Department of Philosophy, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258
(509) 313-6753, alfino@gonzaga.edu
http://www.alfino.org
The University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1989.
The University of Texas at Austin, M.A. in Philosophy, 1984.
George Washington University, B.A. in Philosophy, 1981.
Philosophy of Culture, Happiness, Wisdom, Information Ethics, Applied Ethics
Professor, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA (2001-present)
Associate Professor, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA (1995-2001).
Assistant Professor, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA (1989-1995).
Undergraduate
Critical Thinking; Introduction to Philosophy; Introductory Ethics; Philosophy of Human Nature; Business Ethics; Symbolic Logic; Contemporary Philosophy; Philosophical Issues in Poverty Studies; Philosophy of Literature; Philosophy of Law; Philosophy of Language; Philosophy of Information; Postmodern Thought; Philosophy of the Visual Arts; Philosophy of Time; Happiness; Wisdom; Philosophy and Creative Writing; Philosophy of Culture; Philosophy of Italian Culture; Philosophy of Culture - Benin; Philosophy of Food; Moral Responsibility and Free Will; Happiness and Wisdom.
Graduate
Theories of Multiple Intelligence (School of Education); Philosophical Style, Research, and Writing, Hellenistic Philosophy (Philosophy MA Program); Organizational Ethics; Organizational Communication; (School of Professional Studies); Communication Theory (MA/TESL)
Review of How to Lose the Information War, Journal of Information Ethics, forthcoming.
Review of, What Snowflakes Get Right: Free Speech, Truth, and Equality on Campus/The Case Against Free Speech: The First Amendment, Fascism, and the Future of Dissent, Journal of Information Ethics, 29.2 (Fall 2020), 102-107.
“Is there a Crisis of Dissent and Disagreement in Argument Theory?” Reason to Dissent. Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Argumentation, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, Henrike Jansen, Jan Albert van Laar and Bart Verheij, eds, 2019.
"Guest editor, The Future of Moral Responsibility, special issue of The Journal of Information Ethics, 28.1 (Spring 2019).
"Can the Enlightenment bring Free Speech to Cosmopolis?" a review of Timothy Garton Ash's Free Speech, Journal of Information Ethics 27.1 (Spring 2018), 125-148.
"Deep Copy Culture," in The Aesthetics and Ethics of Copying, Bloomsbury Press, October 2016.
"The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life," Journal of Information Ethics, 23.2 (Fall 2014): 82-86.
Handbook of Intellectual Freedom: Theories, Concepts, and Cases, co-edited with Laura Koltutsky, (Litwin Press, Spring 2014). Winner of the 2014-2016 Obler Award from the American Library Asssociation.
"Naturalizing Wisdom," Regarding the Mind Naturally, eds. Milkowski, Marcin and Konrad Talmont-Kaminski (Cambridge Scholars Press 2013).
"Book Notice: Swan, John and Peattie, Noel. The Freedom to Lie." in Journal of Information Ethics 22.2 (Fall 2013).
"Twenty Years of Information Ethics and the Journal of Information Ethics," Journal of Information Ethics 21.2 (Fall 2012): 13-17.
"Review of Oxford Handbook on the Philosophy of Death," Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, June 30, 2013 (online).
with Michele Pajer , Linda Pierce, and Kelly Jenks, “Integrating Information Literacy Skills into a linked Freshman “Thought and Expression” Learning Community” College and Undergraduate Libraries (2008).
"Privacy, Surveillance, and the Good Life," cover story, The Local Planet, Spokane, Washington, March 18, 2004
with Randy Mayes, "Reconstructing the Right to Privacy," Social Theory and Practice, v 29 no 1, January 2003.
with Randy Mayes, "Rationality_and_the_Right_to_Privacy." in Today's Moral Issues, ed. Daniel Bonevac, fourth edition, (2001). Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing. p. 307-312.
"Misplacing Privacy," Journal of Information Ethics (Fall 2001): 5-9
"The Social Nature of Information Ethics," with Linda Pierce, Library Trends v 49 no3 Winter 2001. p. 471-85.
