PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUALITY & MEANING IN LIFE
My main areas of focus are spirituality and meaning. What does it mean to be spiritual but not religious? How does spirituality relate to aesthetics, morality, law and meaning in life? What do we learn about spirituality from the world's religious and cultural traditions - eastern, western and indigenous? What is respect for the sacred, and can that be understood in secular terms?
Research Areas: Philosophy of Spirituality, Philosophy of Religion, Native American Philosophy, Indigenous Philosophy, Meaning in Life, Applied Ethics, Philosophy of Language, Metaphor, Value Theory
loyno.academia.edu/DrewChastain
PUBLICATIONS
2022. "Meaning" (co-authored with Michael Hauskeller). The Things That Really Matter: Philosophical Conversations on the Cornerstones of Life, ed. Michael Hauskeller. London: UCL Press. 7-26.
2022. "Sacredness" (co-authored with Michael Hauskeller). The Things That Really Matter: Philosophical Conversations on the Cornerstones of Life, ed. Michael Hauskeller. London: UCL Press. 269-289.
2022. “Sisko’s Conversion Experience and the Secularism of William James: Exploring Faith, Religion, and the Visions of the Prophets.” To Boldly Stay: Essays on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Eds. Sherry Ginn and Michael G. Cornelius. McFarland & Company, Inc. 151-164.
2021. “Desirability without Desire: Life Extension, Boredom & Spiritual Experience.” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement. 90. 167-191.
2021. “Deep Personal Meaning: A Subjective Approach to Meaning in Life.” The Journal of Philosophy of Life. 11 (1). 1-23.
2019 "Can life be meaningful without free will?" Philosophia. 47 (4). 1069-1086.
2018 "Leaving Well Enough Alone: A Review of Michael Hauskeller's Better Humans?, Sex and the Posthuman Condition, and Mythologies of Transhumanism" (with author's reply). Ethical Perspectives. Dec. 25 (4). 795-806.
2018 "Becoming a Hollow Bone: Lakota Respect for the Sacred." The Philosophy of Spirituality: Analytic, Continental, and Multicultural Approaches to a New Field of Philosophy. Eds. Heather Salazar & Rod Nicholls. 164-188.
2018 "Liberating Spirit from Santayana's Spectatorial Spirituality." Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the George Santayana Society. Fall. 36. 99-114.
2017 “Gifts Without Givers: Secular Spirituality and Metaphorical Cognition." Sophia. 56 (4): 631-647.
FORTHCOMING
“Faith, Meaning, and Spirituality without Religion.” In Mind Over Matter: Philosophical Essays on Faith, Self-Confidence, and Achievement, eds. Rod Nicholls & Heather Salazar (Leiden: Brill | Rodopi).
IN PREPARATION
“Sacred Clowns and other Problems for Inviolability of the Sacred”
“The Allure of Divination: Fate, Meaning, and Spirituality”
“Just As I Am: The Spiritual Significance of Being Forgiven”
“Embracing Radical Ambivalence about Life”
“Spiritual but not Moral: Spiritual Experience without Spiritual Wisdom”
“Divination, Free Will, & Spirituality”
“Meaning and Responsibility”
UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
2022 “Sacred Clowns and the Lighter Side of the Sacred,” 16th Annual Lighthearted Philosophers’ Conference, Greensboro, NC, Oct 8-9
2022 Presentation TBD, Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, TN, Spring
PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS
2022 “Destiny Frees the Will: Divination, Free Will, & Spirituality,” Beyond Free Will: Variety in Understanding of Choice, Luck, and Necessity, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania, Jun 21
2022 “What’s Sacred to a Sacred Clown?: Distinguishing the Moral Sacred and the Mystic Sacred” Princeton Project in Philosophy and Religion: Second Philosophy of Religion Incubator, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, May 27
2022 “Wholeheartedness within Ambivalence toward Life,” Fourth Annual Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Jan 18
2022 “Just As I Am: The Spiritual Significance of Being Forgiven,” Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Towards an Exit From Shared Suffering, a panel hosted by the Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience (SoPHeRE) at the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Baltimore, MD, Jan 14
2021 “Desirability without Desire: Life Extension, Boredom & Spiritual Experience.” Meaning in Life and the Knowledge of Death, The Royal Institute of Philosophy Annual Conference. University of Liverpool. July 13-15 (invited)
2021 “Faith, Meaning and Spirituality without Religion: Critiquing Robert Solomon and Leo Tolstoy.” Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience Spirituality and Religion. 2021 APA Central Division Meeting. Feb 25
2020 “Deep Personal Meaning: A Subjective Approach to Meaning in Life,” The Third International Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life, Birmingham, UK, July 21-23 (online owing to pandemic)
2020 “Making Room for Personal Meaning,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, TN, Mar 20-21 (canceled owing to pandemic)
2019 “The Nonreligious Normativity of the Sacred”, Philosophy, Politics, Anthropology and Allied Disciplines, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 15-17
2019 “The Sacred & Morality: Human Life & the Earth,” March: Midsouth Philosophy Conference (pending acceptance of submission), Memphis, TN
2018 “This Magic Moment: The Experiential Source of Spiritual Normativity.” 56th Annual Meeting of the Alabama Philosophical Society, Pensacola, FL, Sep 28-29
2018 "Spiritual Reasons as Public Reasons," Philosophy, Politics, & Economics (PPE) Conference, New Orleans, LA, March
2018 “Liberating Santayana’s Spirit: Naturalized Spirituality without Santayana’s Intellectualism,” Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, 2018 APA Eastern Division Meeting, Savannah, GA, January 3
2017 “Repetition, Boredom and the Sacred,” Alabama Philosophical Society, Pensacola, FL, September 29-30
2017 “Becoming a Hollow Bone: How Lakota respect for the sacred fosters morality and meaning in life,” Anthrosophia, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, March 8-11
2017 “The Meaningfulness of Attachment,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, March 31–April 1.
