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Gregory Bassham

King's College, Pennsylvania, Philosophy, Faculty Member

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Gregory Bassham is a former Professor of Philosophy at King's College (Pennsylvania). A native of Oklahoma, Bassham received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Oklahoma, and his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. Among his twelve books are: Stoicism for Dummies (co-written with Tom Morris, 2024), Environmental Ethics: The Central Issues (2020), The Philosophy Book: 250 Milestones in the History of Philosophy (2016), Critical Thinking (7th ed., 2023, cowritten with William Irwin, James Wallace, and Henry Nardone), The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy (2010), Basketball and Philosophy (co-edited with Jerry Walls, 2007), The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy (co-edited with Eric Bronson, 2003), Original Intent and the Constitution: A Philosophical Study (1991), and C. S. Lewis's Christian Apologetics (2015). He lives in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania with his wife Mia.
Supervisors: John Robinson

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Drafts by Gregory Bassham

Stoic Love of Fate: A Brief Critique

The 90-Second Stoic

Tolkien's Virtue Ethics (second draft)

Many Tolkien scholars have claimed that The Lord of the Rings and other tales of Middle-earth sub... more Many Tolkien scholars have claimed that The Lord of the Rings and other tales of Middle-earth subtly affirm a traditional approach to morality now known as "virtue ethics." In this paper, I argue that Tolkien did embrace a version of virtue ethics--specifically an Aristotelian-Thomistic one--and sum up (in brief) the evidence for this reading.

Moderate Ecocentrism

Tolkien on Death and Immortality

The Case for Wilderness Preservation

Tolkien's Virtue Ethics

Critical Reading: A Short Introduction

When Is Environmental Disobedience Justified?

Pope Francis's Environmental Encyclical: A Guide for the Perplexed

Humor and Philosophy

The Argument from Desire: A Reply to Peter S. Williams

Justifying Legal Punishment

Tolkien and Environmental Stewardship

Animal Lib? Not in Harry Potter's World

Does Philosophy Still Deserve a Special Role in Catholic Higher Education?

Journal of Catholic Higher Education, 2015

This paper (1) explores the reasons why philosophy was accorded a special role in Catholic higher... more This paper (1) explores the reasons why philosophy was accorded a special role in Catholic higher education in the United States in the decades prior to Vatican II; (2) explains why many of those reasons are now widely seen as attenuated or obsolete; (3) briefly discusses recent changes to the environment of Catholic higher education that have led many to question whether philosophy should still be seen as a high-priority discipline; and (4) makes a case that it should. The author argues that, for all the tectonic shifts that have occurred in higher education in recent decades, philosophy continues to make a special and indeed indispensable contribution to a number of mission-related goals of Catholic universities. Since the Middle Ages, two disciplines-philosophy and theology-have been at the core of Catholic higher education. 1 In medieval universities, required texts in the baccalaureate arts course were predominantly philosophical (primarily Aristotelian). 2 In the early modern period, as evidenced by the education René Descartes received at the Jesuit college of La Flèche, philosophy was studied extensively in Catholic colleges as part of the three-year-long 1 Perhaps surprisingly, this is less true of theology than it is of philosophy. In medieval universities, theology was taught only to postgraduate students. In American universities, theology courses were not typically part of the undergraduate curriculum at Catholic colleges until after 1939. Philip Gleason, Contending with Modernity:

Equality in Harry Potter

Environmental Responsibilities to Future Generations

Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic: A Critique

C. S. Lewis vs. The Green Book.docx

Stoic Love of Fate: A Brief Critique

The 90-Second Stoic

Tolkien's Virtue Ethics (second draft)

Many Tolkien scholars have claimed that The Lord of the Rings and other tales of Middle-earth sub... more Many Tolkien scholars have claimed that The Lord of the Rings and other tales of Middle-earth subtly affirm a traditional approach to morality now known as "virtue ethics." In this paper, I argue that Tolkien did embrace a version of virtue ethics--specifically an Aristotelian-Thomistic one--and sum up (in brief) the evidence for this reading.

Moderate Ecocentrism

Tolkien on Death and Immortality

The Case for Wilderness Preservation

Tolkien's Virtue Ethics

Critical Reading: A Short Introduction

When Is Environmental Disobedience Justified?

Pope Francis's Environmental Encyclical: A Guide for the Perplexed

Humor and Philosophy

The Argument from Desire: A Reply to Peter S. Williams

Justifying Legal Punishment

Tolkien and Environmental Stewardship

Animal Lib? Not in Harry Potter's World

Does Philosophy Still Deserve a Special Role in Catholic Higher Education?

