eds.), Death, Dying, and the Ending of Life (Ashgate, 2005), forthcoming.

“Analysis and Its Paradoxes,” in E. Ullman-Margalit (ed.), The Scientific Enterprise: The Israel Colloquium Studies in History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science (Kluwer, 1992): 169-78.

“Philosophical Knowledge,” in J. Dancy and E. Sosa (eds.), A Companion to Epistemology (Blackwell, 1992): 342-45.

“Paradoxes of Analysis,” in J. Dancy and E. Sosa (eds.), A Companion to Epistemology (Blackwell, 1992): 326-29.

“Does Philosophy Only State What Everyone Admits? A Discussion of the Method of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 17: The Wittgenstein Legacy (University of Notre Dame Press, 1992): 246-54.

“Roots and Consequences of Vagueness,” Philosophical Perspectives VII (1994): 129-36.

“Acquaintance,” in J. Kim and E. Sosa (eds.), A Companion to Metaphysics (Blackwell, 1994): 1-3.

“Analysis,” in J. Kim and E. Sosa (eds.), A Companion to Metaphysics (Blackwell, 1994): 9-11.

“How Does Ontology Supervene on What There Is?” in U. Yalcin and E. Savellos (eds.), Supervenience: New Essays (Cambridge University Press, 1995): 264-72.

“The Concept of Manipulativeness,” Philosophical Perspectives VIII (1995): 335-40.

Review of Sherwin B. Nuland, How We Die, The American Scholar, Winter 1995, 131-35; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 1995.

“Pity as a Moral Concept/The Morality of Pity,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 20: Moral Concepts (University of Notre Dame Press, 1996): 59-66.

“What is the Proper Role for Charity in Healthcare?” Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (1996): 425-29.

“Be Reasonable and Do It My Way: Advocacy in the College Classroom,” in P. Spacks (ed.), Advocacy in the Classroom: Problems and Prospects (St. Martin’s, 1996): 283-92.

Review of Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face, The American Scholar, Winter 1996: 142-45; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 1996.

“Goldilocks and Mrs. Ilych: A Critical Look at the ‘Philosophy of Hospice’,” Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (1997): 314-24; reprinted in part under the title, “Hospice Care May Not Benefit the Terminally Ill,” in M. Williams (ed.), Terminal Illness (Greenhaven, 2001): 27-35 and under the title, “Hospice Care Is Not Appropriate for All Terminally Ill Patients,” in J. Haley (ed.), Death and Dying (Greenhaven, 2003): 28-38.

“Assisted Suicide, Terminal Illness, Severe Disability, and the Double Standard,” in M. Battin, et al. (eds.), Physician-Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Debate (Routledge, 1998): 149-61.

Response to “This Porridge is Too Thin” by Gretchen M. Brown and “Demolishing a Straw Man” by Elliot J. Rosen, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (1998): 323-25.

“Flourish Your Heart in This World: Emotion, Reason, and Action in Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur,” in P. French and H. Wettstein (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 22: Philosophy of Emotions (University of Notre Dame Press, 1998): 182-226.

“Late in the Quest: The Study of Malory’s Morte Darthur as a New Direction in Philosophy,” in P. French and H. Wettstein (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 23: New Directions in Philosophy (Blackwell, 1999): 312-42.

“Death, Dying, and Dignity,” in K. Brinkmann (ed.), The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 1: Ethics (Philosophy Documentation Center, 1999): 189-201.

“ ‘For Now Have I My Death’: The ‘Duty to Die’ vs. the Duty to Help the Ill Stay Alive,” in P. French and H. Wettstein (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 24: Life and Death: Metaphysics and Ethics (Blackwell, 2000): 172-85; reprinted in B. Steinbock, et al. (eds.) Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, 6th edn. (McGraw-Hill, 2002): 426-34.

Critical notice on John Hardwig, Is There a Duty to Die? and Other Essays in Medical Ethics and James M. Humber and Robert F. Almeder (eds.), Is There a Duty to Die? American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 2001: 173-78.

“ ‘Always to do ladies, damosels, and gentlewomen succour’: Women and the Chivalric Code in Malory’s Morte Darthur,” in P. French, et al. (eds.), Midwest Studies in Philosophy 26: Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophy (Blackwell, 2002): 1-12.

“ ‘Never to do outrageousity nor murder’: The World of Malory’s Morte Darthur,” in Shannon E. French, The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003): 115-37.

b. Short Stories

“Not This Time,” Arizona Quarterly, Autumn 1983: 223-34; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 1994: 127-31.