"Will the Center Hold? Core Values in A Changing Information Environment," with Linda Pierce, PNLA Quarterly 63.1 Fall 1998, 16-17
McDonaldization Revisited: Critical Essays in Consumer Culture, co-edited with Robin Wynard and John Caputo, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
"Traditional vs. Information Management Theory," Journal of Information Ethics (Spring 1998): 5-9
Information Ethics for Librarians, co-authored with Linda Pierce, MacFarland and Associates, 1997.
"Postmodern Hamburgers: Taking a Postmodern Attitude Toward McDonald's," in Mark Alfino, Robin Wynyard, and John Caputo (Eds.), McDonaldization Revisited: Critical Essays in Consumer Culture, Greenwood Press, 1998, 175-189.
"Research Crimes, Misdemeanors, and Tolerated Deceptions," Journal of Information Ethics 5.1 (Spring 1996): 5-8.
"The Information Ethics of Polite Work Culture," Journal of Information Ethics 4.2 (Fall 1995): 9-12.
"Breaking Managerial Information Monopolies: Ethical Considerations in Setting Workplace Information Policy," Journal of Information Ethics 4.1 (Spring 1995): 5-10.
Rev., with Paul Alfino, M.D., of Ethical Issues in Dialysis and Transplantation, Carl Kjellstrand, M.D. and John B. Dossetor (Eds.), Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992, American Journal of Kidney Diseases 24.1 (July 1994): 155-156.
"Do Expert Systems Have a Moral Cost?" Journal of Information Ethics 2.2 (Fall 1993): 15-19. Reprinted in Richard Stichler and Robert Hauptman (Eds.), Ethics, Information and Technology: Readings, MacFarland and Associates, 1998, 95-100.
"The Virtue of the Information Manager," Journal of Information Ethics 2.1 (Spring 1993): 16-20. Reprinted in G. Lee Bowie, Kathleen M. Higgins, Meredith W. Michaels, Thirteen Questions in Ethics and Social Philosophy, 2nd Edition, Harcourt Brace Publishers, 1997.
"Information Rights vs. Information Virtues," Journal of Information Ethics 1.1 (Fall 1992): 13-17. Reprinted in G. Lee Bowie, Kathleen M. Higgins, Meredith W. Michaels, Thirteen Questions in Ethics and Social Philosophy, 2nd Edition, Harcourt Brace Publishers, 1997.
"Intellectual Property and Copyright Ethics," Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 10.2 (1991): 85-109. Reprinted in Robert A. Larmer (Ed.), Ethics in the Workplace, Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing Company, 1996, 278-293.
"Another Look at the Derrida-Searle Debate," Philosophy and Rhetoric 24.2 (1991): 143-152.
"Two Futures for Library Copyright Policy," ALKI 6.3 (1990): 77-79.
An Introduction to Ethics, course guide for a correspondence course in ethics, University of Texas Extension Office, Fall 1989.
"At the Margins of Representation in Postmodern Philosophy and Literature," Comparative Literature in Canada/ La Littérature Comparée au Canada: The Unmaking of Margins/ Defaire les Marges, 20 (1989).
"Plotinus and the Possibility of Non-Propositional Thought," Ancient Philosophy, 8 (1989): 273-284.
"How is the Philosophy of Language Possible?," review of How is Language Possible?, J. N. Hattiangadi, Texas Foreign Language Education Papers 2.1 (1988): 152-156.
“Is there a crisis of dissent and disagreement in argument theory?” European Conference on Argumentation, Groningen, Netherlands, June 24-27, 2019.
"The 19th Century Macello at the intersection of Italian studies and food studies,” Canadian Association for Italian Studies, Orvieto, Italy, June 13-16, 2019.
"How a philosopher looks at the news," Spokane Community College, Humanities Center, May 22, 2018.
"Moral Terroir: Rethinking traditional approaches to ethical diets," Philosophy Department Colloquium, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, October 12, 2017.
"Sourcing Values in a Food Philosophy: Notes toward a Moral Terroir", AFHVS/ASFS Annual Conference, Oxyfood 2017, Occidental College, Los Angeles, June 14-17, 2017.
"The Universality of Free Speech Culture," Presentation for the colloquium Enlightenment and Freedom of Speech, Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, May 19-20, 2017.
"Offense, Academic Freedom, and Speech Ecologies" American Library Association, Orlando, FL, May 27, 2016.