Journal of Catholic Higher Education, 2015

This paper (1) explores the reasons why philosophy was accorded a special role in Catholic higher... more This paper (1) explores the reasons why philosophy was accorded a special role in Catholic higher education in the United States in the decades prior to Vatican II; (2) explains why many of those reasons are now widely seen as attenuated or obsolete; (3) briefly discusses recent changes to the environment of Catholic higher education that have led many to question whether philosophy should still be seen as a high-priority discipline; and (4) makes a case that it should. The author argues that, for all the tectonic shifts that have occurred in higher education in recent decades, philosophy continues to make a special and indeed indispensable contribution to a number of mission-related goals of Catholic universities. Since the Middle Ages, two disciplines-philosophy and theology-have been at the core of Catholic higher education. 1 In medieval universities, required texts in the baccalaureate arts course were predominantly philosophical (primarily Aristotelian). 2 In the early modern period, as evidenced by the education René Descartes received at the Jesuit college of La Flèche, philosophy was studied extensively in Catholic colleges as part of the three-year-long 1 Perhaps surprisingly, this is less true of theology than it is of philosophy. In medieval universities, theology was taught only to postgraduate students. In American universities, theology courses were not typically part of the undergraduate curriculum at Catholic colleges until after 1939. Philip Gleason, Contending with Modernity:

Equality in Harry Potter

Environmental Responsibilities to Future Generations

Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic: A Critique

C. S. Lewis vs. The Green Book.docx

A PLURALISTIC VIRTUE-CENTERED THEORY OF JUDGING

Though first proposed more than two decades ago, virtue jurisprudence-broadly, the attempt to app... more Though first proposed more than two decades ago, virtue jurisprudence-broadly, the attempt to apply the insights and perspectives of virtue ethics to law and legal theory-has been slow to gain traction in the legal academy. This is partly due, we suggest, to the dominance of conservative, neo-Aristotelian approaches to virtue jurisprudence-most notably in the work of Lawrence Solum, the most prominent theoretical architect and defender of virtue jurisprudence.

Freedom of the Seas: The Stoic Sailor

The Extinction Crisis

Mearsheimer’s Mistakes: Why Colleges Should (and Inevitably Do) Provide Moral Guidance

Should colleges be in the business of moral education? May college professors―including those who... more Should colleges be in the business of moral education? May college professors―including those who teach ethics courses―openly endorse and defend particular moral theories and values in class? In a much-discussed address and subsequent follow-up paper, John J. Mearsheimer, a distinguished political scientist at the University of Chicago, has answered both of these questions with an emphatic " No " (Mearsheimer 1998a). In this paper I shall argue against Mearsheimer's view. In particular, I shall defend three claims: (1) Colleges unavoidably provide certain forms of moral guidance to their students. (2) Colleges may and should seek to positively influence the moral characters and values of their students. (3) College professors may, and sometimes should, engage in classroom ethical advocacy, that is, expressly endorse and defend contestable ethical views. Why does Mearsheimer think that colleges should refrain from ethical guidance and advocacy? 1 His central argument ca...

Feminist Legal Theory: A Liberal Response

Mearsheimer’s Mistakes: Why Colleges Should (and Inevitably Do) Provide Moral Guidance

Expositions, 2013

Introduction: Oxford's Bonny Apologist

C. S. Lewis’s Christian Apologetics, 2015

The Industrious Sherlock Holmes

How I Got to Boston: Running with the Seven C's of Success

Linked and Independent Premises: A New Analysis

C. S. Lewis's Argument from Desire: A Reply to Peter S. Williams

The Tao of Walking

How to Read Harry Potter and How Not To

New Textualism: The Potholes Ahead

Legislating Morality: Scoring the Hart-Devlin Debate after 50 Years

Pop Philosophy in the Classroom: A Modest Defense

The Zen of Hitting

Baggini on Life's Purpose

The Adventurous Hobbit

Using the Film "JFK" to Teach Critical Thinking

Review of Thaddeus Metz's Meaning in Life

Is Justice Scalia a Judicial Activist?

Review of Dworkin's Freedom's Law

Review of Stanley Fish's Save the World on Your Own Time

Review of Scalia & Garner's Reading Law

Review of Richard Ekins's Legislative Intent

Review of Erik Wielenberg's God and the Reach of Reason