Joseph Steineger
Assistant Professor, Philosophy
McCluer Hall 125
(636) 949-4621
jsteineger@lindenwood.edu
Biographical Information
Dr. Steineger is a native of Kansas City, Kan. A first-generation college graduate in his family, he majored in political science and religious studies at the University of Kansas. During this time he became interested in how metaphysical commitments, whether implicit or explicit, ground the ethical and political commitments of communities, whether secular or religious. This interest in the ontology of ethics inspired him to further study in metaphysics at the University of Chicago where he researched medieval philosophical responses to contemporary philosophical commitments about the mind, natural kinds, and the possible reality of a first cause.
Dr. Steineger has been teaching philosophy to undergraduate students since 2003. Since joining Lindenwood University in 2014, he has cultivated his academic interests in the classroom through constructive dialogue with his students. His hope is to inspire his students to acquire the virtues of rigorous logical reasoning and interpretative charity. Together, he and his students investigate competing answers to the traditional philosophical questions he has spent most of his life studying, while paying close attention to how these prospective answers can address current political and personal concerns. In recent years, his interests have expanded to include the relationship between free speech and free markets, and the important role of empirical science in philosophical reflection (especially neuroscience, biology, and psychology).
Academic Interests
Dr. Steineger's academic interests include the following:
- Hylomorphic accounts of mind, causation, and natural kinds
- Proofs for a first cause
- Free will and determinism
- The role of asceticism and skepticism in gaining wisdom
- Logic and philosophical pedagogy
Courses Taught
Dr. Steineger has taught the following courses:
- Logic
- Ancient Philosophy
- Medieval Philosophy
- Metaphysics
- Philosophy of Religion
- Philosophy of Mind
- Theories of Truth
