Dr. Jonathan Strand
Professor, Philosophy
Education
- Theological Diploma, Concordia Lutheran Seminary
- PhD, Philosophy, University of Notre Dame
- MDiv, Association Free Lutheran Theological Seminary
- BA, Philosophy, summa cum laude, University of Minnesota
Academic Interests and Specializations
At the heart of my scholarly passions lies Logic鈥攖he attempt to understand how good reasoning works and how it may be modeled mathematically. I am especially interested in how the best of scientific reasoning functions and how that kind of reasoning may be applied to religious questions. I am also interested in the pragmatics鈥攖he ethics and practical rationality鈥攐f religious belief. I believe we can effectively reason about God using the same sort of reasoning used in the sciences. And I believe that some substantial religious beliefs are practically, ethically, and rationally justified.
Website: – a website of practical philosophy
Previous Administrative Appointments
Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Philosophy Program Coordinator
Vice President Academic
Associate Vice President Academic
Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Dean of Arts and Science
Associate Vice President Student Services
Chair, Educational Policies Committee
Philosophy Department Coordinator
Memberships
Canadian Philosophical Association
Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers
Society of Christian Philosophers
Courses Regularly Taught
PHIL 102/202 Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 125 Introduction to Logic
PHIL 205 Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 215 Epistemology
PHIL 220 Symbolic Logic
Selected Publications and Presentations
June 22, 2023, 鈥淥n Making a Difference,鈥� Workshop on Faith and Meaning-Making, LCC International University, Klaipeda, Lithuania.
March 25, 2023, 鈥淢attering and Making a Difference,鈥� at Southwest Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological and Evangelical Philosophical Societies, Fort Worth, Texas.
2021, 鈥滱ristotle at the Movies: Epistemic Virtue in Film,鈥� in Film, Philosophy and Religion, William H. U. Anderson, ed., Vernon Press, pp. 325-342.
May 22, 2021, 鈥淔aith and Hope Among the Virtues鈥� at the 2021 Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion / Society of Biblical Literature
2020, 鈥淲ill Androids Need Salvation? A Dialogue with Chalmers鈥� Philosophy of Mind,鈥� in Technology and the Christian Faith, William H. U. Anderson, ed., Vernon Press, pp. 217-241.
2019, 鈥淎nimism and Contemporary Philosophy of Mind: Indigenous People and the Christian Faith,鈥� in Indigenous People and the Christian Faith, William H. U. Anderson and Charles Muskego, eds., Vernon Press, pp. 69-78.
May 4, 2019, 鈥淎I and Consciousness鈥� panelist at Technology and Theology conference, Canadian Centre for Scholarship and the Christian Faith, 麻豆传媒.
2017, 鈥淭heism, Atheism, and the Ethics of Hope,鈥� in Atheism and the Christian Faith, William H. U. Anderson, ed., Vernon Press, pp. 33-51.
October 28-30, 2016, 鈥淭he Simplest Possible Overall Conception of Reality,鈥� Western Canadian Philosophical Association annual meeting, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
May 7, 2016, 鈥淭heism, Atheism, and the Ethics of Hope,鈥� Canadian Centre for Scholarship and the Christian Faith conference on Atheism and the Christian Faith, 麻豆传媒.
March 19, 2016, 鈥淭he Apparent Immorality of Being a Satisfied Atheist,鈥� Society of Christian Philosophers Pacific Regional Meeting, University of San Diego.
February 1, 2016, 鈥淭o Believe or To Disbelieve,鈥� a debate on the rationality of belief in God. Argued for the rationality of theism against Prof. Paul Beach, who argued for the rationality of atheism. 麻豆传媒.
January-February, 2015, 鈥淒efending the Faith,鈥� Quest Course, Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton.
April 8, 2008, 鈥淧robability, Explanation, and God,鈥� 鈥淎cademic Conversations on Christianity鈥� speakers鈥� series, Urban Bridge Church, Edmonton, AB.
January 26 & 27, 2007, 鈥淭he Case for a Creator,鈥� 鈥淭he Case for Christ,鈥� & 鈥淭he Essence of the Gospel鈥� Breakforth Ministries conference, Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton.
May 31, 2005, 鈥淚n Defense of Wishful Thinking,鈥� Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers annual meeting, University of Western Ontario.
2005, 鈥淭he Fallacy of Transitivity for Necessary Counterfactuals: On Behalf of (Certain) Non-Transitive Entailment Relations,鈥� in Mistakes of Reason: Essays in Honour of John Woods, Kent Peacock & Andrew Irvine, eds., University of Toronto Press, pp. 264-278.
March 31, 2004, 鈥淗ow Bayes鈥� Theorem Explains Everything,鈥� Concordia鈥檚 Scholarly Speakers Series.
May 11-14, 2001, 鈥淚f a Contradiction Were True,鈥� at the annual meeting of the Society for Exact Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal.
2001, 鈥淎rguing For English Conditionals: A Simple Evaluation Procedure for Natural Language Arguments with Conditional Conclusions,鈥� in New Studies in Exact Philosophy: Logic, Mathematics and Science, John Woods & Bryson Brown, eds., Oxford: Hermes Science Publishing, pp. 113-138.
May 26, 2000, 鈥淐onditional Modality,鈥� Canadian Philosophical Association annual meeting, Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
March 19, 1998, 鈥淭he Resurrection of Christian Philosophy,鈥� the Edmonton chapter of the Christian Medical-Dental Society.
1996, 鈥淗ow Lutherans Know About God,鈥� in Pathways of Grace and Knowledge: the Christian Presence in Academia, Neil Querengesser, ed., Concordia University College of Alberta, pp. 18-33.
April 24, 1993, “Conditionality and Other Modalities,” American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting.