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School of American and Global Studies

Gregory Peterson

Gregory Peterson

Title

Professor of Philosophy and Religion

Office Building

Lincoln Hall

Office

223

Mailing Address

Lincoln Hall 223
School of American and Global Studies-Box 2212
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Education

  • B.A. | University of Minnesota
  • M.A. | Luther Seminary
  • Ph.D. | University of Denver

Academic Interests

  • Ethics
  • Political philosophy
  • Experimental ethics
  • Moral and political psychology
  • Virtue theory
  • Democratization
  • Religion and science

Awards and Honors

  • January 2016, J. P. Hendrickson Liberal Arts Faculty Scholar Award and Herbert Cheever Jr. Liberal Arts Lecture
  • February 2008, College of Arts and Sciences Researcher of the Year Award, South Dakota State University

Grants

  • “Incorporating Diverse Perspectives into the Three R's of Ethics Education Incorporating Diverse Perspectives into the Three R's of Ethics Education.” National Science Foundation, January 2009, $296,228.
  • “The Rationality of Ultimate Value: Emotion, Awareness, and Causality in Virtue Ethics and Decision Neuroscience.” Center for Theology and Natural Science for the Science and Transcendence Advanced Research Series, 2007-2008, $320,000.

Publications

Books and Edited Volumes

  1. Zavattaro, Staci, Gregory R. Peterson and Ann E. Davis. 2019. Property Rights in Contemporary Governance. State University of New York Press.
  2. Peterson, Gregory R., James Van Slyke, and Michael Spezio. 2017.   Habits in Mind: Ethics, Religion, and the Science of Virtue.
  3. Van Slyke, James, Gregory R. Peterson, Michael Spezio, Kevin Reimer and Warren Brown. 2013. Theology and the Science of Moral Action: Virtue Ethics, Exemplarity, and Cognitive Neuroscience. New York: Routledge.
  4. Haag, Jamie, Gregory R. Peterson and Michael Spezio. 2012. Routledge Companion to Religion and Science. New York: Routledge.
  5. Peterson, Gregory R. 2003. Minding God: Theology and Cognitive Science. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Journal Articles since 2010

  1. Spezio, Michael, Gregory Peterson, and Robert C. Roberts. 2018. “Humility as Openness to Others: Interactive Humility in the Context of l’Arche.” Journal of Moral Education, April, 1–20.
  2. Peterson, Gregory R. 2017. “Is My Feeling Your Pain Bad for Others? Empathy as Virtue vs. Empathy as Fixed Trait.” Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 52(1): 232-257.
  3. Peterson, Gregory R. 2015. “Can One Love the Distant Other? Empathy, Affiliation and Cosmopolitanism.” Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences 2(1): 4-24
  4. 2014. “On McCauley’s Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not: Some Further Observations.” Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 49(3): 716-727.
  5. 2013. “McCauley, The Maturational Natural, and Current Limits of the Cognitive Science of Religion.”  Religion, Brain and Behavior 3(2): 141-51.
  6. Peterson, Gregory R. 2013. “Is Eating Locally a Moral Obligation?” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 26(2): 421-437.
  7. Reimer, Kevin S., Christina Young, Brandon Birath, Michael L. Spezio, Gregory Peterson, James Van Slyke and Warren S. Brown. 2011. “Maturity is Explicit: Self-importance of Traits in Humanitarian Moral Identity.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 7 (1): 36-44.
  8. Peterson, Gregory R. 2010. “Are Evolutionary/Cognitive Theories of Religion Relevant for Philosophy of Religion?”  Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 45(3): 545-557.
  9. Peterson, Gregory R., and James van Slyke, Michael L. Spezio, Kevin Reimer and Warren Brown. 2010. “The Rationality of Ultimate Concern: Moral Exemplars, Theological Ethics, and the Science of Moral Cognition.” Theology and Science 8(2): 139-162.

