On July 15th, 2022, Dr. Matthew Scarfone joined Carleton’s Department of Philosophy as a term Instructor for 2022-23. Many will remember Matthew from his time at Carleton as a MA
student over a decade ago. After completing his PhD at McGill, Dr. Scarfone held several teaching and research positions in Canada and the US (Texas A&M University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Baltimore, University of Toronto). The Department is proud to count Matthew Scarfone among its alumni and to welcome him in its teaching team!
While his research focus is on metaethics (in particular, moral epistemology), Matthew Scarfone has also made notable contributions to public philosophy in applied ethics. His current research project, under Andrew Sepielli, develops an anti-metaphysical approach to morality. It primarily addresses the problem of moral scepticism, asking how it arises and how it can be avoided. The approach to this work is inspired by the classical pragmatists. The culprit here might be an undue focus on the metaphysics of morality, and the solution might be an epistemic-first approach situated within our moral practices. For more details on Matthew’s research and academic achievements, see here.
This year, Dr. Matthew Scarfone will be teaching PHIL 1000 (Introductory Philosophy), PHIL 2408 (Bioethics), PHIL 3340 (Topics in Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy: “Political Legitimacy”), and PHIL 4100/PHIL 5000 (Seminar in Ethics).
We are especially pleased to welcome back Dr. Scarfone to the Department!