Mark Gardiner

Mark Gardiner, PhD, is a Professor at Mount Royal University’s Faculty of Humanities. He holds a PhD from McMaster University and MA/BA (Hons) from the University of Calgary. His research focuses on philosophical semantics, particularly applying semantic theory to religious studies and social sciences. Collaborating with scholars like Steven Engler, he explores how semantic frameworks influence theoretical admissibility in academia. His work emphasizes truth-conditional semantics as foundational for interdisciplinary research. Though currently focused on administrative roles, he previously taught courses in philosophy, logic, and metaphysics.

Research Interests: Gardiner’s work bridges analytic philosophy and religious studies. Key themes include semantic holism, cognitive science of religion, and the application of Davidsonian semantics to empirical religious studies. He critiques implicit semantic assumptions in academic disciplines and advocates for rigor in theoretical frameworks.

Publications: His recent work includes co-authored analyses of religious language semantics and edited special issues on truth conditions in religious studies. Key publications focus on comparative methodologies (e.g., Smith/Davidson contrasts), Afro-Brazilian spirituality semantics, and redefining esotericism through fluid property clusters.

Collaborations: Extensive partnership with Prof. Steven Engler on projects such as In the Beginning was the Network, Routledge handbook contributions, and Method & Theory in the Study of Religion special issues. Their work integrates philosophy of language with empirical religious studies.