Stokes Hall North 351
Telephone: 617-552-3866
Email: daniel.mckaughan@bc.edu
ORCID
New Scientific Visions (Perspectives IV)
Philosophy of Biology (Darwin, Genes, and Embryology)
Philosophy of Science
Science and Religion
Epistemology
Philosophy of science
Philosophy of biology
Epistemology
Philosophy of religion
By Appointment
Professor McKaughan joined the faculty in 2008. His research and teaching focuses on the history and philosophy of science, epistemology, and philosophy of religion. He has published more than fifty journal articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries in venues such as Philosophy of Science, Isis, Biology and Philosophy, Religious Studies, Faith and Philosophy, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Science, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion, Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Humility, and Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology on a wide range of topics in the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of religion, science and values, American pragmatism, and the historical foundations of molecular biology. He has served as a guest editor for special issues of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, and Religious Studies. He is co-editor, with Holly Vande Wall, of History and Philosophy of Science: A Reader (Bloomsbury, 2018) and of a three-volume series, History and Philosophy of Western Science: From Antiquity to the 19th Century, forthcoming with Bloomsbury. He is currently writing a book on Faith and Faithfulness (co-authored with Daniel Howard-Snyder), which is under contract with Oxford University Press. Prior to joining the Boston College faculty in 2008, Professor McKaughan was at the University of Notre Dame, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and, subsequently, a Sorin Postdoctoral Fellow.
History and Philosophy of Science: A Reader (co-edited with Holly Vande Wall, Boston College). London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.
Guest co-editor (with Rebekah L. H. Rice and Daniel Howard-Snyder). Special double issue of International Journal for Philosophy of Religion on “Approaches to Faith,” Volume 81, Issues 1-2, April 2017, 1-227.
Guest co-editor (with Kevin C. Elliott). Special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science on “Cognitive Attitudes and Values in Science”. Volume 53, October 2015, 57-95.
“The Influence of Niels Bohr on Max Delbrück: Revisiting the Hopes Inspired by ‘Light and Life’,”,December 2005, Volume 96 Number 4:507-529.
“From Ugly Duckling to Swan: C. S. Peirce, Abduction, and the Pursuit of Scientific Theories,”Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society,Vol. 44, Issue No. 3, 2008, 446-468. (2007 Charles S. Peirce Society Essay Contest Winner)
“How Values in Scientific Discovery and Pursuit Alter Theory Appraisal” (with Kevin C. Elliott, University of South Carolina)Philosophy of Science,Vol. 76, No. 5, December 2009, 598-611.
“Was Delbrück a Reductionist?” Chapter 6 inCreating a Physical Biology: The Three Man Paper and Early Molecular Biology,Phillip R. Sloan and Brandon Fogel, eds. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011).
“Speech Acts, Attitudes, and Scientific Practice: Can Searle Handle Assuming for the Sake of Hypothesis?”Pragmatics and Cognition, 20:1 (2012), 88-106.
“Voles, Vasopressin, and Infidelity: A Molecular Basis for Monogamy, a Platform for Ethics, and More?”Biology and Philosophy, Volume 27, Issue 4 (2012), 521-543.
“Representing Vague Opinion” (with John Drake, University of Georgia)Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology, Volume 16, Issue 2 (2012), 341-344.
“Voles, Vasopressin, and the Ethics of Framing” (with Kevin C. Elliott, University of South Carolina)ScienceVol. 338, No. 6112, 1285. December 7, 2012.
“Authentic Faith and Acknowledged Risk: Dissolving the Problem of Faith and Reason”Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, Volume 49, Issue 1 (March 2013), 101-124.
“Backtracking and the Ethics of Framing: Lessons from Voles and Vasopressin” (with Kevin C. Elliott, University of South Carolina)Accountability in Research,20:3 (2013), 206-226.
“Non-Epistemic Values and the Multiple Goals of Science”(with Kevin C. Elliott, Michigan State University)Philosophy of Science,Vol. 81, No. 1, January 2014, 1-21.
“Moral Molecules and Love Drugs: Objectivity, Understanding, and Backtracking” (with Kevin C. Elliott, Michigan State University). In Jean Goodwin (ed.)Normative Aspects of Science Communication: Proceedings of the Iowa State University Symposium on Science Communication,Ames: Iowa State University Digital Press, 2014.
“Character Traits and the Neuroscience of Social Behavior” inCharacter: New Directions from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology.Christian Miller, R. Michael Furr, Angela Knobel, and William Fleeson (eds.). (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).
“Religious Violence” Chapter 24 inThe Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion, Graham Oppy, ed. (London: Routledge, 2015).
“Introduction: Cognitive Attitudes and Values in Science”(with guest co-editor Kevin C. Elliott, Michigan State University)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science,special issue on “Cognitive Attitudes and Values in Science,” 53 (2015), 57-61.
“Action-Centered Faith, Doubt, and Rationality,”Journal of Philosophical Research, Volume 41, Issue Supplement: Selected Papers in Honor of William P. Alston (June 2016), 71-90.
ಹɾ’sDescent of Manand the Value of Studying Science from a Liberal Arts Perspective”inThe Quest for Excellence: Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Core Texts. Selected Proceedings from the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Association for Core Texts and Courses,edited by Dustin Gish, Christopher Constas, and J. Scott Lee. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
“Science and Stance Refinement From Within a Tradition: Common Sense Realism, Empiricism, Physicalism, and Undogmatic Faith.” In Joseph Famerée & Paulo Rodrigues (eds.)The Genesis of Concepts and the Confrontation of Rationalities(Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium). Leuven: Peeters, 2017.
