David Jensen

Commonly Taught Classes

Philosophy 110: Introduction to Philosophy Philosophy 213: Introduction to Ethics Philosophy 340R: Kant Philosophy 413: Ethics Philosophy 420: Philosophy of Language

Biography

I completed my undergraduate degree in Philosophy, with Honors, at Brigham Young University in 1996. My honors thesis, entitled “Stich on Charity and Truth,” addressed disagreements on rationality between Donald Davidson and Stephen Stich. I started my Ph.D. at UCLA in the Fall of 1996. I completed my M.A. in 1998 and my Ph.D. in 2004. My dissertation, entitled “Practical Reasons and Rationality,” was completed under Barbara Herman. It addresses the relationship between reasons and desires, taking the position of Bernard Williams as a starting point. In all, the graduate education provided at UCLA was superb. I returned to BYU in 2004 as a faculty member.

I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My wife, who grew up in Connecticut and Boston, and I have 4 kids. She is also a BYU graduate. We both served missions: I served in the France Bordeaux Mission and she served in the California Anaheim Mission (spanish speaking).

Degrees

BA, Brigham Young U., 1996
MA, U. of California, Los Angeles, 1998
PhD, U. of California, Los Angeles, 2005

Interests

Ethics, Moral Psychology