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M.Soc.Sci., PhD

Chair Sch. Humanities / Instructor, Phil
School of Humanities
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
School of Humanities - Philosophy

604.986.1911 ext. 2429
Fir Building, room FR404
mfleming@capilanou.ca

Education

PhD, Philosophy, University of British Columbia, 1999.

M.Soc.Sci., Philosophy, University of Waikato, New Zealand, 1994.

Bio

Michael Fleming (PhD, University of British Columbia, 1999) has a broad range of interests in contemporary Analytic Philosophy. He maintains his interest from his PhD research into the intersection between the Philosophy of Language and the Philosophy of Mind as well as the History of Analytic Philosophy.

He has also developed interests in many other areas related to the general teaching needs of his department, most recently in the Philosophy of Science and the Ethics of War and Peace.

Fleming has a strong commitment to Capilano University, serving on the Board of Governors, the Senate, the Faculty Association executive, as school chair, as department coordinator and on many other committees.

My primary goal in my classes is to teach the subject matter of philosophy, a broad set of questions and issues fundamental to human thinking and existence. But a close secondary goal is to aim to inculcate in students the intellectual attitude of humility about one's beliefs.

It is through this humility that we acknowledge that there are many things that we do not know and that we might be wrong about what we think is true.

For students, this is crucial for learning; how can you learn anything if you think you already have all the needed truths? For humanity it is even more important. Lack of humility in thinking is, in my view, at the source of many of the problems we face.

My current research work-in-progress includes: investigating the relationship between intellectual humility and good reasoning, someone's capacity for learning, and in the development of an authentic self; looking at how states, and even Just War theorists, may go too far in applying Just War principles (i.e., extreme emergency exemption or armed humanitarian intervention) in justifying military actions or inactions; investigating the fundamental nature of emergence and intrinsic and extrinsic properties; and, investigating the nature and implications of the notion of scientific progress.