James Kenneth Johnson II

As Assistant

• Philosophy 4, Philosophical Analysis of Contemporary Moral Issues (Fall 2022)
• Philosophy 100B, History of Medieval Philosophy (Winter 2023)
• Philosophy 22, Introduction to Ethical Theory (Spring 2023)
• Philosophy 100A, History of Ancient Philosophy (Fall 2023)
• Philosophy C156, Topics in Political Philosophy (Winter 2024)

As Primary Instructor

• Introduction to Philosophy: Republic and Nicomachean Ethics (dual credit): x3
• Introduction to Logic: Classical and Symbolic: x3
• Ancient Greek Literature: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Plato: x12
• Christ and Culture: Medieval and Modern Philosophy (semester-length elective): x8
• AP Literature and Composition: Shakespeare and Dostoevsky: x 2
• Mathematics: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II: x5
• Other: Director of Oral Examinations, Mock Trial Advisor, Senior Thesis Advisor: x12

Entire text:

• Aeschylus, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides
• Sophocles, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
• Plato, Euthyphro, Meno, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Hippias Major, Symposium, Republic
• Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics
• William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet
• T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
• Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit
• Albert Camus, The Stranger
• L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between
• C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
• Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
• Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, “The Birthmark”
• Edgar Allan Poe, “A Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Cask of Amontillado”
• Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
• Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Excerpts of text:

• Plato, Alcibiades
• Aristotle, The Poetics
• Herodotus, The Histories
• Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War
• Plotinus, Enneads
• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
• William Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions
• Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (half)
• John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
• David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
• Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
• Jeremy Bentham, The Principles of Morals and Legislation
• John Austin, The Province of Jurisprudence Determined
• Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
• Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
• Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism
• Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
• C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
• H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law
• John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
• Ronald Dworkin, Taking Right's Seriously
• Peter Singer, Practical Ethics

• Contours of Corruption: The Structure of Moral Agency in the Ordinatio Duns Scotus Tyndale Fellowship Study Group Conference. Hoddesdon, United Kingdom. 5-7 July 2023.
• Reduction through Reification: Medieval Matter and Cartesian Functions First Annual UT-Austin Conference in Early Modern Philosophy. Austin, TX. 9-10 September 2022.
• Perceptual Representational Capacities: Excluding Exclusion Newton Fund Conference on the Philosophies of Mind, Language and Action Sao Paulo, Brazil 19-23 September 2016.
• Repulsive Revolution: Undermining Medieval Matter Concordia Graduate Philosophy Conference Revolutions: Scientific and Social 1-2 April 2016 Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.
• Skeptical Theism and Moral Skepticism 2016 Hawaii University International Conferences, Honolulu Hawaii, January 2016.
• Tyler Burge: Sensory Registration, Perceptual Representation, and Perceiving Bodies as Bodies 2016 Hawaii University International Conferences, Honolulu Hawaii, January 2016.
• Moral Beliefs and Legal Coercion Sheffield Philosophy Undergraduate Conference March 5-6, 2016.
• Zagzebski: Entitlement to Epistemic Trust 3rd Annual SoCal Philosophy Conference, San Diego, CA, October 2015.
• William Ockham: Judicative Acts of Assent and Chatton's Conception of Truth 3rd Annual SoCal Philosophy Conference, San Diego, CA, October 2015.
• Matter in Late Medieval Philosophy and the Cartesian Climax 15th Annual Steven Humphrey Undergraduate Philosophy Colloquium November 2015.
• Personal Problems with Simplicity? Simply Look to Stump. 3rd Annual SDSU Undergraduate Conference in Philosophy at San Diego State University in San Diego, CA, October 2014.
• Is Divine Simplicity Compatible with God’s Knowledge of Contingent Facts? Co-authored with Garry Butaslac Soronio 2nd Annual SoCal Philosophy Conference, San Diego, CA, October 2014.
• Francisco Suarez: Concurrentism and Sinful Acts 2nd Annual SoCal Philosophy Conference, San Diego, CA, October 2014.
• Leibniz’s Monads: Was he Consistent? 2nd Annual SoCal Philosophy Conference, San Diego, CA, October 2014.
• Larry Wright’s Analysis of Functions (reworded title) 1st Undergraduate UCLA Philosophy Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, May 2014.

Invited Presentations

• Contours of Corruption: The Structure of Moral Agency in the Ordinatio of Duns Scotus Pepperdine University. October 2023.
• Augustine on Eternity: Finding the Father Center for Liberal Arts and Free Institutions (CLAFI). University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). May 2022.
• Plato and Lewis: The Great Divorce Trinity Classical Academy Podcast. Valencia, CA, January 2022.
• Aristotle and Nietzsche: Virtue and Human Flourishing College of the Canyons. Valencia, CA, April 2018.

• Anscombe Society (UCLA), President (Summer 2015-Fall 2016)
  Organized and led weekly meetings discussing Supreme Court rulings on applied ethical issues, organized and led weekly reading discussions on applied ethical issues, organized philosophy speakers to present at meetings.
• Catholic Forum Club (UCLA), VP Unofficial Club (Fall 2013-Spring 2015)
  Presented philosophical material on philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and ethics, organized graduate philosophy students to present ethical topics, organized philosophy professor to discuss philosophical topics, contributed to advertising, participated in discussion.