EDUCATION
| University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1992 |
| |
| University of Southern California, M.A. in Philosophy, 1990 |
| (Emphasis: Contemporary European Philosophy) |
| |
| Cambridge University (L.E.S.), Diploma in Religious Studies, 1987 |
| |
| University College, Dublin (Ireland), M.A. in Philosophy, 1986 |
| (First Class Honors) |
| (By thesis. Area of Specialty: Philosophy of Religion) |
| |
| University College, Dublin (Ireland), B.A. (Hons.) in Philosophy and English, |
| 1983 |
| (First Place and First Class Honors in Philosophy) |
BIOGRAPHY
Dr Sweetman is a native of Dublin, Ireland. He is Professor of Philosophy at Rockhurst,
where he has been a member of the faculty since 1992. Dr Sweetman teaches electives in philosophy
of religion, religion and science, contemporary European philosophy, political
philosophy, and ethics, in addition to teaching introductory courses in
philosophy.
His latest books are: The Vision of
Gabriel Marcel: Epistemology, Human Person, the Transcendent (Rodopi Press,
Amsterdam, 2008); Why Politics Needs
Religion: The Place of Religious Arguments in the Public Square
(InterVarsity Press, 2006) and Religion:
Key Concepts in Philosophy (Continuum Press, 2007). Dr Sweetman has also co-authored or co-edited
several other books, including (with Curtis Hancock) Truth and Religious Belief (M.E. Sharpe, 1998), and (with Douglas
Geivett) Contemporary Perspectives on
Religious Epistemology (Oxford University Press, 1992). He has published more than fifty articles and
reviews in such journals as International
Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophia Christi, American Catholic Philosophical
Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and Renascence. He has also published a number of reference
articles, including in the American
National Biography (Oxford U.P., 1999) and Dictionary of Historical Theology (Eerdmans, 2002).
Dr Sweetman is the current President of
the Gabriel Marcel Society, and is a founding member of the Kansas City
Religion and Science Dialogue Project.
He is a frequent speaker at professional meetings, and many other
venues, on topics relating to his research interests. In May 2008, he gave the Woroniecki Memorial
Lectures at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, on the topic of
“Religion, Politics and Modern Culture.”
Outside of philosophy, Dr Sweetman has
wide ranging interests, including playing with his children, soccer (playing
and coaching), current affairs and politics, travel, reading (biography,
politics, history, literature, sports), electricity and electronics, and home
improvement projects. He is married to
Margaret Sweetman, and they have three boys.