“Approaches to Faith: Editorial Preface” (co-authored with Rebekah L. H. Rice & Daniel Howard-Snyder).International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, special issue on “Approaches to Faith”. April 2017, Volume 81, Issue 1, 1–6.
“On the Value of Faith and Faithfulness,”International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, special issue on “Approaches to Faith.” April 2017, Volume 81, Issue 1, 7–29.
“Faith Through the Dark of Night: What Perseverance Amidst Doubt Can Teach Us About the Nature and Value of Religious Faith,”Faith and Philosophy,Vol. 35, No. 2, 195-218.April 2018.
“Acts of Faith Interiorized Through a Glass Only Darkly: On Teresa Morgan’sRoman Faith and Christian Faith,”Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion.December 2018, Volume 54, Issue 4, 576-585.
“Just the Facts or Expert Opinion? The Backtracking Approach to Socially Responsible Science Communication” (with Kevin C. Elliott, Michigan State University). In: Susanna Priest, Jean Goodwin, & Michael Dahlstrom (eds.),Ethics and Practice in Science Communication.Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2018, 197-213. Winner of the 2018 Award for “Best Edited Collection on Communication Ethics” from the National Communication Association.
“Judaeo-Christian Faith as Loyalty and Trust” (with Michael Pace)Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion.June 15 2020, Volume 38, 30-60. doi:10.1017/S0034412520000153
“Faith and Humility: Conflict or Concord?” (with Dan Howard-Snyder) Chapter 18 in eds. Mark Alfano, Michael Lynch, and Alessandra Tanesini,Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Humility.New York: Routledge. 2021, 212-224.
“Theorizing About Faith with Lara Buchak” (with Daniel Howard-Snyder)Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion.2022, Volume 58, Issue 2, 297-326]. doi:10.1017/S0034412520000359
“The Fellowship of the Ninth Hour: Christian Reflections on the Nature and Value of Faith” (with Dan Howard-Snyder) inT&T Clark Handbook to Analytic Theology,James M. Arcadi and J.T. Turner, eds. London: WT&T Clark, 2021, 69-82.
“Faith” (with Dan Howard-Snyder) inWiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion,Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro, eds. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. 2021.
“Theorizing About Faith and Faithfulness with Jonathan Kvanvig” (with Dan Howard-Snyder)Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion.2022, Volume 58, 628–648. doi:10.1017/S0034412521000202
“Trust in God: An Evaluative Review of the Literature and Research Proposal (with Joshua N. Hook, Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Don E. Davis, Peter C. Hill, M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall, and Daniel Howard-Snyder).Mental Health, Religion, and Culture.2021, Volume 24, Issue 7, 745-763. doi:10.1080/13674676.2021.1939291
“Faith and Resilience” (with Dan Howard-Snyder)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion.2022, Volume 91, 205-241.
“Perseverance in the Religious Life” (with Dan Howard-Snyder) inEndurance and Related Virtues,Nathan King ed. (Oxford Series on The Virtues, Nancy Snow, ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming 2023.
“Faith and Faithfulness” (with Dan Howard-Snyder)Faith and Philosophy,forthcoming 2023.
“The Problem of Faith and Reason” (with Dan Howard-Snyder). In:The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology,Tyler McNabb, Jonathan Fuqua, and John Greco, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Forthcoming.
“How Does Trust Relate to Faith?”(with Dan Howard-Snyder)Canadian Journal of Philosophy,2022, 1-17.
“Models, Scientific” inNew Catholic Encyclopedia(Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and Philosophy). Robert Fastiggi, et al. (Detroit: Gale-Cengage Learning and the Catholic University of America Press, 2013).
“Methodological Naturalism” (with Erik L. Peterson, University of Wisconsin)inNew Catholic Encyclopedia(Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and Philosophy). Robert Fastiggi, et al. (Detroit: Gale-Cengage Learning and the Catholic University of America Press, 2013).
“Brute Facts” inNew Catholic Encyclopedia(Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and Philosophy). Robert Fastiggi, et al. (Detroit: Gale-Cengage Learning and the Catholic University of America Press, 2013).
“Ockham’s Razor” inNew Catholic Encyclopedia(Supplement 2012-13: Ethics and Philosophy). Robert Fastiggi, et al. (Detroit: Gale-Cengage Learning and the Catholic University of America Press, 2013).
“Delbrück, Max” inThe Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology(Oxford Encyclopedias of American History),Hugh Slotten, ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
“Constructive Empiricism” inThe Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 3rded. Robert Audi, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
“Empirical Adequacy” inThe Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 3rded. Robert Audi, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
“Counterintuitive” inThe Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 3rded. Robert Audi, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
“Hope” inThe Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 3rded. Robert Audi, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
“What Role Do Values Play in Scientific Inquiry?”Big Questions Online.February 13, 2017.
“Review of Losee, John.The Golden Age of Philosophy of Science, 1945 to 2000: Logical Reconstruction, Descriptivism, Normative, Naturalism, and Foundationalism.”Journal of the History of Philosophy,Vol. 58, No. 2, 2020, 413-414.
“Faith” (with John Bishop). In:The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy(Fall 2022 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <>.