MATTHEW PIANALTO Department of Philosophy & Religion | Eastern Kentucky University

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My interests are in moral philosophy, broadly construed. Much of my recent work considers the relationship between living with integrity--and standing by one's own convictions--and living well with others. I examine these issues through the lens of virtues such as courage, humility, tolerance, and most recently, patience. The writings of Wittgenstein and several philosophers influenced by him (including Rush Rhees, Cora Diamond, and Raimond Gaita) greatly interest me. I've also been thinking, teaching, and writing about the place of animals in ethical theory and about environmental ethics. I did my schooling at the University of Arkansas, near my hometown (Tontitown, AR). I received my Ph.D. in Philosophy in 2008, after first taking a B.A. in English with a creative writing emphasis in 2002. I was a visiting assistant professor for a year at Truman State University before coming to EKU in August 2009. Recent news (last updated 5.15.13): Fall Course Offering: Environmental Ethics! Recent Presentations: "Patience as/and Constancy" presented at the Kentucky Philosophical Association Annual Meeting (March 2013), and at the 39th Conference on Value Inquiry, at WKU (April 2013) "Putting Them Out of Their Misery: A Critique of 'Knockout Livestock'" presented at the Living With Animals Conference at EKU (March 2013) "Animals and Moral Agency" presented at the Beastly Morality Conference at Emory University (April 2013) Forthcoming: "Humility and Environmental Ethics" in Virtues in Action: New Essays in Applied Virtue Ethics, ed. Mike Austin (Palgrave Macmillan) My paper "Moral Courage and Facing Others," selected as the winning entry for the the Robert Papazian Annual Essay Prize on Themes from Ethics and Political Philosophy, now appears in the International Journal of Philosophical Studies 21(2), April 2012. More info about the prize here.