Daniel Dombrowski

Daniel A. Dombrowski
Born1953 (age 72–73)
Philadelphia, United States
OccupationsPhilosopher, writer
EmployerSeattle University
Known forPhilosophy of religion, process philosophy, animal rights, vegetarianism
Notable workThe Philosophy of Vegetarianism; Babies and Beasts: The Argument from Marginal Cases; Rethinking the Ontological Argument; Contemporary Athletics and Ancient Greek Ideals
TitleProfessor emeritus of philosophy

Daniel A. Dombrowski (born 1953) is an American philosopher and professor emeritus of philosophy at Seattle University. He has served as editor of the journal Process Studies since 2009, and is a past president of the Metaphysical Society of America (2018–19).

Education

Dombrowski received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maine in 1974 and a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University in 1978.

Career

Dombrowski began his academic career at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he taught from 1978 to 1982 and held the rank of assistant professor. He subsequently joined Creighton University, where he taught from 1982 to 1988 and attained the rank of associate professor. In 1988, he joined Seattle University, where he served as a professor of philosophy until 2026.

Throughout his teaching career, Dombrowski has taught courses in ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ancient and medieval philosophy, philosophy of history, philosophy of science, political philosophy, environmental ethics, business ethics, and the philosophy of peace and war. At Seattle University, his teaching also included courses on John Rawls, critical thinking, philosophy of the human person, and process philosophy and religion, as well as courses offered through the university's honors, executive leadership, and international programs.

Dombrowski has served as editor of Process Studies, a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of the thought and implications of Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and related traditions in process philosophy and theology. He has held the position since 2009.

He served as president of the Metaphysical Society of America in 2018–2019. The society's 2019 annual meeting, held at Seattle University, identified Dombrowski as its president and conference host.

Scholarship

Dombrowski's scholarship spans process metaphysics, philosophy of religion, political philosophy, ancient philosophy, ethics, and the philosophy of sport. He has written more than twenty books and more than 200 scholarly articles in philosophy, theology, classics, and literature.

A substantial part of his work concerns process philosophy and neoclassical theism, particularly the thought of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne. His books, including Analytic Theism, Hartshorne, and the Concept of God (1996), Divine Beauty: The Aesthetics of Charles Hartshorne (2004), A Platonic Philosophy of Religion: A Process Perspective (2005), Rethinking the Ontological Argument: A Neoclassical Theistic Response (2006), A History of the Concept of God: A Process Approach (2016), Whitehead's Religious Thought (2017), and Process Mysticism (2023), examine questions in metaphysics, theism, religious experience, and mysticism. Dombrowski is widely recognized as the world’s leading expert on the thought of Charles Hartshorne, in particular, and a major interpreter and defender of process thought, in general.

Another major area of his work is political liberalism and its relationship to religion. In Rawls and Religion: The Case for Political Liberalism (2001), Rawlsian Explorations in Religion and Applied Philosophy (2011), and Process Philosophy and Political Liberalism: Rawls, Whitehead, Hartshorne (2019), he examined the relationship between John Rawls's political philosophy, religious belief, and process thought. His scholarship on ancient philosophy includes Plato's Philosophy of History (1981) and Pre-Liberal Political Philosophy: Rawls and Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas (2022).

His works in these areas include Christian Pacifism (1991), and Contemporary Athletics and Ancient Greek Ideals (2009). His 2026 book, The Way of Reason in Religion and Politics: The Philosophy of Franklin I. Gamwell, examines the relationship between reason, religion, metaphysics, and democratic political thought through the work of Franklin I. Gamwell.

Animal rights and vegetarianism

Dombrowski has authored several books dealing with the topics of animal rights and vegetarianism, including Hartshorne and the Metaphysics of Animal Rights (1988), The Philosophy of Vegetarianism(1984). It documents the arguments for vegetarianism from Pythagoras through the Hellenistic period to the modern debates on vegetarianism. It was positively reviewed as an "extremely well documented work". Dombrowski's Babies and Beasts: The Argument from Marginal Cases, published in 1997 is the first book-length examination of the range of views relating to the argument from marginal cases. The book analyzes the arguments of Peter Singer, Tom Regan, H. J. McCloskey, Jan Narveson, John Rawls, R. G. Frey, Peter Carruthers, Michael P. T. Leahy, Robert Nozick, and James Rachels.