2016 “Can Trivial or Immoral Activities Make Life More Meaningful?: What’s Missing in Susan Wolf’s Approach to Life Meaning,” Long Island Philosophical Society, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY, April 9
2016 “Can Trivial or Immoral Activities Make Life More Meaningful?: What’s Missing in Susan Wolf’s Approach to Life Meaning,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, February 19-20
2015 “Internal Meaning and Social Theory,” Articulating Political Philosophy and Anthropological Theory, Method, and Evidence, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, December
2015 “Gifts without Givers: Metaphorical Gift Language and Secular Spirituality,” Mississippi Philosophical Association, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, March
2015 “Gifts without Givers: Metaphorical Gift Language and Secular Spirituality,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, March
2008 “Using a Course Portfolio to Measure and Improve Student Learning,” Defining and Promoting Student Success Conference, hosted by the Faculty Resource Network, San Francisco, November, co-presented with Dr. Paul Schafer
2006 “‘Thought Work’ as Philosophical Practice in the Classroom,” The 8th International Conference of Philosophical Practice, Seville, Spain, April
2004 "The New Orleans Lyceum," International Conference of Philosophical Practice, Copenhagen, Denmark, August, co-presented with David O'Donaghue, Director of The Lyceum
SELECTED PUBLISHED BOOK REVIEWS
2018 "Leaving Well Enough Alone: A Review of Michael Hauskeller's Better Humans?, Sex and the Posthuman Condition, and Mythologies of Transhumanism." Ethical Perspectives. 25 (4). 795-806. (6,000 word book review, with author’s reply)
2014 Money for Everyone: Why We Need a Citizen’s Income. 2014. Basic Income Studies. 9 (1-2): 137-140.
My main areas of focus are spirituality and meaning. What does it mean to be spiritual but not religious? How does spirituality relate to aesthetics, morality, law and meaning in life? What do we learn about spirituality from the world's religious and cultural traditions - eastern, western and indigenous? What is respect for the sacred, and can that be understood in secular terms?
Research Areas: Philosophy of Spirituality, Philosophy of Religion, Native American Philosophy, Indigenous Philosophy, Meaning in Life, Applied Ethics, Philosophy of Language, Metaphor, Value Theory
loyno.academia.edu/DrewChastain
PUBLICATIONS
2022. "Meaning" (co-authored with Michael Hauskeller). The Things That Really Matter: Philosophical Conversations on the Cornerstones of Life, ed. Michael Hauskeller. London: UCL Press. 7-26.
2022. "Sacredness" (co-authored with Michael Hauskeller). The Things That Really Matter: Philosophical Conversations on the Cornerstones of Life, ed. Michael Hauskeller. London: UCL Press. 269-289.
2022. “Sisko’s Conversion Experience and the Secularism of William James: Exploring Faith, Religion, and the Visions of the Prophets.” To Boldly Stay: Essays on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Eds. Sherry Ginn and Michael G. Cornelius. McFarland & Company, Inc. 151-164.
2021. “Desirability without Desire: Life Extension, Boredom & Spiritual Experience.” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement. 90. 167-191.
2021. “Deep Personal Meaning: A Subjective Approach to Meaning in Life.” The Journal of Philosophy of Life. 11 (1). 1-23.
2019 "Can life be meaningful without free will?" Philosophia. 47 (4). 1069-1086.
2018 "Leaving Well Enough Alone: A Review of Michael Hauskeller's Better Humans?, Sex and the Posthuman Condition, and Mythologies of Transhumanism" (with author's reply). Ethical Perspectives. Dec. 25 (4). 795-806.
2018 "Becoming a Hollow Bone: Lakota Respect for the Sacred." The Philosophy of Spirituality: Analytic, Continental, and Multicultural Approaches to a New Field of Philosophy. Eds. Heather Salazar & Rod Nicholls. 164-188.
2018 "Liberating Spirit from Santayana's Spectatorial Spirituality." Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the George Santayana Society. Fall. 36. 99-114.
2017 “Gifts Without Givers: Secular Spirituality and Metaphorical Cognition." Sophia. 56 (4): 631-647.
FORTHCOMING
“Faith, Meaning, and Spirituality without Religion.” In Mind Over Matter: Philosophical Essays on Faith, Self-Confidence, and Achievement, eds. Rod Nicholls & Heather Salazar (Leiden: Brill | Rodopi).
