Samuel C. Rickless

Samuel C. Rickless is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been affiliated since 2001. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA (1995) and has held prior positions at Florida State University (1996-2001). His research focuses on the history of early modern European philosophy (Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Shepherd), ancient Greek philosophy (Plato), moral philosophy (non-consequentialist ethics), legal philosophy (privacy, constitutional law), and experimental philosophy. He co-leads the Moral Judgments Project with Dana Kay Nelkin, exploring ethical reasoning through interdisciplinary collaboration with psychologists.

Education: B.A. (Harvard, 1986), B.Phil. (Oxford, 1988), Ph.D. (UCLA, 1995). His teaching includes courses on symbolic logic, early modern philosophy, and the philosophy of law. He founded UC San Diego’s Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl team in 2018, which has competed nationally. Recent publications include works on Locke’s free will, double effect theory under uncertainty, and Mary Shepherd’s critique of Humean causation.

Research interests span historical and contemporary issues in metaphysics, ethics, and legal theory. His books include Plato's Forms in Transition (2007) and Berkeley's Argument for Idealism (2013). His work bridges historical analysis with modern ethical and legal debates, emphasizing clarity and rigor in philosophical methodology.