Articles in Books since 2010

  1. Peterson, Gregory R. 2019. “Intellectual Property and Fairness across Borders: A Capabilities Account.” In Property Rights in Contemporary Governance. Ed. By Staci Zavattaro, Gregory R. Peterson and Ann E. Davis. Albany NY: State University of New York Press.
  2. Peterson, Gregory R.  2017. “Habit, Character, and the Situationist Challenge.” In Habits in Mind: Ethics, Religion and the Science of Virtue. Ed. By Gregory R. Peterson, James Van Slyke and Michael Spezio.
  3. Peterson, Gregory R.  2013. “Virtue, Science and Exemplarity: An Overview.” In Theology and the Science of Moral Action: Virtue Ethics, Exemplarity, and Cognitive Neuroscience. Ed. By James Van Slyke, Gregory R. Peterson, Michael Spezio, Kevin Reimer and Warren Brown. New York: Routledge.  
  4. Peterson, Gregory R. 2013. “Exemplarism: Some Considerations.” In Theology and the Science of Moral Action: Virtue Ethics, Exemplarity, and Cognitive Neuroscience. Ed. by James Van Slyke, Gregory R. Peterson, Michael Spezio, Kevin Reimer and Warren Brown. New York: Routledge.  
  5. Peterson, Gregory R. 2012. “Animals and Christianity.” In The Routledge Companion to Religion and Science. Ed. by James Haag, Gregory R. Peterson and Michael Spezio. New York: Routledge.
  6. Reimer, Kevin S. and Michael Spezio, Warren Brown, Gregory R. Peterson, James Van Slyke and Kristen Renwick Monroe.  2012. “Virtuous Courage: New Methods for the Interdisciplinary Study of Virtue. In Science, Ethics and Politics: Conversations and Investigations. Ed. by Kristen Monroe. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Press.
  7. Peterson, Gregory R. 2011. “Luther and Philosophy in a Scientific Age. In The Devil’s Whore: Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition.  Ed. by Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
  8. Peterson, Gregory R. 2010. “Ethics, Out-Group Altruism, and the New Atheism.” In Religion and the New Atheism: A Critical Appraisal.  Edited by Amarnath Amarasingam. Leiden: Brill.
  9. Professional Presentations at Academic Conferences
  10. “Global Citizenship Values as a Byproduct of Democratic Virtue Education.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston, November 2017.
  11. “Moral/Political Psychology, Dual-Processing, and Democratic Virtues: Implications for Political Philosophy.” European Consortium for Political Research General Conference, Oslo, Norway, September 2017.
  12. “Should Nations Accept Refugees Even When (ex hypothesis) there is the Threat of Terror?” Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, April 2017.
  13. "Creations Human and Divine: Can “Anthropic Analogies” Help us Think about Human Creativity in an Age of Technology?" International Society for Religion and Science sub-meeting at American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, November 2017.
  14. "Empathy and the Religious Other." International Society for Religion and Science sub-meeting at American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, November 2015.
  15. “Capabilities, Rights and Cosmopolitanism." South Dakota Philosophical Society, Sioux Falls, November 2015.
  16. “Capabilities, Rights and Cosmopolitanism.” Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, April 2015.
  17. “Emotions, Reason and International Relations: Treating Civic Virtues as Both Dependent and Independent Variables.”  International Studies Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, February 2015.
  18. “Emotions, Reason, and International Relations: Treating Civic Virtues as Both Dependent and Independent Variables.”  South Dakota Philosophical Society Conference, November 2014
  19. “Emotions, Reason, and International Relations: Treating Civic Virtues as Both Dependent and Independent Variables.”  Global Studies Conference, University of Nebraska, Omaha NE October 2014.
  20. “Fair Trade & Ultimate Aims for Developing World Agriculture,” Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association (International Society for Environmental Ethics group), San Diego CA, April 2014.
  21. Peterson, Gregory R. 2014. “Neuroscience & Four Challenges Concerning Freedom, Character and Action.”  Conference on "The Human Person: Challenges for Science, Religion and Governance," Georgetown University, Doha, Qatar, February 2014.
  22. “When is Free Trade Fair? When is Fair Trade Free?” Global Studies Conference, University of Nebraska, Omaha NE, October 2013.
  23. “Theodicy and Anthropic Analogies.” American Academy of Religion Upper Midwest Regional Meeting, St. Paul, MN, March 2012.
  24. “Reason, Intuition, and Emotion in Moral Psychology and Moral Philosophy,” South Dakota Philosophical Convention, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, October 2011.
  25. “Civility and Virtue,” Minnesota Philosophical Society, Bloomington MN, November 6, 2010.  
  26. “Can There Be a Eudaimonics?” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, October 30-November 1, 2010.
  27. “Virtue, Exemplarity and the Cognitive Science of Morality,” South Dakota Philosophical Convention, Sioux Falls, October 2010.

Department(s)