“If you’ve ever felt misunderstood, then you already know something about the idea at the center of this book. Schroeder’s powerful insight is that much of interpersonal conflict arises from the ways we read, misread, over-read, or under-read who people are from what they say and do. To bring so much of human conflict under such a simple principle is a great achievement.”—Barry Lam, host of the Hi-Phi Nation podcast
Books
“Schroeder’s work is unmatched in its clarity, incisiveness, originality, creativity, and depth.”
It is natural to divide most of my work into four broad strands:
“at the same time both richly imaginative and uncompromisingly argumentative.”
It has been my great pleasure to have had the honor to supervise so many brilliant, hard-working, and talented PhD students over the years. Check out the amazing things that they are doing now!
Graduate Students
The Conflict Project
“it establishes a kind of plateau from which future work on the subject will have to proceed.”
Teaching
My goals in teaching at all levels are to help students cultivate and maintain a growth mindset about their philosophical skills, and to help them see how those skills translate to any enterprise where we ask difficult questions that we do not already know how to answer.
From 2020-2025 I kept all of my courses and resources for my students at my teaching website, ivorytower.academy, behind passwords. If you are interested in seeing any of my courses, feel free to e-mail me for the password. In addition to teaching graduate seminars and undergraduate courses at USC, I have also developed a series of courses for graduate students about teaching philosophy, which I love to talk about if you are interested. Starting in fall 2025 after USC migrated to Brightspace, I have tried to use Brightspace instead, to avoid contributing to the problem of platform proliferation for my students.
Beginning in spring 2024, my latest teaching project has been to develop a new course on the philosophy of interpersonal conflict, Phil 270: Conceptual Foundations of Conflict. This is part of my larger project to contribute to the development of the emerging field of the philosophy of conflict, which I believe deserves a central place in the field as a whole. I am teaching the third edition of this class in fall 2026.
ivorytower.academy
Public Philosophy
I aim at the next stage of my career to find more ways to do philosophy in ways that are visible and accessible to more people. See here for my latest. In 2025 I was a Sanders Media Fellow in the category for trade books and a Beyond the Ivory Tower fellow.
If you have an idea for how I can reach more people with my work, especially for work connected to conflict and interpersonal relationships, reach out.
I'm a philosopher who tries to see the best in others - but I know there are limits
I'm a philosopher who tries to see the best in others - but I know there are limits
Immortality: Promise or Peril?
Immortality: Promise or Peril?