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 "About the Author: Daniel Dombrowski". press.uchicago.edu. The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "Process Studies - Online access".
  3. ↑ "About the Society: Council of Past Presidents". metaphysicalsociety.org. The Metaphysical Society of America. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Daniel Dombrowski, PhD". Seattle University. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  5. ↑ "Past Meetings – Philosophers in Jesuit Education". Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  6. ↑ "Daniel A. Dombrowski: The Virtue of Boldness". www.domcentral.org. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  7. ↑ "Daniel Dombrowski, PhD". Seattle University. Archived from the original on 2021-10-02. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  8. ↑ dombrowski, daniel. "Read Daniel Dombrowski's Profile". independent.academia.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  9. ↑ "Process Studies Supplement". Center for Process Studies. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  10. ↑ Kuhns, Dustin (2025-02-20). "Process Mysticism with Dan Dombrowski | World Institute for Science, Religion and Culture". Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  11. ↑ "Whitehead's Religious Thought: From Mechanism to Organism, From Force to Persuasion". Center for Process Studies. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  12. 1 2 Dombrowski, Dan (2008). "Charles Hartshorne". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on 2025-03-13.
  13. ↑ Pailin, David A. (1998). "Daniel A. Dombrowski, Analytic Theism, Hartshorne, and the Concept of God. (SUNY Series in Philosophy, Albany, State University of New York Press, 1996.) Pp. xi+247". Religious Studies. 34 (1): 103–114. doi:10.1017/S0034412597234232. ISSN 1469-901X.
  14. ↑ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2004). Divine Beauty: The Aesthetics of Charles Hartshorne. Vanderbilt University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv16f6j2p.
  15. ↑ Malone-France, Derek (2007-08-01). "Daniel A. Dombrowski, A Platonic Philosophy of Religion: A Process Perspective". International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 62 (1): 61–62. doi:10.1007/s11153-007-9124-y. ISSN 1572-8684.
  16. ↑ Oppy, Graham (2008). "Review of Rethinking the Ontological Argument: A Neoclassical Theistic Response". Mind. 117 (467). [Oxford University Press, Mind Association]: 690–693. ISSN 0026-4423.
  17. ↑ Strickland, Lloyd (2018-03-15). "Review of "A History of the Concept of God: A Process Approach" by Daniel A. Dombrowski". Reading Religion.
  18. ↑ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2017). Whitehead's Religious Thought: From Mechanism to Organism, From Force to Persuasion. State University of New York Press. doi:10.2307/jj.18252853. ISBN 978-1-4384-6429-9.
  19. ↑ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2023). Process mysticism. Albany (N.Y.): State University of New York press. ISBN 978-1-4384-9134-9.
  20. ↑ Shields, George W. (2024-05-01). "Politics as Reflective Equilibrium: On Dombrowski's Process Philosophy and Political Liberalism: Rawls, Whitehead, Hartshorne". Process Studies. 53 (1): 91–109. doi:10.5406/21543682.53.1.04. ISSN 0360-6503.
  21. ↑ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2001). Rawls and Religion: The Case for Political Liberalism. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-5012-3.
  22. ↑ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2011). Rawlsian Explorations in Religion and Applied Philosophy. Penn State University Press. doi:10.5325/j.ctt7v67f. ISBN 978-0-271-04873-4.
  23. ↑ Shields, George W. (2024-05-01). "Politics as Reflective Equilibrium: On Dombrowski's Process Philosophy and Political Liberalism: Rawls, Whitehead, Hartshorne". Process Studies. 53 (1): 91–109. doi:10.5406/21543682.53.1.04. ISSN 0360-6503.
  24. ↑ Alonso-Núñez, J. M. (1984). "D. A. Dombrowski: Plato's Philosophy of History. Pp. viii + 217. Washington: University Press of America, 1981. Paper". The Classical Review. 34 (2): 334–334. doi:10.1017/S0009840X00104305. ISSN 1464-3561.
  25. ↑ "Pre-Liberal Political Philosophy: Rawls and Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas (Studies in Moral Philosophy, 17) - Dombrowski, Daniel A.: 9789004520240 - AbeBooks". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  26. ↑ "Christian Pacifism Hardcover Daniel A. Dombrowski 1991 Temple University Press 9780877228028| eBay". eBay. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  27. ↑ Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2009-08-01). Contemporary Athletics & Ancient Greek Ideals. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-15549-4.
  28. 1 2 Dombrowski, Daniel A. (2026). The Way of Reason in Religion and Politics: The Philosophy of Franklin I. Gamwell. State University of New York Press. doi:10.2307/jj.34605942. ISBN 979-8-8558-0636-6.
  29. ↑ "Daniel Dombrowski". animallawconference.org. The Animal Law Conference. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  30. ↑ Clark, Stephen R. L. (1987). "Animal Rights – Daniel A. Dombrowski: The Philosophy of Vegetarianism". The Classical Review. 37 (2): 224–225. doi:10.1017/S0009840X00110479. S2CID 162236672.
  31. ↑ Isen, Susan M. (1985). "The Philosophy of Vegetarianism. Daniel A. Dombrowski". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 60 (3): 328. doi:10.1086/414430.
  32. ↑ Babies and Beasts : THE ARGUMENT FROM MARGINAL CASES. 1997-01-07. ISBN 978-0-252-06638-2. Archived from the original on 2021-10-02.