Professor Meghan Sullivan

IAS Annual Theme: Time

Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

Sullivan has degrees from the University of Virginia (B.A.: Philosophy and Politics, Highest Distinction), Oxford (B.Phil.: Philosophy), and Rutgers (Ph.D.: Philosophy). She studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (Balliol College).

Sullivan’s research tends to focus on philosophical problems concerning time, modality, rational planning, value theory, and religious belief (and sometimes all five at once). She has published work in many leading philosophy journals, including Nous, Ethics, and Philosophical Studies. You can read many of those papers on her external website link below. Her first book—Time Biases—came out with Oxford University Press in summer 2018. Time Biases develops a theory of diachronic rationality, personal identity, and reason-based planning.

She is now writing a second research book on intellectual commitment, ethical commitment, and rational faith. It’s tentatively titled Agapism: A Theory of Our Inner Lives and Outer Commitments. And with Paul Blaschko she is writing a general audience philosophy book based on the God and the Good Life project. That title is under contract with Penguin Press (Penguin Random House). It is creatively titled God and the Good Life.