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Ted Richards

See Also: Complete CV | HPST Website

I received my Ph.D. from Boston University and joined the department in 2005. Additionally, I am an active member of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology research group.

Research Interests

Recently, I’ve been concentrating in three areas:

    • Early Modern Natural Philosophy, specifically the debates concerning the relative merits of the Cartesian and Newtonian worldviews
    • History of the Philosophy of Science, specifically the process by which philosophy of science formed as a sub-discipline of philosophy
    • Axiology, specifically exploring the viability of a value calculus compatible with the formal axiology of Robert S. Hartman

Recent, Representative Presentations

  • “A conceptual reconstruction of Hartman’s Formal Axiology.” Robert S. Hartman Annual Conference, Knoxville, TN, October 2007.

  • “Newton, Clarke, and conceptual arguments against Cartesian Ontology” Newton and/as Philosophy Leiden, Netherlands, June 2007

  • “Securing the conceptual foundations of Newton's mechanics: the case for a post-Principia De Gravitatione” History of Science Society Annual Meeting Vancouver, Canada, November 2006.

  • “(Re-)Dating De Gravitatione: Five Reasons for a Post-Principia Composition” International Congress for the History of the Philosophy of Science Society, Paris, France, May 2006.

  • “Newton as Philosopher: De Gravitatione’s eleven conceptual arguments against Cartesian motion” Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Virginia, October 2005.

  • “‘I shall venture to destroy his figments’: The large-scale structure of Newton’s De Gravitatione argument against Descartes” History of Philosophy of Science and Technology Colloquy, University of Tennessee, October 2005.

Recent Courses Taught

  • PHIL 110: Introduction to Philosophy/Values and Reality
  • PHIL 111: Introduction to Philosophy/Epistemology and Metaphysics
  • PHIL 135 Formal Logic
  • PHIL 324 17th & 18th Century Philosophy
Ted Richards

Contact Information

Ted Richards
Lecturer
803 McClung Tower
Knoxville, TN 37996-0480

Phone: 865-974-3255
Fax: 865-974-3509

Email: tedr@utk.edu