Welcome


  I am on sabbatical until Fall 2008. If you need to contact me before then, the best way to do so is via email at heikesd[at]uah[dot]edu.

   During the fall semester, I can be found in Morton Hall 334 between the hours of 2:15-3:45pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and between the hours of 12:30-2:15pm on Tuesdays. I may also be in my office on Thursdays, but only when the faculty senate does not meet. If my door is open, you are welcome to come in. You may also make an appointment to see me outside of these hours.

The most reliable and quickest way to contact me is email at heikesd [at] uah [dot] edu, but if you must phone, my number is 824-2335.

About me

9 July 2008

I have been at UAH since 1998. Before that, I received my Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, my M.A. from Baylor University, and my B.A. from the University of Kansas. I also spent some time at the University of Houston, during which time my primary studies were in art and not philosophy.

When I am not doing philosophy, I like to be outdoors with my two dogs and two cats, all of whom are quite beloved and all of whom enjoy taking walks in the woods (yes, the cats walk with us).

Research

My research focuses around problems with rationality and objectivity. I am a defender of both. I am fond of saying things like, “that’s just wrong” or “one ought to think this.” These statements are not necessarily absolutist (there can be grey area in both ethics and epistemology), but I’m not ready to give into relativism just yet. So, I toil away at trying to argue for a conception of objectivity that can allow for subjectivity and to argue for a conception of rationality that can be substantively normative and allow for a great deal of flexibility in empirical content. I am currently working on a book on the nature of reason and several papers that do things such as taking philosophical lessons from the empirical sciences of anthropology and psychology. I also have this weird idea about Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason having a certain mystical element that results from his bumping up against the limits of philosophy, but it's getting less weird over time.

 

Teaching

If you are interested in taking any of my courses, please check out the class links on the left hand side of the page. I try to post syllabi and other information that students may find helpful in signing up for classes. Keep in mind that while I try to keep the syllabi accurate and updated, none of the syllabi posted on this site are official. Official syllabi are those handed out during the first day of class.

I bring my love of and excitment for philosophy to the classroom, although I know my enthusiasm may not always be shared. To be able to excite students about philosophical ideas is a wonderfully enjoyable task, and even if I cannot excite them, I enjoy helping students grow as thinkers and writers. From my high school photography teacher I learned what teaching could be. Those of us in photography came, as most high school students do, from quite narrow backgrounds. We knew our small community, but we failed to realize how large was the world around us. Through art and photography, our teacher served as our initial guide into the larger world. Over three years, our worlds were transformed by having our blinders removed. I hope to open my students eyes just as mine were opened by my teachers.