Dr. Nicholaos Jones

Interim Department Chair, Philosophy Department Professor, Philosophy Department

Biography

One part of Dr. Jones' current research is an attempt to explain when, and why, network visuals amplify cognition in various systems' biological practices: organizing and aggregating data; storing, retrieving, and searching information; generating hypotheses and predictions; explaining phenomena; and so on. This involves developing case studies centered on different kinds of diagrams, applying results from cognitive science about the cognitive benefits of visualizations, and doing philosophical analysis to identify commonalities among the various kinds of diagrams that might explain these benefits. Another independent part of Dr. Jones' current research involves explicating various metaphysical claims about Fazang, a monk from the Huayan School of Chinese Buddhism. Fazang says some puzzling things: that a lion's ear is its eye, that one jewel contains the entire universe, that whatever exists is empty of existence. Dr. Jones' project is to reconstruct the arguments Fazang provides for these claims, and in doing so provide an interpretation that removes from them the appearance of mystery and irrationality.

Dr. Nicholaos Jones' Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Nicholaos Jones' Personal Webpage.

Education

  • Ph.D., Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006
  • M.A., Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004
  • B.A., Philosophy, Saint Francis College, 2000

Classes Taught

Affiliations

  • Alabama Philosophical Society
  • Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy
  • American Philosophical Association
  • Philosophy of Science Association
  • Ohio Philosophical Association

Honors and Awards

  • Visiting Fellowship, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, 2014
  • Whetstone-Seaman Faculty Development Award, Alabama Humanities Foundation, 2011
  • Phi Kappa Phi, University of Alabama in Huntsville Chapter, 2010
  • William H. Fink Prize, Best Philosophy Graduate Student Paper, OSU, 2002

Publications

  • "Inference to the More Robust Explanation," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
  • "A Principles-based Model of Ethical Considerations in Military Decision Making" (with Gregory S. Reed, Mikel D. Petty, Anthony W. Morris, John P. Ballenger, and Harry S. Delugach), Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation.
  • "An Atheistic Argument from Ugliness" (with Scott Aikin), European Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 7.1 (2015): 209-217.
  • "Bowtie Structures, Pathway Diagrams, and Topological Explanation," Erkenntnis. 79.5 (2014): 1135-1555.
  • "Don't Blame the Idealizations," Journal for the General Philosophy of Science. 44 (2013): 85-100.
  • "Toward Modeling and Automating Ethical Decision Making: Design, Implementa- tion, Limitations, and Responsibilities" (with Gregory S. Reed), Topoi. 32 (2013): 237-250.
  • "Secondary Confessions, Expert Testimony, and Unreliable Testimony" (with Jeffrey S. Neuschatz, Miranda L. Wilkinson, Charles A. Goodsell, Stacy A. Wetmore, and Deah S. Quinlivan), Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. 27:2 (2012):179-192.
  • "Diagrams as Locality Aids for Explanation and Model Construction in Cell Biology" (with Olaf Wolkenhauer), Biology and Philosophy. 27:5 (2012), 705-721.
  • "An Arrovian Impossibility Theorem for the Epistemology of Disagreement," Logos & Episteme. 3:1 (2012), 97-115.
  • "Civility, Sincerity, and Ambiguity," Alabama Humanities Review. 1:1 (2011). (Prize-winning essay for Whetstone-Seaman Faculty Development Award.)
  • "Idealizing, Abstracting, and Semantic Dispositionalism" (with Adam Podlaskowski), European Journal of Philosophy. 20:1 (2010), 166-178.
  • "Mereological Heuristics for Huayan Buddhism," Philosophy East and West. 60:3 (July 2010), 355-368.
  • "Nyaya-Vaisesika Inherence, Buddhist Reduction, and Huayan Total Power," Journal of Chinese Philosophy. 37:s1 (June 2010), 215-230.
  • "Fazang's Total Power Mereology: An Interpretive Analytic Reconstruction," Asian Philosophy. 19:3 (November 2009), 199-211.
  • "General Relativity and the Standard Model: Why Evidence for One Does Not Disconfirm the Other," Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 40:2 (May 2009), 124-132.
  • "Is Theology Respectable as Metaphysics?," Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science. 43:3 (September 2008), 579-592. (with a reply by Gregory Peterson)
  • "Evidence and Falsification: Challenges to Gregory Peterson," Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science. 43:3 (September 2008), 599-604.
  • "Is All Abstracting Idealizing?," The Reasoner. 2:4 (April 2008), 4-5.
  • "The Logic of Soku in the Kyoto School," Philosophy East and West 54:3 (July 2004), 302-321.