Sunday, October 4, 2026

Joe Schmid & Noah McKay, Princeton PhD Candidates Convert


Joe Schmid

I’m a Philosophy PhD candidate at Princeton University. I graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Purdue University in 2022. On the scholarly level, I’ve published articles in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of time. I’ve also authored the books Existential Inertia and Classical Theistic Proofs (Springer, 2023, with Daniel Linford) and The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy (Kindle Direct Publishing, 2020). On the popular level, I create lecture videos and host discussions on my YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason. I also run a blog by the same name.

My primary research is in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of mind. I focus in particular on persistence, infinity and infinitary paradoxes, modality, arguments for and against God’s existence, and psychophysical laws.

When I’m not doing philosophy, I’m probably either running, playing soccer, biking, or cuddling with my dog.



Noah McCay

I’m a PhD student in philosophy at Princeton University. I received my master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh in 2023.

I’m interested in epistemology, metaethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. I’ve published papers on some of these topics in journals such as Analysis, Synthese, Episteme, and Faith and Philosophy. For more information about my research, check out my CV and PhilPapers page.

Lately, I’ve wondered about whether insights into the evolution of human cognition should lead us to reconsider our moral and religious perspectives on the world. I’ve also wondered about what kinds of objects human minds are (material? immaterial? simple? composite? enduring? instantaneous?).



Joe Schmid's Curriculum Vitae

Joseph C. Schmid


Princeton University | js9105@princeton.edu | www.josephschmid.com


Updated Sep 27th, 2026


AREAS OF SPECIALTY


Metaphysics

Philosophy of Religion


AREAS OF COMPETENCE


Philosophy of Mind

Logic


EDUCATION


BA in Philosophy with highest distinction, Purdue University (Aug 2019–May 2022)


PhD in Philosophy, Princeton University (Aug 2023–Present) [in progress]


RESEARCH


Book


  1. Existential Inertia and Classical Theistic Proofs (2023, with Daniel Linford), Springer.


Articles


  1. “The Problem of Psychonomic Harmony” (Forthcoming), Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.

  1. “Room for Improvement: Why Finitist Arguments Don’t Check Out” (Forthcoming), Analytic Philosophy (with Troy Dana).

  1. “Grim Reaper Paradoxes and Patchwork Principles: Severing the Case for Finitism” (2026), The Journal of Philosophy 123: 137–163 (with Troy Dana).

  1. “Symmetry Lost: A Modal Ontological Argument for Atheism?” (2026), Noûs 60: 313–327 (with Peter Fritz and Tien-Chun Lo).

  1. “Benardete Paradoxes, Causal Finitism, and the Unsatisfiable Pair Diagnosis” (2025), Mind 134: 397–421 (with Alex Malpass).

  1. “The End is Near: Grim Reapers and Endless Futures” (2024), Mind 133: 1057–1077.

  1. “Ontological Arguments” (2024), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, eds. Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (with Graham Oppy and Joshua Rasmussen).

  1. “Benardete paradoxes, patchwork principles, and the infinite past” (2024), Synthese 203: 51.

  1. “Symmetry’s revenge” (2023), Analysis 83: 723–731.

  1. “Branching Actualism and Cosmological Arguments” (2023), Philosophical Studies 180: 1951–1973 (with Alex Malpass).

  1. “A Step-by-step Argument for Causal Finitism” (2023), Erkenntnis 88: 2097–2122.

  1. “Naturalism, classical theism, and first causes” (2023), Religious Studies 59: 63–77.

  1. “From Modal Collapse to Providential Collapse” (2022), Philosophia 50: 1413–1435.

  1. “The fruitful death of modal collapse arguments” (2022), International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 91: 3–22.

  1. “The aloneness argument against classical theism” (2022), Religious Studies 58: 401–419 (with R.T. Mullins).

  1. “Classical Theism, Arbitrary Creation, and Reason-Based Action” (2022), Sophia 61: 565–579.

  1. “Existential inertia and the Aristotelian proof” (2021), International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 89: 201–220.

  1. “Simply Unsuccessful: The Neo-Platonic Proof of God’s Existence” (2021), European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 13: 129–156.

  1. “Stage One of the Aristotelian Proof: A Critical Appraisal” (2021), Sophia 60: 781–796.


Presentations and contest papers


  1. “Against Causal Finitism”, Princeton Metaphysics Reading Group (April 8, 2026).

  1. “Psychonomic Harmony: A New Puzzle”, Christopher Newport University Philosophy of Religion Workshop (Oct 16–18, 2025) and Princeton Metaphysics Reading Group (October 8, 2025).

