Community Outreach Leader

Organizer and host of the 1st and 2nd Annual East Tennessee High School Ethics Bowls, and lead organizer for a Philosophy for Kids program at Pond Gap Elementary, Matt is committed to extending the benefits of philosophy beyond the college campus. If you share that vision, or would simply like to learn more about it, follow the "Contact" tab above and drop Matt a line anytime.
 
Political Philosopher

Under the guidance of Rawls expert and renowned legal philosopher David Reidy, Matt argues in his dissertation that Rawls's views on public reason can be best understood as including both a moral minimum and an aspirational ideal. The minimum standard, which Matt calls Public Representation (PR), is textually supported by Rawls's so-called "provio," and only requires that citizens translate their nonpublic convictions into public language. The aspirational ideal, which Matt calls Public Judgment (PJ), is textually supported by quotes scattered throughout Rawls's body of work, and requires citizens to fully decide political questions from the perspective of our common human reason. While Rawls implies that PR is all that is necessary to achieve a requisite degree of respect, justice, legitimacy and stability, Matt argues that these key political values are significantly bolstered when we instead embrace and practice PJ.
 
Applied Ethicist

Given UT's traditional strength as an applied ethics program, Matt has naturally acquired competence carefully thinking through ethical issues concerning law, politics, business, medicine, engineering, journalism, the environment and the like. He has taught courses in applied ethics at the University of Tennessee and surrounding colleges since 2006, and is an active member of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, often presenting his research at their annual conference in Cincinnati. Committed to making philosophy applicable and relevant to real world problems, Matt shares some of the fruits of academic ethics with a general audience at his blog, SocratesVotes.com.
 
Award-Winning Teacher

Winner of the University of Tennessee Philosophy Department's Excellence in Teaching Award for graduate teaching associates for 2008-2009, Matt consistently receives favorable student evaluations. From a recent unsolicited email from a nontraditional adult student: "You have a talent that few instructors have or ever aspire to achieve. And that is you talk TO the students and not AT the students. I also knew that you were sincerely interested in my learning... another trait of the minority.”