Education:

• ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY, Ph.D. in Philosophy December 2003 (expected) 
• UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, ST. LOUIS, master's work in History 1990-1993 
• McKENDREE COLLEGE, B.A. with honors in Philosophy, History 1986-1989 

  Research Experience:

• Non-Tenure Track Assistant Professor St. Louis University, Department of Philosophy 2003-04
• Doctoral Student. St. Louis University, Department of Philosophy 1997-present. Dissertation: "The Adventure of the Individual: Individuality and the Aesthetic in Dewey's Political Philosophy." Advisor: Dr. Vincent Punzo. 
• Danforth Fellow. St. Louis University, Department of Philosophy 2000-03 Research assistance and editing on topics concerning democratic theory, cosmopolitanism, critical theory, pragmatism, hermeneutics. Advisor: Dr. James Bohman. 
• Pragmatism Archive Research Grant. 2002 Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma. Investigation into Dewey's aesthetics and his philosophical issues with corporate liberalism. Advisor: Dr. John R. Shook. 

 Awards and Fellowships:

• Fontbonne/St. Louis University Teaching Fellowship 2002-03 
• Pragmatism Archive Research Grant 2002 
• Brennan Graduate Study Grant, St. Louis University 2000 
• Danforth Research Fellowship 2000-02 
• St. Louis University Departmental Research Fellowship 1999-2000 

 Teaching Experience:

• Teaching Fellow, Fontbonne University: Introduction to Philosophy, Contemporary Moral Issues, Business Ethics, Online course in Critical Thinking. 2002-03. 
• Lecturer, Webster University, St. Louis: Introduction to Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Social and Political Philosophy, Online Critical Thinking. 2002, 2003-2004 
• Lecturer, University of Missouri, St. Louis: Logic & Language, Business Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science. 1999-2002 
• Teaching Assistant, St. Louis University: Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, 1998-99. 

 Professional Societies:

• The American Philosophical Association 
• North American Society for Social Philosophy 
• The Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy 

Publications and Presentations:

• Star Wars and Philosophy (Open Court Press), co-edited with Jason T. Eberl (forthcoming, 2005)
• "By Any Means Necessary: Strassian Politics and the Transformation of Democracy into Tyranny," in Star Wars and Philosophy (Open Court Press), co-edited with Jason T. Eberl (forthcoming, 2005)
• "The Uniqueness of John Dewey's Political Contribution," Philosophy Now (Fall 2003, forthcoming) 
• "Hegel and Pragmatism," "Hegel and Dewey,". entries for Brazilian Portal of Philosophy http://www.filosofia.pro.br/hegel_and_pragmatism.htm and http://www.filosofia.pro.br/decker_hegel_and_dewey.htm (2003)
• "Habermas on Human Rights and Cloning: A Pragmatist Response," Essays in Philosophy vol. 3 no. 2: "Pragmatism and Neo-Pragmatism" http://www.humboldt.edu/~essays/decker.html 
• "Right and Recognition: Criminal Action and Intersubjectivity in Hegel's Early Ethics," History of Political Thought 22 (2): 300-316. 
• "Ground, Relation, Representation: Kantianism and the Early Peirce," Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 37 (2): 179-206. 
• "The Open System and Its Enemies: Bruno, the Idea of Infinity, and Speculation in Early Modern Philosophy of Science," American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 74 (4): 599-620. 
• Decker, K. (2000) "Kant's Two Erfahrungen: An Equivocation of 'Experience' in the First Critique," Minerva--An Internet Journal of Philosophy, vol. 4 http://www.ul.ie/~philos/vol4/kant.html 
• "The Limits of Radical Openness: Gadamer on Socratic Dialectic and Plato's Idea of the Good," Synposium 4 (1): 5-32. 

• "Pragmatism is an Urbanism: Response to James Sheppard" (Spring 2003), Annual Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, Denver, Colorado. 
• "Self-Development and Democracy: The Basis for a Deweyan Aesthetic Politics" (Fall 2002), Sixth Annual Meeting of the Midwest Pragmatist Study Group of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago. 
• "Habermas on Human Rights and Cloning: A Pragmatist Response" (Spring 2002), 30th Conference on Value Inquiry, Center for the Study of Bioethics at the Medical College of Wisconson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
• "'Cheerfully Naturalizing' the Virtues" (Fall 2001), Building Bridges: the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Graduate Conference; St. Louis University Graduate Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 
• "Naturalism in Dewey's Political Theory: Explaining the Value of Democratic Practices" (Spring 2001), 25th Annual MidSouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, Tennessee. 
• "William James's Transsubjective Dilemma" (Spring 2001), Comment, 25th Annual MidSouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, Tennessee. 
• "Right and Recognition: Criminal Action and Intersubjectivity in Hegel's Early Ethics" (Spring 1999), University of Illinois Graduate Philosophy Conference, Champaign-Urbana 
• "Recognition, History, and Event: Taylor, Modernity, and Nationalism" (Spring 1999), 27th Conference on Value Inquiry, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, Missouri; (Fall 1998), 9th Annual Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. 

 Information Technology Experience:

Website: The Public Philosopher, http://www.geocities.com/publicphil.

Powerpoint presentations in Philosophy of Religion, experience with "Blackboard" (University of Missouri--St. Louis) and "WebCT" (St. Louis U.) class management systems.

 Research Interests:

My graduate education has been firmly based in the history of philosophy, and I actively utilize and criticize past thinkers as resources in all my work. My primary research interests are in the fields of American philosophy, particularly pragmatism, and Continental philosophy, particularly hermeneutics and critical theory. Like Aristotle and Dewey, I assume little distance between social and political philosophy and ethics. My dissertation as well as other work on Kant and Hegel has engaged me in aesthetics and epistemology as they relate to philosophy of society and culture. I am currently engaging in research on naturalism in political theory and hermeneutics, the Dewey/Hegel relationship, Continental and American aesthetic politics, and pragmatism in applied ethics contexts.

 References:

• James Bohman, Danforth Professor in the Humanities, Department of Philosophy, St. Louis University, 3800 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63103 
• Paul Roth, Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri at St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63121 
• Britt-Marie Schiller, Chair, Department of Philosophy, Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., St. Louis, Missouri, 63119 
• Vincent Punzo, Professor, Department of Philosophy, St. Louis University, 3800 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63103 
• John Shook, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, 205 Hanner Hall, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, 74078