Back to people
Headshot of Alfredo MacLaughlin
Chair | Associate Professor

Alfredo Mac Laughlin, PhD

Alfredo Mac Laughlin is the Chair of the Philosophy Department. He hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and got his M.A. in Philosophy from Boston College, and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago. He is the publisher and editor of the Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy.

Dr. Mac Laughlin teaches courses in philosophy of knowledge, applied ethics, ancient and medieval philosophy, philosophy of art and science fiction and philosophy.

Contact Us

Contact Alfredo Mac Laughlin for information on Philosophy

Ambrose Hall 315B

563-333-6483

MacLaughlinAlfredoJ@sau.edu

Education and Training

  • PhD, Loyola University, Chicago, Philosophy
  • MA, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass., Philosophy
  • Elementary, Secondary and Special Education Teacher in Philosophy, Universidad del Norte Santo Tomas de Aquino, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • BA, Universidad del Norte Santo Tomas de Aquino, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Recent Publications

  •  "H.G. Wells and the Twenty First Century (2023) by Bill Cooke" (Book Review). Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy, Vol. 7 (2024).
  • Editor's Notes: The Promises and Perils of Artificial Intelligence. Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy, Vol. 6 (2023).
  • "Hope and Wonder in the Wasteland: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction as Tolkienian Fairy Story." Journal of Tolkien Research, Vol. 14 Issue 2 (2022).
  • "A Typology of Moral Conversion." Lonergan Workshop, Vol. 23, 277-306 (2012).
  • St. Ambrose University, May 2014: "The Nature of Suffering."
  • Chicago Catechetical Conference, November 2011: "Creative Approaches in End-of-Life Dilemmas."
  • Lonergan Workshop, Boston College, June 2009: "On Moral Conversion," a four-day afternoon workshop.
  • Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2009: "Philosophy for Children & the Community of Inquiry: Ethical Education through Dialogue & Inquiry" (Panel Chair).
  • Loyola University Chicago Brennan Graduate Conference, 2007: "Richard Rorty and Bernard Lonergan on Sentimental Education."
  • Lonergan Workshop, Boston College, June 2005, 2006 & 2007: "New Horizons in Lonergan Thought" (Afternoon workshop).
  • North American Sartre Society, Purdue University, 2003: "Trapped in a paradox: Sartre's Quest for the Justification of Existence."
  • Boston College Graduate Philosophy Conference, 2003: "Reconciling Narrative and Systematic Ethics: Aristotle on Narrative Ethics."
  • The Ethics in Contemporary Life Conference, Northeastern Illinois University, 2002: "Patterns of Medicalization: A Philosophical Perspective on the Expansion of Modern Medicine."