"Introspection, narration, and bias in the epistemology of subjective well-being," Unviersity of Southern Denmark, Odense, January 7, 2016.
""Rethinking Critical Thinking," keynote for PLATO Critical Thinking conference for Washington Community Colleges, Hilton Hotel, Spokane, WA, May 13, 2016.
"Why Privacy Matters," Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR, May 4, 2015.
"Some Limits of Transparency in Promoting Intellectual Freedom," Information Ethics Roundtable, University of Madison, Wisconsin, April 2015.
"Copyright and Culture," Workshop: The Ethics of Copying, Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), Bielefeld University, Germany, July 8-15, 2014.
"Gaming Wisdom," April 11, 2012, Nammour Symposium, UCSU, Sacramento, California.
"Techno-ratinoality and the Modern Academy," George Washington University, September 28, 2012.
"What Can We Learn from Postmodern Theories of Truth and Meaning?," Gonzaga University, March 27, 2012.
"Darwin for Everyone!," talk for the Spokane Secular Society, February 9, 2012.
"Leonardo's Renaissance," invited talk for Spokane Museum of Arts and Culture, July 17, 2011
"Wisdom and the Negotiation of Standards for Evaluating Success," Nammour Symposium 2010, California State University at Sacramento, April 20th, 2010.
"Using Wikis in Philosophy," Pacific Divsion Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Westin Hotel, San Francisco, April 1, 2010.
"Surveillance and Counter-Surveillance and Evolutionary Psychology," Surveillance and Anti-Surveillance, MacCaulay Honors College, April 25, 2009.
""Naturalizing Wisdom," Kazimierz Naturalism Workshop, 2008, Dolny, Poland.
with Randy Mayes, "Limits of Some Formal Approaches to Risk: Directions for Future Research," Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands, June 14, 2006.
"Trade Secrets in Professional Services," Spring 2006 Information Ethics Roundtable, American Philosophical Association Pacific Meetings, March 22, 2006.
"Business Values for Successful Business Partnerships," Business Ethics Workshop. Seventh Meeting of the U.S. West Coast - Far East Russian Ad Hoc Working Group, Anchorage, Alaska, September 17th, 2002.
"International Business Ethics for the New Millenium," Workshop On Strengthening Integrity in the Private Sector trhough Business Ethics and Codes of Conduct Programs, U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Eastern Europe, Russia and Independent States Good Governance Program, Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation(FRAEC), June 7, 2002, Seattle, Washington.
"Relativism and Naturalism: The Case of Evolutionary Ethics," 3rd Alain Locke Conference, Howard University, Washington, D.C., September 15-17, 2000.
Speaker, "Managing the Work Ethic," 1st Annual Robert Spitzer Presidential Institute on Organizational Leadership, March 16-18, 2000, Cavanaugh's Inn, Spokane, WA 99203.
Keynote Speaker, "Moral Values in Complex Systems," Focus on Results, joint annual meeting of the local chapters of the American Society for Quality and Association for Quality and Participation, Spokane, WA, October 18, 1999.
"Neo-Platonism in the Florentine Renaissance," guest speaker at WSU humanities course, July 22, 1999
Keynote Speaker & Workshop Leader, "Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum," Whitworth College, Facutly Development Day, October 16, 1998
"The Moral Value of Information," Symposium: Information Ethics: Gossip, Privacy, and the Moral Value of Information," 49th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Conference on Philosophy, Central Washington University, Ellensberg, WA, November 7-8, 1997.
Business Failure & Corporate Managerial Responsibility, co-authored with Brian Steverson, Society for Business Ethics Annual Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, August 8-10, 1997.
"The Ethical Library: Responsibilities to Our Users and Staff in the Information Age," with Linda Pierce, Oregon Library Association/Washington Library Association Joint Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, April 23-26, 1997.
"Peer Reviewer," Moral Philosophy and Politics, 2019.
"Peer Reviewer," Teaching Philosophy, 2015.
"Peer Reviewer," Canadian Research Council, 2015.
"The Gospel of Prosperity," article for Gonzaga Magazine, December 2013.
"Why the Scientific Study of Religion is Important," The Socratic Club, Gonzaga University, December 8, 2012.
