Professional Bio

My introduction to philosophy came about through arguing about God as an undergraduate, sometimes with professors. I often lost these arguments. This was unpleasant. So I set out to make myself a better arguer and along the way more or less accidentally fell in love with philosophy for its own sake. I went to graduate school with the intention of continuing to think about God and faith, but arrived to find a vast array of philosophical styles and topics. So I dove into my coursework with the intention of learning as broad a range of methods and figures as possible. Where I found a topic that I couldn’t study myself, I formed friendships with colleagues who studied those things, in the hopes that I could absorb at least enough of their knowledge to avoid making the sort of flawed assumptions about other disciplines that I’ve witnessed others make. As a result, my interests are unusually varied, and I hold diversity of perspectives and a collaborative spirit as core values. I never lost my first love: I still wonder about God and faith. But my convictions have been tempered by humility, a concern for precision and clarity, and an insistence on learning from those who disagree.

Philosophy was born in dialogue. Democracy is impossible without it. Dialogue presumes difference. Ergo, democracy requires that we learn to listen to one another and work together toward the shared goals of knowledge and happiness. All of my work is, in one way or another, oriented toward these tasks.

Personal Bio

I go by “Kyle” most of the time, though my academic work is under “Robert K.” My wife Emily and I reside in Milwaukee, WI with our son Desmond. We love traveling, adult beverages, concerts, and Mister Rogers, in no particular order.