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Default Faculty PhotoJames Sage

Associate Professor of Philosophy &
Department Chair

Education

Ph.D. — Philosophy, University of Utah
M.S. — Philosophy, University of Utah
B.L.A. — Liberal Arts (Interdisciplinary Program), Washington State University

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)


Biography

I joined UWSP in August of 2003, fresh out of my Ph.D. at the University of Utah. In the fall of 2009, I was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor. My wife, Toni, and I enjoy gardening and kayaking. We live with one adorable cat named Abbey.

Toni and I enjoy dancing and we offer Swing and Ballroom Dance lessons at our local YMCA on Friday nights. We also serve as the "President Couple" of the Whiting Dinner and Dance Club, a formal Ballroom Dance club, which was founded in the late 1920s.

In between teaching, research, and service, I really enjoy running. I've completed the Whistle-Stop Half-Marathon twice (in October 2007 and October 2008), and I am currently training to run the JusticeWorks Half-Marathon in Stevens Point in August 2011.

University Service

 Committee Activities
  • HLC Assessment Academy Team
  • Assessment Subcommittee
    • Fall 2010 Workshops: Curriculum Mapping
    • Spring 2011 Workshops: Peggy Maki "summit" & Revising Assessment Plans
      • Coming soon!
  • General Education Policy and Review Committee
  • Center for Academic Excellence and Student Engagement Advisory Board
  • Service-Learning Steering Committee
  • Philosophy Department Chair
  • Department Merit Committee
  • Department Honors Advisor
  • Department Bylaws Committee
  • Department Personnel Committee
Speaker Series Organizer
Student Organizations
  • Students for Freethought
  • Marathon Club of UWSP
  • Any Swing Goes

Scholarly Activities

Current Articles
  • "Truth-Reliability and the Evolution of Human Cognitive Faculties" Philosophical Studies, 117 (1-2), January 2004, pp. 95-106. (PDF)
  • "V for Vendetta and Political Philosophy: A Critique of Thomas Hobbes" (Under Review - PDF).
  • "In Search of Human Uniqueness: A Critical Review" critical commentary for Philosophical Psychology (In Preparation).
  • "Science and Values: Holism and Radical Environmental Activism" (Presented at environmental philosophy conference, paper is still in preparation - PDF).
  • "The Circularity of Evolutionary Reliabilism" (Under Review - PDF).
  • "Evolution, Reliability, and Self-Deception" (Under Review - PDF).
  • "Can Evolution Explain Rationality?" (In Preparation PDF).
Book Reviews

Review of Neuroscience and Philosophy: Brain, Mind, and Language (by Maxwell Bennett, Peter Hacker, Daniel Dennett, and John Searle), for Metapsychology Online Review (September 2007).

Review of The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes (by Dean Hamer), for Metapsychology Online Review (July 2007).

Review of Wrestling with Behavioral Genetics: Science, Ethics, and Public Conversation (by Erik Parens, Audrey R. Chapman and Nancy Press, eds), for Metapsychology Online Review (August 2006).

Review of Masters of the Mind: Exploring the Story of Mental Illness from Ancient Times to the New Millennium (by T. Millon), for Metapsychology Online Review (January 2005).

Review of Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (by Peter Godfrey-Smith), for Metapsychology Online Review (January 2004).

Review of The Empirical Stance (by Bas van Fraassen), for Metapsychology Online Review (January 2003).

Review of Love’s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy (by Irvin Yalom), for Metapsychology Online Review (May 2002).

Review of Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain’s Potential (by Richard Restak), for Metapsychology Online Review (March 2002).

Review of The Age of Insanity: Modernity and Mental Health (by John Schumaker), for Metapsychology Online Review (January 2002).

Review of Evolution and the Human Mind: Modularity, Language, and Meta-Cognition (by Peter Carruthers & Andrew Chamberlain, eds.), for Metapsychology Online Review (October 2001).

