Sam Black

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Education

  • B.A. Liberal Arts College, Concordia University
  • Ph.D. Cambridge, UK

Areas of Interest

Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics, History of 17th Century Philosophy

Current Research Projects

I began my career in political philosophy examining the relationship between individual and group rights. Since then, my interests have come to embrace more foundational questions in social philosophy. The three projects on which I am currently working include: (1) the place of skepticism in an adequate theory of public reason, (2) the historical role that skepticism played in the development of seventeenth century moral and political philosophy, and (3) a book length manuscript that defends an account of reasons to be moral.

Publications

I have published essays in numerous journals including: The Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Ethics, The Journal of Ethics, The Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, History of Philosophy Quarterly, and Social Theory and Practice. I recently contributed to and co-edited (with Evan Tiffany), Reasons to Be Moral Revisited (UC Press 2009).

Currently I am associate editor of The Canadian Journal of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. In the past I have been vice-president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, Liberal Arts Fellow at Harvard Law School, Board Member of the Canadian Philosophy Association and member of the Simon Fraser University Senate.

Courses

Future courses may be subject to change.