Brandon Beasley, Ph.D.

I am a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary and the Department of Humanities at Mount Royal University.

I work on pragmatist approaches to intentionality, meaning, normativity, and naturalism, animated by the question of the place of mind and agency in the natural world. As such, my work engages with issues in contemporary philosophy of mind and language, as well as, and in interaction with, work on historical pragmatist philosophers (in particular Dewey, Peirce, and Sellars). I also work on Kant and Hegel and, in general, at the intersection of German Idealism, pragmatism, and analytic philosophy.

Please use the links at the top of the page to find out more about me and my research.

NEWS

February 25, 2026 - Rather pleased to have contributed to this very fine collection of essays celebrating the centennial of John Dewey's Experience and Nature, in the journal Dewey Studies. My contribution is called "Culture as the Space of Conceptual Meanings: Re-Introducing Experience and Nature". Dewey Studies is an Open Access journal, so you can see the whole issue here, and download my article in particular here. Many thanks to Paul Cherlin for organizing the issue and for inviting me to contribute.

January 19, 2026 - A new year, and the new semester is underway. Also a good time for a reminder that I have a blog/substack called Human Meanings, which may be of interest: http://beasley.substack.com/

October 15, 2025 - Wishing I could be at The Dewey Center at SIU Carbondale for the Experience and Nature Centennial conference. I was supposed to be there and give a talk, but my travel plans did not work out and I'm unable to be there. Sad to be missing talks by friends, and missing out on meeting new friends in the City of Dewey. I'm sure it will go splendidly, and I wish all attending the best! I am with you in Geist.

August 20, 2025 - Thrilled to be in St. Gallen, Switzerland, for the 5th European Pragmatism conference, seeing old friends and making new ones. I organized a panel, which will happen tomorrow, "Pragmatism and Purposes in Science and Philosophy". It consists of Rachel Cristy of King's College London, Niall Roe of Cambridge University, Oscar Westerblad of the University of Iceland, and yours truly.

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