Rate My Professor James Pearson

James Pearson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University, where he serves as the department's specialist in analytic philosophy, an approach emphasizing the logic and language of philosophical arguments. His recent research examines the history of explication, the process by which inquirers develop precise new concepts to replace vague ones. Pearson teaches Symbolic Logic each semester along with courses in epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and 20th century philosophy. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy with Class I honors from Balliol College, University of Oxford in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011. His career trajectory includes Visiting Assistant Professor at William Jewell College (2011–2013), Assistant Professor at Bridgewater State University (2013–2019), Associate Professor (2019–2023), and Professor since 2023. He has also instructed at Harvard Summer School since 2013.

Pearson's publications appear in leading journals including the Asian Journal of Philosophy, Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy, Social Theory and Practice, The Monist, and Film and Philosophy. Key works include “History, Historiography, and Stories of Logical Empiricism” (Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2024), “Objectivity Socialized” in The Philosophical Project of Carnap and Quine (2023), “What Welby Wanted” and “Writing Conversationalists into History: The Case of Burton Dreben” (both 2022), “Could a Heptapod Act? Language and Agency in Arrival” (Film and Philosophy, 2019), “Carnap, Explication, and Social History” (Social Theory and Practice, 2017), and “Taking Care with Quine’s ‘Don’t-Cares’” (The Monist, 2017). He has authored reviews for Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews and Philosophy East and West. Pearson received the Presidential Award for Distinguished Teaching from Bridgewater State University in 2017 and the Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. At Bridgewater State University, he has chaired the Philosophy Department Assessment Committee and Faculty and Librarian Research Grant Subcommittee, served on the Faculty Development Leadership Group, and held positions on multiple advisory boards including the Center for Sustainability and Film Studies Minor. He has refereed for journals such as Dialectica, Erkenntnis, Synthese, and the Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy.