Joe Gurrola
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Department of Philosophy
University of Maryland College Park
714-351-9226
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science, Moral Psychology, Action Theory
Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Race, Ancient Philosophy, Bioethics, Epistemology, Applied Ethics
Education
2020-Present University of Maryland, College Park
PhD, Philosophy (expected completion May 2026)
Provisional Dissertation Title: The Varieties of Value-Directed Action
Committee: Peter Carruthers (Chair), Rachel Singpurwalla, Dan Moller, Lizzie Schechter
2018-20 George Washington University
MA, Philosophy
2012-16 California State University Sacramento
BA, Philosophy, English
Research
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The Importance of Self-Knowledge for Free Action. The European Journal of Philosophy, (2023). 31. 996-1013.
“Beyond Hedonic Adaptation: The Role of Values in Determining Compensation for Suffering” (under review)
“Is Self-Knowledge Always Good for You (Morally)?” (under review)
“The Virtues (and Vices) of Contrarianism” Co-authored (as primary author) with Dan Moller (under review)
“Moral Worth and Moral Motivation: Challenging the Right-Reasons Account” (penultimate draft)
“Psychological Freedom in Plato’s Republic” Co-authored (as primary author) with Rachel Singpurwalla (penultimate draft)
“Absence does not make the heart grow fonder: On the Bi-Directional Relationships Between Values and Their Objects” (penultimate draft)
“Animal Freedom” (in preparation)
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“The Importance of What We Want to Care About” (in preparation)
“Platonic Compatibilism” (in preparation)
Paper Presentations
“Absence does not make the heart grow fonder: the Bi-Directional Relationship Between Values and Their Objects” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 2025
“Is Knowing Yourself Always Good for You (Morally)?” APA Central Division 2025, accepted as colloquium
“Plato’s Account of Psychological Freedom in the Republic” APA Pacific Division 2024, co-presented with Rachel Singpurwalla (co-author) for the panel The Reach of Ancient Ethics
“Can Reading Narrative Fiction Improve Our Ability to Understand the Perspectives of Outgroup Members?” George Washington University Philosophy Department Brown Bag Colloquium, November 2019.
“Critique of Quassim Cassam’s ‘Knowing What You Believe’” California State University Sacramento Philosophy Public Forum, 2015.
“On the Metaphysics of Nozick’s Experience Machine,” California State University Sacramento Annual Nammour Ethics Symposium, 2015
Commentary and Chairing
Chair, Oscar North-Concar and Kirk Surgener’s ‘Addressing Metaskepticism”
Moral Metaphysics at Maryland Workshop, May 2025
Commentary, On Lavallee’s “Affective Scaffolding and the Loss of Control in Addiction” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 2023
Commentary,“Reflections on the Sentience Criterion of Moral Status for Robots,” George Washington University Philosophy Alumni Conference, October 2019.
Commentary, On Goffin’s “Better Scared Than Sorry: A Pragmatic Account of Emotional Representations,” 111th Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 2019.
Teaching
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University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
Primary Instructor
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Contemporary Moral Issues
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Philosophy of Race (three times)
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Theory of Knowledge
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Bioethics (scheduled for winter 2025)
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Happiness (scheduled for summer 2026)
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Teaching Assistant
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Are Sports Ethical?, Harjit Bhogal
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Wisdom through Cognitive Science, Peter Carruthers
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Early Modern Philosophy, Charles Manekin
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Arbitrating Our Bodily Rights: What it Means to Consent, Hallie Liberto
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Bioethics, Christopher Masciari
George Washington University, Washington D.C.
Primary Instructor
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Introduction to Philosophy
Teaching Assistant
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Introduction to Philosophy
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Philosophy of Mind
Graduate Coursework
University of Maryland
Metaphysics, Mind, and Language (Paolo Santorio)
Capitalism and its Critics (Dan Moller)
Value Theory (Dan Moller)
Stoic Ethics and Moral Psychology (Rachel Singpurwalla)
Representation in Linguistics (Georges Rey)
Human Motives (Peter Carruthers)
Legal Reasoning (Jeff Horty)
The Metaphysics of Laws (Harjit Bhogal)
Non-Standard Ethics (Dan Moller)
Plato’s Republic (Rachel Singpurwalla)
Philosophy of Psychiatry (Lizzie Schechter)
Abnormal Psychology (Lizzie Schechter)
Aristotle’s Ethics and Moral Psychology (Rachel Singpurwalla) Audit
On Human Nature (Peter Carruthers) Audit
Varieties of Belief (Elizabeth Schechter) Audit
Perception and Action (Peter Carruthers) Audit
George Washington University
Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Animal Consciousness (Eric Saidel)
Contemporary Moral Philosophy, Parfit’s Ethics (David DeGrazia)
The Ethics of Belief (Avery Archer)
Freedom of the Will (Eric Saidel)
Fiction and Philosophy (Eric Saidel)
The Idea of the Individual (Vanessa Wills)
Biomedical Ethics (David DeGrazia)
The Suspension of Belief (Avery Archer)
Neuroethics (Sarah Waller)
Metacognitive Skill (Tad Zawidzki)
Graduate Service
2023-Present Graduate Student Representative, Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Maryland
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2021-2025 Graduate Student Representative, Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland
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Professional Service
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2023 Referee, Asian Journal of Philosophy
2025 Referee, Synthese
2025 Referee, The Journal of Ethics
Honors and Awards
2025 Wylie Dissertation Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park
Award Amount: $15,000
2020-2024 Flagship Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park
Award Amount: $60,000
2020 Deans Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park
2018-2020 Graduate Assistantship and University Fellowship, George Washington University
Professional Affiliations
American Philosophical Association, 2016-Present
Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 2019-Present