Patrick Miller
M.A. Student
Patrick Miller
Contact
Email: millatg@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Andrews University
Research Interests
Philosophy of Mind
Ethics
Idealism
Natural Law Philosophy
Department
Biography
Hello! I am a first year student in the master's program for philosophy at B.C. I am interested in Philosophy of Mind, Ethics, Idealism & Natural Law Philosophy.
The title of my Honors Thesis at Andrews University was Natural Law, Literary Accommodation and the Successful Social Justice Movement, and in it I explored the Natural Law philosophy of Scottish Enlightenment philosopher Thomas Reid and how it may have had an impact on the 18th century anti-slavery movement in England.
My interest in philosophy of mind lead me to (of course) David Chalmers and Thomas Nagel's essays on the so called "hard problem of consciousness," and after pursuing this question for some time I came across the work of Bernardo Kastrup, a Dutch philosopher with two PhD's: one in computer engineering from Eindhoven University and one in Philosophy from Radboud University Nijmagen. He argues that a return to Idealism in modern philosophy, a synthesis that he refers to as "Analytic Idealism," can solve the hard problem by removing some of scientific materialism's metaphysical assumptions. I found his arguments convincing, and have since adopted an Idealist ontology.
I would consider myself a continental philosopher, and am interested in the work of Hegel, Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Buber, as well as the intersection of the Natural Law and Idealist traditions in the work of Immanuel Kant.
I also have an interest in Perennialism and Traditionalism. Having read the work of Rene Guenon, Aldous Huxley and Huston Smith, among others, I am intrigued by the implications that an Idealist, and specifically a Neoplatonist Idealist, worldview has for the philosophy of religion.
In my spare time I enjoy mountain biking, playing sports with friends, and video games. I have a YouTube channel called "Enkrateia Philosophy" where I engage with current events/issues from a philosophical perspective.
Publications
Miller, Patrick, "Natural Law, Literary Accommodation and the Successful Social Justice Movement : Thomas Reid's Natural Law Philosophy and the Abolitionist Writings of Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano" (2020). Honors Theses. 238. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/honors/238/