David Brown

Professor, Philosophy

McCluer Hall 121
(636) 949-4411
dbrown@lindenwood.edu

Biographical Information

Dr. Brown grew up in Springfield, Mo., where he attended Greenwood Laboratory School on the now Missouri State University campus. His first teaching job was 50 years ago, when, as a third-grader, he taught a section of science to first-grade students. He later co-taught a section of Biology for his high school class before turning his interests to philosophy. Brown has taught philosophy for over 25 years. He believes in the Mortimer Adler quote: “To be a human being is to be endowed with the proclivity to philosophize. To some degree we all engage in philosophical thought in the course of our daily lives. Acknowledging this is not enough. It is also necessary to understand why this is so and what philosophy’s business is.” His primary teaching goal is to give students the tools and information they need to make good decisions and have a good life. As John L. Roemer, Lindenwood president 1914-1940, said, “Broad foundations in a School of Liberal Arts are helps and not hindrances to any business, social, or professional pursuits. One would not think of placing a superstructure on a foundation unable to bear it.”

Dr. Brown came to Lindenwood in 2000. He shortly thereafter created the B.A. in philosophy and the Philosophy Department. Brown won the Emerson Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007 (the first year the award was selected by the faculty and deans). He also won the 2008 Lindy Award for Best Faculty Show for his World of Faith program broadcast on LUTV. Brown was the co-founder and director of the Lindenwood Film Series (2009-2017), winning two grants from the Missouri Arts Council for promoting the arts. He is also a founding faculty sponsor of the Catholic Student Union.

Courses Taught

Dr. Brown has taught the following courses:

• Moral Life
• Philosophy of Love
• Traditional Logic
• Symbolic Logic
• Ethics
• Contemporary Ethics
• Bioethics
• The Natural Law
• Modern Philosophy
• Philosophy in Film
• Theories of Knowledge
• Philosophy of Science

Publications

• “Cicero’s De Officiis,” The Literary Encyclopedia (2013. https://www.litencyc.com/). 
• “Reasoning Down the Rabbit-Hole: Logical Lessons in Wonderland,” Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser and Curiouser, ed. Richard Brian Davis (John Wiley & Sons, 2010)
• “A Puzzle for Particulars?” with Richard Davis.  Axiomathes, March 2008 (vol. 18, no. 1), pp. 49-65.
• “Cicero’s De Officiis: Ancient Ethics for (Post-) Modern Times,” Teaching Philosophy, June 2002, pp. 151-159.
• “James Fodor’s Christian Theory of Truth: Is it Christian?” (with Richard Davis).  The Heythrop Journal, October 2000, pp. 436-448 (see correction of authorship in January 2001, p. 131).
• “Patricia Kitcher and Kant’s ‘Real Self’”.  Southwest Philosophy Review, January 1997 (vol. 13, no. 1), pp. 163-174.