About

The Blog

The Modern Dilettante brings together several authors (see below) from a variety of academic disciplines and walks of life to discuss prevalent issues within those disciplines.

The Authors

Scott Pellegrino – Scott received his Masters in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City where he mostly studied American Pragmatism (especially Peirce) and Wittgenstein.  He is presently applying for a Ph D. in analytic philosophy.  His present research concentrates on the logical analysis of language and knowledge by investigating the nature, structure, and limits of world description and quantification.  He is the lead editor of Logical Semanticism. Scott also received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Religion, and Politics at Drake University. Scott Pellegrino can be contacted at: scottpellegrino at hotmail dot com.

Tom Schenk Jr. -

Tom is a senior analyst at Northwestern University’s Department of Medical Social Sciences. His emphasis is the methodology to determine the impact of medical procedures and treatments. Recently, he was a senior researcher and policy analyst for the Iowa Department of Education, specializing in higher education, data visualization, long-term education outcomes, engineering education, and the link between education and the economy. He previously was a visiting graduate fellow at the American Institutes for Economic Research and investment analyst at Smith Barney. He received a Master’s degree in Economics at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.  Tom received his Bachlor of Arts in Economics and Political Science with minors in Philosophy and Mathematics from Drake University in 2005. He can be contacted at: tomschenkjr at gmail dot com.

Trin Turner -

Trin is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University where he specializes in the philosophy of biology. Among his many interests in the philosophy of science, he is especially interested in theories of explanation, mechanistic accounts of phenomena, and causation. His dissertation focuses on the intersection of those interests and tries to understand the role of fitness within evolutionary biology from that unique point of view. Trin received a Masters Degree in Philosophy with a focus on epistemology and philosophy of science from Western Michigan in 2008 and he graduated summa cum laude from Drake University in 2005. More importantly, when not doing academics, Trin loves serious backpacking and rockclimbing with his brother, photography, playing video games, and spending time with his much more successful and important wife. Trin can be contacted at:trinsturner at gmail dot com.

Joshua Upson-

Joshua Upson received a Masters Degree in Philosophy with of focus on epistemology and philosophy of science from Western Michigan University in 2008 where he also graduated summa cum laude in 2005. He is especially interested in questions regarding ethics in virtual communities, the relation between science and ethics, the connection between free will and moral responsibility, and in issues relating to philosophy for non-college students. When not working on philosophy Josh enjoys reading and discussing comics, playing video games, and hosting a radio show at Western Michigan University’s student-run station 89.1fm WIDR.