Presentations
  • “Science and Values: Holism and Radical Environmental Activism” Presented at the radical environmental activism conference: Respectable Activism or Dangerous Fringe? An Interdisciplinary Conference on Radical Environmental Activism (April 2010, Fredericksburg, VA).
  • “Self-Deception: Rational Failure or Evolutionary Strategy?” Presented at the UWSP College of Letters and Science Community-Campus Lecture Series (April 8, 2010, 7:00 pm CCC 321, Stevens Point, WI). Program here. Video here.
  • “Religion in America” Part Two of a three-part LIFE (Learning Is ForeEver) Program series with John Blakeman and Shanny Luft (October 2009, Stevens Point, WI).
  • “What To Do? What To Do? Decision Making, Problem Solving and Wellness” Co-Presented with Dona Warren at the National Wellness Conference (July 2009, Stevens Point, WI). (Sage's Slides: Why We Reason Poorly.)
  • “Evolution & Intelligent Design: Philosophy of Science in Popular Culture” Presented at the Oceanic Popular Culture Association Conference (May 2008, Honolulu, HI). Organized and moderated a session entitled, “Film, Philosophy, and Popular Culture.”
  • "Contemporary Philosophy of Science: Evolution and Creationism" Presented at the Humanities Forum, College of Letters & Science, UWSP (May 2008, Stevens Point). (Download).
  • “Once Around The Sun With Aldo Leopold” Co-Coordinated (with Ken Blomberg: Leopold Education Project & Pheasants Forever) a public reading of Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac (March 2008, Stevens Point, WI).
  • “Effective Assessment and Reflection” Break-out session presented at the Service-Learning Teaching Colloquium (February 2007, UWSP, Stevens Point, WI). (Handout)
  • “Does Rational Scrutiny Cause Violent Harm to Religious Belief?” Presented at the Northwest Philosophy Conference (October 2007, Portland, OR). (PDF)
  • “Politics, Empowerment, and V for Vendetta” Presented at the Oceanic Popular Culture Association Conference (May 2007, Honolulu, HI). Also, organized and moderated a session entitled, “Film, Philosophy, and Popular Culture.” (PDF).
  • “Once Around The Sun With Aldo Leopold” Participated in a public reading of Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and presented Leopold’s Land Ethic to environmental educators. Sponsored by the Leopold Education Project (March 2007, Milladore, WI).
  • “What is Service-Learning?” Brown bag presentation on behalf of the Center for Academic Excellence and Student Engagement (October 2006, UWSP, Stevens Point, WI).
  • “Evolution, Cognition, and Self Deception” Invited interdisciplinary presentation, University of Idaho (January 2006, Moscow, ID). (PDF)
  • “Science and Religion” Presented to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (January 2006, Stevens Point, WI).
  • “The History and Logic of Science” Presented to the LIFE Program (November 2005, Stevens Point, WI). (Handout) (Notes)
  • “A Brief History of Gaia” Presented at the Gaia Symposium: Women Leaders in Environmental Issues, (October 2005, UWSP, Stevens Point, WI). (part 1, part 2)
  • “Understanding Leopold’s Philosophy: Teaching the Land Ethic” Presented at the Leopold Education Project Facilitator Workshop, at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station (April 2005, Amherst Junction, WI).
  • “Gardening and the Cultivation of an Ecological Conscience” Presented at the March 2005 National Garden Club’s Environmental Ethics Symposium, Sentry Sports Complex (March 2005, Stevens Point, WI).
  • “Science and Values: Holism and Radical Environmental Activism” Presented at the 1st Midwest Environmental Ethics Conference, Rock Valley College / Severson Dells Nature Center (November 2004, Rockford, IL).
  • “Extending the Land Ethic: Ethics on Land and Water” Symposium co-organizer (with Michael Nelson) and moderator (two-day interdisciplinary event), American Fisheries Society (August 2004, Madison, WI).
  • “Integrating Learning Objects with Instruction” Presented at the Instructional Technology Center’s Brown Bag Lunch Series (November 2003, UWSP, Stevens Point, WI).