Curriculum Vitae
Ronald K Tacelli SJ
EducationBA (Philosophy): Boston College (1969)
MA (Philosophy): University of Toronto (1973)
PhD (Philosophy; Greek minor): University of Toronto (1980)
MDiv (Honors): Weston School of Theology (1982)
ThM: Weston School of Theology (1988)
LanguagesLatin; Greek; French; GermanTeaching1984 Present: Boston College
Courses TaughtPhilosophy of the Person
Analytic Philosophy
The Mind and its Body
Does God Exist?
The Philosophy of Angelic Being [Grad.]
Kant's Critique of Pure Reason [Grad.]
Lonergan's Insight [Grad.]
Great Philosophers II: Descartes to Marx [Grad.]
Perspectives I
Modern Philosophy
Kant's Moral Philosophy
AwardsFirst recipient of the annual Boston College Distinguished Junior Faculty Award (1985)
Cornerstone Book Award (1994)
Candelaria Foundation Fellowship (1997)
ServiceUniversity1. Member: Council of Liberal Education (1985)
2. Member: Library Committee (1987 - 1989)
3. Member: Enrollment Management Advisory Committee (1989, 1992 - 1993)
4. Member: Student Leadership Awards Committee (1992)
5. Faculty Resource: Greycliffe (1991 - 1992)
6. Faculty Adviser: The Observer (1995 - 1999)
7. Faculty Adviser: St Thomas More Society (1996)
8. Co-ordinator of numerous Lectures and Debates
Among the most recent:
Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? (Wm Lane Craig vs. Gerd Lüdemann)
Outing Shakespeare (discussion with Tom Howard, John Mahoney, Joe Sobran, Dennis Taylor, John Tobin)
St Augustine on the Love of God (William Marra)
Evolution and Design (panel discussion with Michael Behe, Pat Byrne, Wm. Petri, Jim Skehan)
Postmodernism (Peter Augustine Lawler)
Shakespeare and Religion (panel discussion among national Shakespeare scholars)
The Existence and Nature of God (Douglas Geivett)
9. Member of the Compensation Committee (1999- )
Departmental1. Faculty Adviser: BC Philosophy Association
2. Faculty Adviser: Phi Sigma Tau (National Philosophy Honor Society)
3. Department Adviser to undergraduate majors
4. Member: Undergraduate Committee (1991 - 2; 1992 - 1995)
5. Director of undergraduate majors and minors (involves advising the BC Philosophy Association) (1999-2000)
Professional1. Member (since 1984): American Phlosophical Association
2. Member (since 1984): American Catholic Philosophical Association
3. Co-Founder (1980): St. Socrates Society (monthly discussion group for scholars throughout New England interested in issues concerning the Philosophy of Religion)
4. Elected Member: ACPA Program Committee (1992 - 1993)
5. Elected Member: The Society for Aristotelian Studies (1993)
6. Elected Member: ACPA Executive Council (1993 - 1994; 1994 - 1995)
7. Founding Member: Bradley Society (1993)
8. Invited Member: Evangelical Philosophy Society (1999)
Research and PublicationsBooks1. Handbook of Christian Apologetics (an interpretive compendium of arguments, with bibliographical references). Co-author: Peter Kreeft. Publisher: InterVarsity Press (Spring, 1994). Winner: Cornerstone Book Award, 1994. [2nd revised edition to be published in 2001]
2. Clouds of Glory: The Pre-History of Oxford Analysis. (In progress.) An historical and critical study of the philosophical ancestry of Oxford linguistic analysis.
3. Things in Space: Lectures and Essays by H.W.B. Joseph. (To be published most likely by Blackwells; possibly by Clarendon Press, Oxford.) An edition with critical notes and an historical introduction.
4. The Resurrection Debate. (With Paul Copan.)
This text is based on the 1997 debate at Boston College between Craig and Lüdemann. Several well-known NT scholars are contributing reactions and critiques. Published by InterVarsity, 2001.
5. The Rationality of Theism. (With Godehard Brüntrup) The proceedings of the conference held in Munich, May 1997. Published in June 1999 by Kluwer.
6. Values and Human Experience: Essays in Honor of Balduin Schwarz (Peter Lang: 1999) [Chapter: "Moral Values in a World without God"].
7. Why God Exists. Commissioned. To be published by Ignatius Press.
8. International Encyclopedia of Apologetics [and the Philosophy of Religion] (Ignatius, 2002). Articles (with bibliography): "Contingency Argument for the Existence of God"; "Deism"; "Freedom and Determinism"; "Kalam Argument for the Existence of God"; "Moral Argument for the Existence of God"; "Nature of God"; "Pantheism and Panentheism."
9. Oi vjere (Filozofsko-Theoloski Institut [Zagreb]: 2002 [Chapter: "Moralne vrijednosti u svijetu bez Boga" (revised version of 6., above)].
