Faculty and Staff

Are you a scholar or Ph.D. who works on areas of philosophical interest and happens to be in Volusia county? Meet Stetson's philosophy faculty and attend our colloquia and other events. If you are residing in the area, we can also help you access online library resources. Reach out to the chair, Dr. Melinda Hall, to become a visiting philosophy scholar at Stetson University.

Melinda Hall

Melinda Hall

Department Chair

Melinda Hall (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is an associate professor of philosophy at Stetson University. She specializes in bioethics and continental philosophy, and her research interests include philosophy of disability, emerging technology, and cultural constructions of key ideas at play in medicine and public health. Her book The Bioethics of Enhancement (Lexington Books 2016) developed a critique of the notion that enhancement—especially the genetic selection of one's offspring—is a moral obligation. Her work is published in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, and the Disability Studies Quarterly, among other venues.

Susan Peppers-Bates

Susan Peppers-Bates

Susan Peppers-Bates, associate professor (PhD, University of Pennsylvania), has reviewed the Cambridge Companion to Malebranche for the Philosophical Quarterly and has published an article, "Malebranche on Efficacious Ideas" in The Journal of the History of Philosophy. Her major areas of interest are early modern philosophy, feminist philosophy, free will and moral responsibility, and philosophy of religion.

Joshua Rust

Joshua Rust

Joshua Rust, PhD, University of California - Riverside, professor, is the author of two books, John Searle and the Construction of Social Reality (Continuum, 2005) and John Searle (Continuum, 2009). He is also a co-author of several articles in empirical philosophy concerning the behavior of ethicists as compared to other academic professionals (Mind, Review of Philosophy and Psychology). His areas of interest include social ontology, John Searle, experimental philosophy, metaphilosophy and social construction. He is also interested in the history of twentieth-century analytic philosophy and ancient philosophy. Joshua is the secretary/treasurer for the Florida Philosophical Association.

David DiQuattro

David DiQuattro

David DiQuattro (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Stetson. He specializes in ethics, particularly in issues of character, practical reason and the human good. He is interested in the history of these discussions, and his research focuses on the relevance of the views of St. Augustine (354-430) to these issues and to recent revival of ancient approaches to ethics in the works of Alasdair MacIntyre and others.

Debbie Tate

Debbie Tate

Administrative Assistant

I started work at Stetson University in April 2000. I have worked for Media Services, Dean of Students office and currently I serve as Administrative Assistant to the Departments of Philosophy and Communication and Media Studies.

Ron Hall

Ron Hall

Emeritus Faculty

Ronald L. Hall, professor, (PhD, Chapel Hill) is the author of two books, Word and Spirit (Indiana, 1993) and The Human Embrace (Penn State, 1999). His general areas of interest are existentialism and the philosophy of religion. His special areas of interest include Wittgenstein and Kierkegaard.