Adam Arnold

Dr. Adam Arnold is a philosophy faculty member at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), joining the Department of Philosophy in 2017. He teaches a range of courses including Business Ethics, Philosophy of Love and Sex, and Women and Philosophy, contributing to the humanities curriculum within the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

Dr. Arnold's educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington, Tacoma (2009), followed by advanced studies at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt and the University of Warwick in England, where he earned both his master’s and PhD. His doctoral research examined the legitimacy of authority at the intersection of political and social philosophy and social ontology.

His research interests center on Political and Social Philosophy, with a deep engagement in 19th and 20th century European thought, particularly the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant. He is especially interested in how Hegel’s metaphysics interconnects with epistemology, political theory, aesthetics, and philosophy of nature. He has ongoing projects, including work comparing Stephen Darwall and Margaret Gilbert on the ethics of promising.

Before joining PLU, Dr. Arnold taught courses such as Environmental Ethics and Introduction to Philosophy at the University of Washington Tacoma. He emphasizes the broad relevance of philosophy across disciplines and culture, aiming to foster critical thinking and diverse perspectives in his students.

Dr. Arnold values communication and taking others seriously, and he enjoys hiking and exploring the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest in his personal time.