  1. “Symmetry Lost: Anselm, Adams, and Atheism”, 2025 Eastern Conference of the Society of Christian Philosophers: The Philosophical Legacy of Robert Merrihew Adams (October 3, 2025).

  1. “Symmetry breakers for the modal ontological argument”, Princeton Project in Philosophy & Religion Reading Group (April 23, 2025).

  1. “The Grim Reaper Paradox and Causal Finitism”, panel speaker at the 2025 Pacific APA (April 18, 2025).

  1. “Fellow travelers and plenitudinous ontologies”, Princeton Metaphysics Reading Group (February 26, 2025).

  1. “Symmetry lost”, Virginia Commonwealth University Philosophy of Religion Workshop (Oct 17–19, 2024) and Princeton Metaphysics Reading Group (October 8, 2024).

  1. “An unsatisfactory way of being an ontological pluralist”, Princeton Metaphysics Reading Group (April 23, 2024).

  1. “Consciousness, Causation, and Explanation: A Construction Argument”, The Society of Christian Philosophers Conference (April 5–6, 2019), College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, NV. Conference paper accepted via blind review.

  1. “The Indeterminacy of the Physical and the Principle of Sufficient Reason” (July 2019), The Conscious Machine, Azusa Pacific University. Contest paper won via blind review.


AWARDS


  1. Nov, 2025. Winner of Emergent Ventures grant ($25,000) to complete a co-authored book on new arguments in philosophy of religion.

  2. May, 2022. Graduated Purdue University with highest distinction (B.A., Philosophy).

  3. Feb, 2022. Purdue University College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Senior Award.

  4. Feb, 2021. Eric L. Clitheroe Memorial Scholarship (first place).

  5. Feb, 2021. William L. Rowe Scholarship in Philosophy (Purdue University).

  6. Feb, 2021. Purdue Department of Philosophy Outstanding Sophomore Award.

  7. Jul, 2019. Azusa Pacific University’s The Conscious Machine call for arguments essay prize.

  8. Jan, 2019. Purdue University presidential scholarship.


TEACHING


  1. Fall 2026. Teaching Assistant for Introductory Logic (PHI 201).

  2. Spring 2025. Teaching Assistant for Lara Buchak’s Philosophy, Religion, and Existential Commitments (PHI 211).

  3. Spring 2025. Guest lectured about the ethics of charitable giving for Lara Buchak’s Philosophy, Religion, and Existential Commitments (PHI 211).

  4. Fall 2024. Teaching Assistant for Kimberly Brewer’s Philosophy and the Modern Mind (PHI 200).

  5. Fall 2023. Guest lectured about epistemic partiality in friendship for Elizabeth Harman’s The Ethics of Love and Sex (PHI 390).


SERVICE


Served as anonymous reviewer for Mind (3x), Noûs (2x), Australasian Journal of Philosophy (5x), Analysis (1x), The Philosophical Quarterly (1x), Ergo (1x), Routledge (1x), American Philosophical Quarterly (1x), Erkenntnis (1x), Synthese (3x), Inquiry (1x), Philosophy (1x), Philosophia (1x), Acta Analytica (1x), Dialectica (1x), The Review of Metaphysics (1x), Faith and Philosophy (3x), Religious Studies (5x), Sophia (6x), American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly (1x), Agatheos: European Journal for Philosophy of Religion (1x), TheoLogica: An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology (2x).


Served on Princeton’s Prospective Visit Committee (Spring 2024).


Organiser for Princeton’s Workshop in Normative Philosophy (AY 2024-25).


Organiser for Princeton’s MAP (Minorities and Philosophy) series (AY 2025-26).


Organiser for Princeton’s Compass workshop (AY 2025-26).


Served on the organizing committee for The 2025 Eastern Conference of the Society of Christian Philosophers: The Philosophical Legacy of Robert Merrihew Adams.


PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY


  1. I create lecture videos and host discussions with philosophers on my YouTube channel Majesty of Reason. My videos have over 2 million views in total and have been used in undergraduate courses such as Paul Draper’s Philosophy and Probability (PHIL 350) at Purdue University.

  2. I self-published The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy (2020, 222 pages), a book aimed to help people cultivate critical thinking and philosophical reasoning skills.

  3. I tutored students and interested lay people in philosophy during Fall 2021, Summer/Fall/Winter 2022, Spring/Summer 2023.

  4. I am the Head of Instruction for the Reason & Rationality summer program, which teaches philosophy to high school students.


REFERENCES


Joshua L. Rasmussen, Baylor University (josh_rasmussen@baylor.edu)

Graham Oppy, Monash University (graham.oppy@monash.edu)

Paul Draper, Purdue University (pdraper@purdue.edu)

Jan Cover, Purdue University (jacover@purd



Posted by plinthos at 1:53 PM
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