“For the Loved Ones in Your Life,” South Dakota Review, Spring 1984: 66-74; reprinted in Providence Sunday Journal Magazine, April 24, 1988 and in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 2004: 43-45.

“Applicants,” Ascent 10. 2 (1985): 2-18; reprinted (lightly revised) in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 1992: 143-50.

“A Man by Nothing is So Well Betrayed as by His Manners,” Mid-American Review 6.1 (1986): 1-12; revised and reprinted in J. Heil (ed.), Rationality, Morality, and Self-Interest: Essays Honoring Mark Carl Overvold (Rowman & Littlefield, 1993): 135-49 and in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 1995: 72-77.

“In Your Hands,” Pulpsmith, Autumn 1986: 139-50; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 1997: 97-101.

“Have an After Eight Mint,” Moment, April 1987: 50-57; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 2003.

“What Would You Like to Know?” Playgirl, September 1987: 96-99.

“And Yet Another Transparent Plea for Help,” Providence Sunday Journal Magazine, August 21, 1988; reprinted in National Weather Association Newsletter, July 1991 and in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 2001: 169-72.

“The Forecasting Game,” Commentary, December 1988: 49-56; reprinted in Inside, September 1989: 94-99 and 152-54; in W. Abrahams (ed.), Prize Stories 1990: The O. Henry Awards (Doubleday, 1990): 315-35; and in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 1992: 80-86.

“Break, Break, Break,” Commentary, February 1991: 40-44; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring 2000: 258-62.

“Buddies,” Commentary, December 1994: 52-59; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Fall 1999: 101-7.

“Flourish Your Heart in This World,” in M. Nussbaum and C. Sunstein (eds.), Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies About Human Cloning (Norton, 1998): 310-31; reprinted in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine, Spring l999: 134-40.

“Entertain the Thought,” Witness 16.1 (2002): 42-53.

c. Other

Review of Elizabeth Arthur, Binding Spell, Providence Journal-Bulletin, October 9, 1988.

Review of Terry McMillan, Disappearing Acts, Providence Journal-Bulletin, October 15, 1989.

“No, Thanks, I Don’t Want to Die with Dignity” (op-ed), Providence Journal-Bulletin, April 19, 1990; reprinted in Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and elsewhere.

“If We’re Going to Tax Sin, Why Not Go All the Way?” (op-ed), Philadelphia Inquirer, July 7, 1994; reprinted in other newspapers.

Review of P. F. Kluge, Alma Mater: A College Homecoming, The American Scholar, Autumn 1996: 621-24.

“A Comment on ‘Teaching and Writing ‘Up Against the Mall,”” College English 59.7 (1997): 839.

Review of Alice Elliott Dark, In the Gloaming and Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Boston Review, February/March 2000: 30-31.

“Love that tyme was nat as love ys nowadayes,” ‘A Ful Noble Knyght’: A Medieval Newsletter Devoted to the Life and Art of Sir Thomas Malory 2.1 (2000): 1-3.

“ ‘The more he is of worshyp the more shall be my worshyp to have ado with him’: Jousting with Scott Hess about Malory,” Arthuriana 10.1 (2000): 127-29.

“Big Brother: Round up the Fat Folks!” (op-ed), Philadelphia Daily News, March 26, 2001. (The newspaper picked this title.)

Introduction to Philosophical and Emotive Issues in Malory, Arthuriana 11.2 (2001): 3-4.

“ ‘Every man of worshyp’: Emotion and Characterization in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur,” Arthuriana 11.2 (2001): 32-42.

Review of Hyonjin Kim, The Knight without the Sword: A Social Landscape of Malorian Chivalry, Arthuriana 11.4 (2001): 137-38.

Review of Elizabeth Edwards, The Genesis of Narrative in Malory’s Morte Darthur, Arthuriana 12.3 (2002): 126-27.

Review of Catherine Batt, Malory’s Morte Darthur: Remaking Arthurian Tradition, Arthuriana, 14.1 (2004).

Review of Dorsey Armstrong, Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, Arthuriana, 14.4 (2004), forthcoming.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS:

Sixty-two presentations given at philosophy, bioethics, literature, and medieval studies conventions, conferences, and colloquia in the United States, Canada, India, Israel, and Scotland.

EDITORIAL WORK:

Guest Editor, Philosophical and Emotive Issues in Malory, special issue of Arthuriana 11.2 (2001).

Editorial Board, The Journal of the Philosophy of Surgery and Medicine, 2001-.

Editorial Board, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2003-8.

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