IN PREPARATION
“Sacred Clowns and other Problems for Inviolability of the Sacred”
“The Allure of Divination: Fate, Meaning, and Spirituality”
“Just As I Am: The Spiritual Significance of Being Forgiven”
“Embracing Radical Ambivalence about Life”
“Spiritual but not Moral: Spiritual Experience without Spiritual Wisdom”
“Divination, Free Will, & Spirituality”
“Meaning and Responsibility”
UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
2022 “Sacred Clowns and the Lighter Side of the Sacred,” 16th Annual Lighthearted Philosophers’ Conference, Greensboro, NC, Oct 8-9
2022 Presentation TBD, Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, TN, Spring
PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS
2022 “Destiny Frees the Will: Divination, Free Will, & Spirituality,” Beyond Free Will: Variety in Understanding of Choice, Luck, and Necessity, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania, Jun 21
2022 “What’s Sacred to a Sacred Clown?: Distinguishing the Moral Sacred and the Mystic Sacred” Princeton Project in Philosophy and Religion: Second Philosophy of Religion Incubator, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, May 27
2022 “Wholeheartedness within Ambivalence toward Life,” Fourth Annual Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Jan 18
2022 “Just As I Am: The Spiritual Significance of Being Forgiven,” Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Towards an Exit From Shared Suffering, a panel hosted by the Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience (SoPHeRE) at the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Baltimore, MD, Jan 14
2021 “Desirability without Desire: Life Extension, Boredom & Spiritual Experience.” Meaning in Life and the Knowledge of Death, The Royal Institute of Philosophy Annual Conference. University of Liverpool. July 13-15 (invited)
2021 “Faith, Meaning and Spirituality without Religion: Critiquing Robert Solomon and Leo Tolstoy.” Society for the Phenomenology of Religious Experience Spirituality and Religion. 2021 APA Central Division Meeting. Feb 25
2020 “Deep Personal Meaning: A Subjective Approach to Meaning in Life,” The Third International Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life, Birmingham, UK, July 21-23 (online owing to pandemic)
2020 “Making Room for Personal Meaning,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, TN, Mar 20-21 (canceled owing to pandemic)
2019 “The Nonreligious Normativity of the Sacred”, Philosophy, Politics, Anthropology and Allied Disciplines, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 15-17
2019 “The Sacred & Morality: Human Life & the Earth,” March: Midsouth Philosophy Conference (pending acceptance of submission), Memphis, TN
2018 “This Magic Moment: The Experiential Source of Spiritual Normativity.” 56th Annual Meeting of the Alabama Philosophical Society, Pensacola, FL, Sep 28-29
2018 "Spiritual Reasons as Public Reasons," Philosophy, Politics, & Economics (PPE) Conference, New Orleans, LA, March
2018 “Liberating Santayana’s Spirit: Naturalized Spirituality without Santayana’s Intellectualism,” Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, 2018 APA Eastern Division Meeting, Savannah, GA, January 3
2017 “Repetition, Boredom and the Sacred,” Alabama Philosophical Society, Pensacola, FL, September 29-30
2017 “Becoming a Hollow Bone: How Lakota respect for the sacred fosters morality and meaning in life,” Anthrosophia, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, March 8-11
2017 “The Meaningfulness of Attachment,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, March 31–April 1.
2016 “Can Trivial or Immoral Activities Make Life More Meaningful?: What’s Missing in Susan Wolf’s Approach to Life Meaning,” Long Island Philosophical Society, Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY, April 9
2016 “Can Trivial or Immoral Activities Make Life More Meaningful?: What’s Missing in Susan Wolf’s Approach to Life Meaning,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, February 19-20
2015 “Internal Meaning and Social Theory,” Articulating Political Philosophy and Anthropological Theory, Method, and Evidence, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, December
2015 “Gifts without Givers: Metaphorical Gift Language and Secular Spirituality,” Mississippi Philosophical Association, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, March
2015 “Gifts without Givers: Metaphorical Gift Language and Secular Spirituality,” Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, March
2008 “Using a Course Portfolio to Measure and Improve Student Learning,” Defining and Promoting Student Success Conference, hosted by the Faculty Resource Network, San Francisco, November, co-presented with Dr. Paul Schafer
2006 “‘Thought Work’ as Philosophical Practice in the Classroom,” The 8th International Conference of Philosophical Practice, Seville, Spain, April
2004 "The New Orleans Lyceum," International Conference of Philosophical Practice, Copenhagen, Denmark, August, co-presented with David O'Donaghue, Director of The Lyceum
SELECTED PUBLISHED BOOK REVIEWS
2018 "Leaving Well Enough Alone: A Review of Michael Hauskeller's Better Humans?, Sex and the Posthuman Condition, and Mythologies of Transhumanism." Ethical Perspectives. 25 (4). 795-806. (6,000 word book review, with author’s reply)
2014 Money for Everyone: Why We Need a Citizen’s Income. 2014. Basic Income Studies. 9 (1-2): 137-140.