"Using Clickers to Increase Student Participation and Learning," Center for Teaching and Advising, Gonzaga University, October 18, 2012.
"Finding Happiness and Wisdom at Gonzaga," talk for Gonzaga University Alumni, Washington Athletic Center, Seattle, Washington, April 8th, 2010.
Peer Reviewer, Ethic and Information Technology, 2008
"Bring Back Librarians," Guest Opinon, Spokesman Review, February 12, 2008
"International Development: Gonzaga's Africa Programs," Spokane Unitarian Chruch, October 10, 2007.
"Come Together, Right Now," Editorial, The Gonzaga Bulletin, November 11, 2005.
Commentator on Harriet Baber, "Ex Ante Desire and Post Hoc Satisfaction," Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference, Univeristy of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, March 25, 2005.
Chaired session, "What is Pragmatic Ethics?," APA Pacific Division Meeting, San Francisco, March 25, 2005.
Peer Reviewer, Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2005
Peer Reviewer, Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, 2004
Moderator, Panel on "Sacred Choices," featured speaker, Dan Maguire, Planned Parenthood Inland Northwest, Spokane, WA, April 8, 2002.
Commentary on John Oberdiek, "Towards an Irresponsible Thoery of Distributive Justice," Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, April 5-7, 2002
Commentary on Jerry Cederblom, "Reason and Emotion in Argument," APA Pacific Division Meeting, Seattle, WA, March 30, 2002.
"Academic Freedom in a Catholic Context," debate with Fr. Robert Spitzer, February 25, 2002.
"The Ethics of Owning Cell Lines" for Ethics and Moral Perspectives Committee, Sacred Heart Medical Center, February 18, 2002.
Panelist, "The Human Genome Project: The Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications," St. Stephen's Lecture Series, Sacred Heart Medical Center, Providence Auditorium, Spokane, WA, November 16, 2001.
Panelist, "Genetics and Ethics I, II, and III," Medical Ethics Conferences at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane, WA, March 7th, April 4th, and May 2nd, 2001.
Commentary on, Carl Anderson, "Anscombe on Self-Consciousness and Self-Reference," NW Conference on Philosophy, Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR, Nov. 10-11, 2000.
Director, "Improving Teaching Through Technology," M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Grant, $56,000 for technology training and collaboration at Gonzaga University and Heritage College. 2000-2005.
Peer Review, Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, Louis P. Pojman, 3rd Edition, Wadsworth, Publishing Co. Consulting on needed changes for new edition.Peer Review, Conferences papers for the 1998 Annual Meeting of the Society for Business Ethics.
Commentary on, Harvey S. James, "Reinforcing Ethical Decision-Making Through Organizational Architecture," New Work in Business Ethics, Colloquium of the Society for Business Ethics, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, March 26, 1998.
Chair, Colloquium of the Society for Business Ethics, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, March 26, 1998.
Executive Board, Society for Philosophy and Public Affairs 1997-present.
Commentary on, Michael O'Rourke, "Aiming and Referring," Philosophy of Language Colloquium, 48th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Conference on Philosophy, University of Portland, Portland, Oregon, October 25-26, 1996.
Peer Review, Problems in Business Ethics, textbook manuscript, Mayfield Publishing Co., first and second drafts reviewed July and October 1996.
Chair, Colloquium of the Society for Business Ethics, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, Seattle, WA, April 6, 1996.
Commentary on, Mark Weinstein, "Some Foundational Problems with Informal Logic and Their Solutions," Colloquium of the Association of Informal Logic and Critical Thinking, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, Seattle, WA, April 4, 1996.
Attended, "Virtual Classroom Workshop," Washington Center for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education, January 20th, 1996, Evergreen State College.
Peer Review, Wake-Up Calls, manuscript for business ethics casebook, Wadsworth, Inc., first review May 1994, second review May 1995.
Chair, Colloquium of the Society for Philosophy and Public Affairs, "Poverty Policy," American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 27, 1995.
Peer Review, two conference papers for 1994 Annual Meeting of The Association of Management.
Participant, American Bar Association's 9th Annual Higher Education Conference: Literature, History, Culture & the Courtroom, Fort Worth, Texas, February 11-13, 1993.
