David A. Vander Laan

David grew up in Michigan and developed a love for mathematics at an early age. At Calvin College he was delighted to discover that even the big, philosophical questions could—sometimes—be addressed with the kind of rigorous, conviction-producing arguments with which mathematics abounds. He graduated with degrees in philosophy and mathematics in 1993. At the University of Notre Dame he wrote a dissertation in the metaphysics of modality entitled Impossible Worlds. He received his doctoral degree in philosophy in January 2000 and began teaching at Westmont the following fall.

David and the unsinkable Kate Russell were married in 2007. Together they are learning how to be energy-efficient, organically grown Californians. They have no pets.

Some of David’s extracurricular book recommendations can be viewed on his Hall of Fame shelf at goodreads.com. David enjoys many games; his recommendations will be available at an unspecified future date.

Reseach Interests

• Metaphysics
• Logic
• Philosophy of Religion

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Selected Publications

• “The Sanctification Argument for Purgatory” (Faith & Philosophy, 2007)
• Knowledge and Reality: Essays in Honor of Alvin Plantinga, edited with Matthew Davidson and Thomas Crisp (Kluwer, 2006)
• “Persistence and Divine Conservation” (Religious Studies, 2006)
• “Counterpossibles and Similarity,” in Frank Jackson and Graham Priest, eds., Lewisian Themes: the Philosophy of David K. Lewis (Oxford, 2004)
• “A Regress Argument for Restrictivism” (Philosophical Studies, 2001)
• “The Ontology of Impossible Worlds” (Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, 1997)

Courses

• Philosophical Perspectives
• Ancient & Medieval Philosophy
• Critical Reasoning and Logic
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophical Theology
• Metaphysics
• Philosophy Senior Seminar