Tony Cunningham, Ph.D.

Office: Quad 362B
Phone: 320-363-2730
Email: tcunningham@csbsju.edu

Unlike the great philosophers of the really olden days, I didn’t grow up wanting to be a great philosopher. First I wanted to be a superhero. When that plan didn’t pan out, I switched to professional baseball. While chasing this dream and studying biology at Colby College, two philosophy teachers suddenly grabbed hold of mind and never let go. Off they sent me to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, and there I realized that I was mostly interested in ethics in some form. By the time I arrived at St. John’s in 1991 after stints at the College of William & Mary and Colby, I saw that I was destined for “messy” ethics. I’m an “anti-theory man,” and this explains my deep interest in literature. Good stories can best capture the subtle, conflicting, slippery elements of human life and character. All sorts of things matter to us, and contrary to what most moral theories suggest, the things that matter share no common denominator and admit of no canonical ordering.  We’re really complicated creatures, so moral philosophers worth their salt must pursue the (impossible) goal of being people on whom nothing is lost. Everything I teach has to do with ethics in one way or another. When I’m not teaching or doing philosophy, I enjoy spending time with my wife, Mickey, and daughters, Flann and Maddie. I love the outdoors, particularly oceans and mountains. I play the fiddle and write fiction.  Born in New York City, the child of Irish immigrants, I like to pretend I’m from Maine.

Teaching & Research Interests: Ethics, Philosophy & Literature, Social & Political Philosophy.

Fall 2009 Schedule
Days 1-3-5 period II (9:40-10:50 a.m.) Quad 457
Ethics 390 Reading for Life
Days 1-3-5 period III (11:20 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) Quad 361
Ethics 390 Reading for Life

Spring 2010 Schedule
Days 2-4-6 period V (2:40-4:10 p.m.) Quad 361
Honors Ethics Common Seminar 390: Reading for Life
Monday evenings (6:00-9:00 p.m.)  Quad 353
Ethics Common Seminar 390: Reading for Life
Wednesday evenings (6:00-9:00 p.m.) Quad 349
Philosphy Capstone