Drew Chastain
Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Education
Ph.D., Tulane University
Departments
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Philosophy
Bio
Dr. Drew Chastain's main areas of focus are meaning in life and spirituality.
Classes Taught
- The Human Person
- Making Moral Decisions
- Self & the Sacred
- Aesthetics
- The Meaning of Life
- Indigenous Philosophies
- Philosophy of Humor
Areas of Expertise
- Philosophy of Spirituality
- Philosophy of Life Meaning
- Philosophy of Humor
Publications
“Mystical Atheism, Absurdity, and Meaningful Living.” In Topoi. 2026. Published online.
“Faith, Meaning, and Spirituality without Religion.” In Mind Over Matter: Philosophical Essays on Faith, Self-Confidence, and Achievement, eds. Rod Nicholls & Heather Salazar (Leiden: Brill | Rodopi). 2025. 46-73.
“‘I’m Only Human’: A Self-Referential Sense of Humor and Meaningful Living.” The Philosophy of Humor Yearbook. 2024. 5(1). 193-213.
"Meaning" (co-authored with Michael Hauskeller). The Things That Really Matter: Philosophical Conversations on the Cornerstones of Life, ed. Michael Hauskeller. 2022. London: UCL Press. 7-26.
"Sacredness" (co-authored with Michael Hauskeller). The Things That Really Matter: Philosophical Conversations on the Cornerstones of Life, ed. Michael Hauskeller. 2022. London: UCL Press. 269-289.
“Sisko’s Conversion Experience and the Secularism of William James: Exploring Faith, Religion, and the Visions of the Prophets.” To Boldly Stay: Essays on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Eds. Sherry Ginn and Michael G. Cornelius. 2022. McFarland & Company, Inc. 151-164.
“Desirability without Desire: Life Extension, Boredom & Spiritual Experience.” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement. 2021. 90. 167-191.
“Deep Personal Meaning: A Subjective Approach to Meaning in Life.” The Journal of Philosophy of Life. 2021. 11 (1). 1-23.
"Can Life be Meaningful without Free Will?" Philosophia. 2019. Online First, Jan 17. 1-18.
"Leaving Well Enough Alone: A Review of Michael Hauskeller's Better Humans?, Sex and the Posthuman Condition, and Mythologies of Transhumanism." Ethical Perspectives. 2018. 25 (4). 795-806. (6,000 word book review, with author’s reply)
"Liberating Spirit from Santayana’s Spectatorial Spirituality." Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the Santayana Society. 2018. No. 36. Fall. 99-114.
"Becoming a Hollow Bone: Lakota Respect for the Sacred." The Philosophy of Spirituality: Analytic, Continental and Multicultural Approaches to a New Field of Philosophy. Eds. Rod Nicholls & Heather Salazar. 2018. Netherlands: Brill | Rodopi. 164-188.
"Gifts Without Givers: Secular Spirituality and Metaphorical Cognition." 2017. Sophia. 56 (4): 631-647.