Daniel Collette is a visiting Assistant Professor at Marquette University and received his Ph.D. at the University of South Florida under Roger Ariew. He works mainly in ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. You will often find him thinking about the ontology of Blaise Pascal and Mary Shepherd’s metaphysics.
What are you working on right now?
I have several “research irons in the fire” but this week I am working on Mary Shepherd’s metaphysics and Jacqueline Pascal’s theory of personal autonomy. Concerning the second, she has a robust pre-Kantian view of autonomy that has largely been overlooked by philosophers until recently. Dwight Lewis and I have been collaborating on theories of personal autonomy originating from the nuns of Port Royal and I am excited about what we are finding. Shepherd’s criticisms of Hume are quite compelling, though her constructive work is what interests me the most. Without discounting the novelty of her work in itself, I currently read her as something like an empirical Leibnizian (if you can imagine that!). At the moment I am exploring her teleological argument, which (to my knowledge) has been entirely overlooked by historians of philosophy, philosophers of religion, and philosophers of science. Her argument comes on the coattails of the cosmological argument formulated in her Essay upon the Relation of Cause and Effect. She grants that though the universe must have a cause, we are unable to prove whether or not that cause is material through efficient or material causation. Her teleological argument in Essays on the Perception of an External Universe is an additional attempt to prove that design is a better explanation for the universe than one produced through only material causes. Rather than understanding teleology in terms of the apparent order of things, she defines it through intentionality, drawn from the theories of causation, objects, and time established in her two Essays. Her argument avoids not only Hume’s devastating criticisms, but also anticipates Darwinian objections concerning inferences to the best explanation. Of course all that depends on her metaphysics, which is a bitter pill to swallow.
What topic do you think is under explored in philosophy?
Given present political climates, I find social epistemology particularly important in its questions surrounding authority, trust, and testimony. There is really interesting contemporary work on this topic, but many similar conversations have already occurred in the early modern period. I believe we can learn a lot from those discussions, but they are largely under-explored in this context.
What is your favorite thing that you’ve written?
I am particularly proud of the article Wagering with and without Pascal. I coauthored this paper with Joe Anderson. Pascal’s Wager has perplexed philosophers from its initial reception, and I believe we resolve most of the objections raised against it (e.g., infinite utility and moral objections). Since those philosophically interesting problems no longer gain traction, it becomes a less exciting wager; but it does make Pascal’s argument defensible. In general, I see a great deal of value in collaborative work and wish it were more common and valued in philosophy.
What is your favorite book of all time? (Or top 3). Why? To whom would you recommend them?
These lists are always challenging, but for fiction, probably G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday, Jorge Luis Borges’s Ficciones, or Flannery O’Conner’s A Good Man is Hard to Find. Anything Dostoevsky is also a contender. The first is a tour de force in absurdity – told as a mystery, the subtitle of Chesterton’s book is fittingly “A Nightmare.” The story is as comical as it is disorienting. My interest with Borges is similar, though his work is more serious, touching on interesting questions such as time and identity. Flannery O’Conner is my favorite fiction author. She manages to artfully synthesize laugh-out-loud wittiness with the shockingly macabre. She has keen insight into moral psychology, the banality of evil, and inauthenticity. I often recommend these, solicited or not, whenever conversation gestures towards good literature or the themes with which those authors engage.
What would your childhood self say if someone told you that you would grow up to be a philosopher?
I would be confused. I grew up in a relatively poor, working class family where culture and higher learning were never on the radar. I am thankful for my mother who was passionate about childhood education, and my father who worked very hard to be sure my siblings and I were fed, but I had no idea what a philosopher was until college. I also was raised in an extremely conservative, fundamentalist environment – academics were viewed as suspect in my circles, so my childhood self would have been suspicious of philosophers even if I knew what they were!
Which books have changed your life? In what ways?
The Stoics and Existentialists were formative in my younger philosophical years: Epictetus’ Enchiridion, and Simone de Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity. These texts specifically stand out. As a young undergraduate, the prospect of recreating and reframing yourself to better align with your values and cope with the chaotic uncertainty of life was powerful.
Professionally, it was Pascal’s Pensées that drew me into the history of philosophy. I am insatiably curious and hated that I didn’t understand his book. In attempt to understand Pascal, I returned to Augustine and Descartes, and to better understand Descartes I read Arnauld, and reading Arnauld led me to Leibniz, and so on. Eventually I was in so deep that there was no turning back! But I’m glad my research took the trajectory that it did..
Who is your favorite philosopher and why?
There are many to admire here, but possibly Kierkegaard. I find in him something of a kindred spirit.
Where is your favorite place you have ever traveled and why?
Every year Princeton University and the University of Bucharest hold a summer seminar in Bran, Romania. The lodging overlooks a pond and there is an audible stream trickling just beyond the tree line. Further in the distance, the icy, stone peaks of the Carpathian Mountains reach into the clouds, looming over the landscape. In between lay the foothills, and nested in the valley is Bran Castle (“Dracula’s Castle,” though that’s a bit of a misnomer). It’s all very sublime and storybookish. If not Bran, then Paris – which may be a bit of a cliché, but Paris just has so much to offer culturally, intellectually, culinarily, and historically in such a relatively small area.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