Peer Review, Articulate Contact: A Post-Semiotic Account of the Nature of Language, book manuscript, SUNY Press, reviewed April, 1993.
Peer Review, Thinking Ethics, textbook manuscript, Wadsworth, Inc, prospectus reviewed May, 1993, manuscript reviewed August, 1993.
"'Fair use' questions plague copyright law," letter, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 18, 1992: B3-4.
Panelist, Colloquium on Marketing Ethics, National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, National Conference, Seattle, Washington, March 15-18, 1992.
Participant, NEH funded summer seminar on Philosophy of Jurisprudence, led by David Luban at the University of Maryland's Institute for Philosophy and Publicy Policy, Summer 1991.
Panelist, Colloquium on Marketing Ethics, National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, Regional Conference, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, April 7-9, 1991.
Chair, Colloquium on Metaphysics, American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting, Boston, MA, December 27-31, 1990.
"Common-Sense Philosophy?," letter, The New York Times Book Review, October 27, 1985.
Commentary on, "Ethical Issues of the Employment at Will Doctrine," Kentucky Philosophical Association, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky, 1984.
Committee Member, CIS Core Curriculum Commmittee (2017-present), Library Search Committee (Spring 2019), Faculty Advisor to Multicultural Honor Society (2009-2015), Facutly Advisor to Philosophy Club (intermittent), Philosophy Department Colloquium Coordinator (2000-2017), Philosophy Department Outcomes for Majors Committee (2014), Co-facilitator, Inland Northwest Philosophy Association (INPA) (2012-present), Co-Director, Gonzaga-in-Benin Program (2013-present), Faculty Benefits Committee (1999-2011), Thematic Programming Committee (2006-2008), Center for Teaching and Advising Advisory Council (2006-2009); International Program Advisory Council (2005-2007), Academic Coordinator for Study Abroad. (2004-2008), Sacred Heart Hospital EMPC ethics committee (2003-2005), Criminal Justice Program Advisory Committee (1999-2001), Faculty Scholarship Advisor (1999-2001), Co-chair Budget Review and Reallocation Process (BRRP) (Summer 1998), Faculty Assemply President (Fall 1998), Faculty Assembly Vice-President (97-98), Web Steering Committee (97), Gonzaga Strategic Planning Council (95-96), Gonzaga Technology Committee (95-96), Web Policy Committee (95-96), Faculty Handbook Revision Committee (95-97), Faculty Assembly Constitution Review Committee (94-96), Library Committee (93-95), Fall Faculty Conference Program Committee, Co-Chair (1993 & 1994), Philosophy Club Faculty Advisor (92-93), Cataldo Scholarship Committee, Chair (92-93), Faculty Elections Committee, Chair (92-94), Publications Board (91-92), Admissions Telethon Chairperson (91-93), Philosophy Department Curriculum Revision Committee (90-91), Philosophy Department Reappointment Committee (90-91), Woman's Studies Planning Group (90-91), St. Michael's Institute Faculty Council (Facilitator, 90-91), St. Michael's Institute Academic Senate (90-91), Committees: University Copyright Committee (89-91).
Grants:
Gonzaga Research Council, for materials costs, in preparation of book manuscript, Librarianship Ethics for the Information Age. Spring 1996.
Research grant, St. Michael's Institute, for updates to Guide Author, hypertext software. Fall 1995.
Research grant, St. Michael's Institute, for research on the development of hypertext courseware. Spring and Summer 1993.
Research grant, St. Michael's Institute, for research on U.S. social welfare policy, Harvard University, Widener Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Summer 1990.
Travel grant, for travel to conference, Catholicism and Hermeneutics, Conception Seminary, Conception, Missouri Feb 24-25, 1990.
Local Invited Lectures and Discussions:
Panelist, "Globalization," Gonzaga Univeristy, March 3, 2005.
"Good Grounds for Metaphor," An Evening of Metaphor, Gonzaga College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Colloquium, February 12, 1999.
"Total Quality Management and the Learning Organization," guest seminar lecture, EDLD 701: Organizational Theory, December 2, 1994.Facilitator, with Brian Steverson, of a faculty reading group on, Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life, Fall 1997.
Representation and Closure of Meaning in Modern and Contemporary Philosophy of Language.