10. Pure Reason: Immanuel Kant on God, Freedom, and Immortality. In progress.
Articles1. "On the Death of the Soul" (Christian Scholars Review, xvii: 2, 1987, pp. 201-9)
2. "Abortion and Some Philosophers" (Public Affairs Quarterly, April, 1989, pp. 81-98)
3. "7+5=12: Analytic or Synthetic?" (Lyceum, Spring, 1990)
4. "Cook Wilson as Critic of Bradley" (History of Philosophy Quarterly, April, 1991)
5. "Infinity and Eternity" (accepted for presentation at the 25th International Medieval Congress [1990]; published in Lyceum, Spring, 1992)
6. "Athanasius and the Meaning of Christian Doctrine" (Downside Review, April, 1990)
7. "Bradley on Relations" (American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Annual Supplement, 1992)
8. "Moral Values in a World without God" (included in Values and Human Experience [cf. BOOKS above])
9. "Whichever Way You Slice It: A Response to Baldner and Staley on Time and Eternity" (Lyceum, Winter, 1993)
10. "Origen and the Problem of Human Suffering" (in progress)
11. "Kant and Sade on the Origins of Morality" (in progress)
12. "God and the Absolute" (to be submitted: Bradley Studies)
13. "Were You a Zygote?" (accepted for presentation as the 1995 Josephinum Aquinas Lecture, and for publication in The Josephinum Journal [1995])
14. "Contingency Argument for the Existence of God"; etc. [cf. BOOKS, 8., above].
15. "Moralne vrijednosti u svijetu bez Boga" [cf. BOOKS, 9., above].
Reviews1. Quine, W.V.O.: Quiddities (Christian Scholars Review, xviii: 4, 1989)
2. Beversluis, John: C.S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion (Christian Scholars Review, xv: 2, 1986)
3. Hogan, Richard and LeVoir, John: Covenant of Love (The Church in the 80’s, June, 1986)
4. Lawler, Ronald et al: Catholic Sexual Ethics (The Church in the 80’s, June, 1986)
5. Patrick, James: The Magdalen Metaphysicals (Christian Scholars Review, xv: 2, 1986)
6. Quay, Paul: The Christian Meaning of Human Sexuality (The Church in the ’80’s, June, 1986)
7. Morris, Thomas: Our Idea of God (Theological Studies, June, 1992)
8. Baird, R. and Rosenbaum, S. (editors): The Ethics of Abortion (American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, lxix: 1, 1995)
9. Brümmer, Vincent: Speaking of a Personal God (Theological Studies, 1995)
10. Rogers, Eugene F.: Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth: Sacred Doctrine and the Natural Knowledge of God (published: Theological Studies, 1997)
11. Geisler, Norman: Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (to be published: Philosophia Christi, 2000)
12. Casey, Joseph H.: God Is (to be published: Philosophia Christi, 2000)
Editing1. The Papers of H.W.B. Joseph [British Logician and Philosopher] (Archives: New College, Oxford).
A selection of the edited papers was published by Oxford Microform Ltd.
2. Sacrament of Communion: Reflections on the Mystery of the Church [A selection from the theological Nachlass of F.X. Lawlor, S.J. To be published.]
TranslatingPhilosophical Concepts in Patristic Thought: Three Treatises
1. Apollinarius: The Faith in Slow Motion
2. Apollinarius: On the Union of Body and Divinity in Christ
3. Maximus Confessor: Dialogue with Pyrrhus
These translations were commissioned by the Weston Shool of Theology for use in courses on the History of Christology.
Ontology: The Unity and Diversity of All Things in Being by Béla Weissmahr
Originally published by W. Kohlhammer Verlag, 1985; edited and translated with a new introduction by the author. Forthcoming: University of Notre Dame Press.
Scholarly Conferences1. Hesperis Institute for Humanistic Studies. Guest lecturer (1977)
2. Hesperis Institute Seminar on Aristotle’s De Anima (led by Hippocrates Apostle). Invited participant (1978)
3. 24th International Medieval Congress. Chair: Plenary Session, "Philosophy and the God of Abraham" (1989)
4. American Catholic Philosophical Association. Respondent: "The Ethics of Abortion" (1989)
5. Future of God Conference. Respondent: First Plenary Session (1989)
6. ACPA Conference on Relations. Invited speaker (1992)
7. Oxford Centennial on Appearance and Reality. Session Chair (1993)
8. Hendrix College Symposium on the Status of the Unborn. Lead Paper (1995)
9. Cornell College Symposium on "Infinity: Actual and Potential." Invited symposiast (1996)
10. Oxford Conference on Anglo-American Idealism (1997). Paper on H.W.B. Joseph.
11. Munich Conference on Analytic Philosophy of Religion (1997). (The first-ever gathering of German- and English-speaking philosophers of religion.) American Co-ordinator; translator.
12. Fichte Seminar. Invited participant. Munich, 2001.
Lectures1. "Problems with Modern Ideas of Space" (Hesperis Institute, 1977)
2. "A Refutation of Materialism" (Gordon College Philosophy Series, 1987)
3. "Sadism and the Moral Argument for God’s Existence" (Gordon College Philosophy Series, 1988)
4. "Response to Herbenick on Abortion" (American Catholic Philosophical Association, 1989)
5. "Response to Prof. Adams" (Future of God Conference, 1989)
6. "Kant and Sade" (St. Anselm’s College, 1989)
7. "Time and Eternity" (St. Anselm’s College, 1991)
8. "Actual Infinity and the Uncreated Universe" (Friday Lecture Series, Thomas Aquinas College, 1992)
9. "Kant’s First Antinomy" (Cornell College, 1992)
10. "Time and Eternity Revisited" (St. Anselm’s College, 1993)
11. "Is there Morality without God?" (Hendrix College, 1995)
12. "H.W.B. Joseph and the Fate of Oxford Realism" (Oxford Conference on Anglo-American Idealism, 1997)
13. "If God Does Not Exist, Are All Things Possible?" (Lecture followed by debate-discussion with Fritz Wenisch: URI, 1999)
14. "Morality and Evolutionary Biology" (Evangelical Philosophy Society National Conference, 1999)
15. "Christianity and Higher Education" (IVP Conference; San Diego, 2002)