2010 Ph.D Philosophy Southern Illinois University Carbondale

2002 M.L.A Philosophy Oklahoma City University

1995 B.A. History Colorado College

Dr. Vannatta came to Morgan State University in 2010 after teaching at Casady School in Oklahoma City and spending four years in Southern Illinois earning his doctorate.  He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2014 and full professor in 2018. He served as Department Chair from 2015 to 2023.  He is the author of Conservatism and Pragmatism in Law, Politics, and Ethics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and editor of The Pragmatism and Prejudice of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (Lexington, 2019). His current project is The Conservatism of the Liberal Arts: A Pragmatist Approach, with co-author Bethany Henning (Routledge, Forthcoming). His interests outside philosophy include golf, fitness, and other sports. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

American Philosophy (Classical and Contemporary Pragmatism), Philosophy of Law, History of Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Logic, Philosophy of Education, Ethics, Popular Culture and Philosophy

Philosophers of current interest include John Dewey, Michael Oakeshott, Edmund Burke, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Roger Scruton, and C.S. Peirce. 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Vannatta, Seth "White Privilege and Antisemitism in James Grey's Armageddon Time and the Work of Shannon Sullivan"

Vannatta, Seth. "The Problem with Conservative Art: A Critique of Russell Kirk's Metaphysical Conservatism." Philosophies 8(2) (2023). As you can find it here.

Vannatta, Seth. “Where Epistemology and Metaphysics Touch in Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Gary Ross’s Pleasantville.” Popular Culture Review. 34.1. (Spring, 2023), pp. 85-109
Vannatta, Rachel and Vannatta, Seth. "Pedagogy in Counselor Education: Insights from John Dewey." Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision. 14(2) 2021, pp. 2-25.
Vannatta, Seth. "The Return of the Repressed (and Oppressed): A Freudo-Marxian Analysis of Jordan Peele's Us." Popular Culture Review 31.2 (Summer, 2020).
The Pragmatism and Prejudice of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Ed. Seth Vannatta. (Lexington Books, 2019). 
Vannatta, Seth. "Chidi's Indecision" in The Good Place and Philosophy. (Open Court, 2019), pp. 133-143.
Hills, Darrius and Vannatta, Seth. "Du Boisian Double Consciousness and the Appropriation of Black Bodies in Jordan Peele's Get Out." Civil American. Vol. 4, Article 1. (April 16, 2019). 
Vannatta, Seth. "Justice Holmes, the Social Darwinist." The Pluralist. Proceedings from the 2018 Meeting of SAAP, Vol. 14, No. 1, (2019), pp. 78-90.
Vannatta, Seth. "The Democratic Constitution: Butler and Posner on Pragmatism, Democracy, and Adjudication." Contemporary Pragmatism. Vol. 16, Issue 1 (2019), pp. 132-140.
Vannatta, Seth. "Conservative in What Sense? Conservatism and Pragmatism Revisited in Response to Plotica, Bell, and Mendenhall." Contemporary Pragmatism, Vol. 15, Issue 4, (2018), pp. 547-564.
Vannatta, Seth. "Leaping into the Gap: Religion and the Moral Life" in William James, Moral Philosophy, and the Moral Life. Jacob L. Goodson, Ed. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018). pp. 337-346.
Vannatta, Seth. "Essentialism and the Construction of Gender and Race on Season 2 of Lifetime's UnREAL." Popular Culture Review, Vol. 29, no. 1, (spring 2018), pp. 65-81.
Vannatta, Seth. "A Fallibilist Conservatism." Anamnesis. No. 6. (March, 2017), pp. 60-88.

COURSES TAUGHT AT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Morgan State University, Professor
ASLP 602 Philosophy of Education (S17, S18)
PHIL 499 Senior Research Assistantship (S23)
PHIL 498 Senior Internship (S17, S18)
PHIL 491 Senior Seminar II (S15-S17)
PHIL 490 Senior Seminar I (F14-S16)
PHIL 443 Great Books Seminar (F18, F19)
PHIL 441 Philosophy and Constitutional Thought (S15, S16, S19, S21-S24)
PHIL 438 Western Philosophy IV: Kant (F12-F13)
PHIL 423 Ethics and the Law (F10-11, F14-16, S21, F22-F24)
PHIL 343 Philosophy of Law (F10-F13, F17, F20-F24)
PHIL 339 Western Philosophy V: 19th Century (S13)
PHIL 337 Western Philosophy III: Early Modern (S12, S18, S23)
PHIL 310 Problems in Philosophy: American Pragmatism (F16)
PHIL 310 Problems in Philosophy: Philosophy of Education (S12)
PHIL 302 Formal and Informal Logic (S16, F17, F18)
PHIL 223 Introduction to the Philosophy of Politics (S11)
PHIL 222 Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (S14, S19)
PHIL 220: Ethics and Values (S22, SII23)
PHIL 119 Honors Introduction to Critical Thinking (F19-F21, S22, F23, S24, F24)
PHIL 109 Introduction to Logic /Critical Thinking (F10-S15, F23, S24)
ORLA 101E Freshman Orientation (F13, F15)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Philosophical Association
Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy