Michael Bergmann (philosopher)

Michael Abram Bergmann (born 1964) is an American analytic philosopher teaching in the department of philosophy at Purdue University.[1] His primary interests are epistemology and philosophy of religion. In epistemology, he writes mostly on externalism and, in philosophy of religion, he mostly writes on the epistemology of religious belief and the problem of evil.

Michael Bergmann
Born
Michael Abram Bergmann

1964 (age 59–60)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMike Bergmann
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplinePhilosophy
Sub-discipline
School or tradition
InstitutionsPurdue University
Main interests

Biography

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Born in 1964, Bergmann received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in philosophy from the University of Waterloo and, in 1997, a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. He has taught at Purdue University since 1997. Bergmann was the president of the Society of Christian Philosophers from 2016 to 2019.

Philosophical work

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In his early work, Bergmann wrote about Alvin Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism. He raised objections inspired by Thomas Reid's epistemology. In philosophy of religion, Bergmann, along with other philosophers, developed skeptical theism, a position which addresses the evidential argument from evil formulated by William L. Rowe. With Michael Rea and Michael Murray, he edited the book Divine Evil? The Moral Character of the God of Abraham (Oxford University Press, 2010). Furthermore, he is also a co-editor of Challenges to Moral and Religious Belief: Disagreement and Evolution (Oxford University Press, 2014) together with Patrick Kain, Reason and Faith: Themes from Richard Swinburne (Oxford University Press, 2016) together with Jeffrey E. Brower, and Intellectual Assurance: Essays on Traditional Epistemic Internalism (Oxford University Press, 2016) together with Brett Coppenger.

In epistemology, Bergmann defends externalism.

Works

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References

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Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of the Society of Christian Philosophers
2016–2019
Succeeded by