Landon Frim, Ph.D.
Expert in philosophy of politics, religion and ethics | Florida Gulf Coast University
Fort Myers, FL, UNITED STATES
Landon Frim studies Enlightenment philosophy, Judaism, political toleration of minorities and religious freedom.
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Biography
Landon Frim is an associate professor of philosophy at Florida Gulf Coast University. His primary research concerns the intersections of religion, ethics and politics. He investigates socialism, populism and the alt-right movement. An avid writer, his work can be found in Jacobin Magazine, Salvage Magazine, Inside Higher Ed and The New Republic.
Areas of Expertise (18)
Antisemitism
Catholicism
Islam
Middle East
Philosophy
Toleration
Santeria
Christianity
Hinduism
Populism
Palestine
Israel
Religion
The Alt-Right
Judaism
Socialism
Politics
Ethics
Education (5)
Stony Brook University & Philipps-Universität Marburg: Ph.D., Philosophy 2012
Transatlantic Collegium of Philosophy
Stony Brook University: Graduate Certificate, Cultural Studies 2010
Stony Brook University: M.A., Philosophy 2009
Florida Atlantic University: B.A., Philosophy 2007
Florida Atlantic University: B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies 2007
Links (1)
Languages (4)
- French (read and write only)
- Latin (read and write only)
- Hebrew (read and write only)
- English
Selected Media Appearances (15)
Oath Keepers trial to start Tuesday, two Florida residents on trial
Fox 4 tv
2022-09-26
Landon Frim discusses conspiracy theories and the Oath Keepers trial.
Right to assemble: City of Naples may review permit process after Pride Fest at Cambier
Naples Daily News print
2022-08-23
Landon Frim discusses the First Amendment and petitioning.
New data shows growing number of people leaving religion behind
ABC7
2022-01-10
Landon Frim discusses new data that shows an increasing number of people are leaving their religious beliefs behind.
Guest opinion: Right-Wing identity politics threaten Holocaust education
Naples Daily News print
2021-07-09
Landon Frim discusses the Florida Department of Education's request for input on Holocaust education from an outside group.
Guest opinion: The unspoken agenda behind Florida’s “Moment of Silence” law
News-Press print
2021-06-16
Landon Frim discusses Florida's "Moment of Silence" law.
Reported 'alien' sightings jump in Florida following release of Pentagon UFO videos
NBC2 tv
2020-05-05
Landon Frim talks about the psychology behind people spotting UFOs.
The psychology behind theories linking 5G and coronavirus
Fox 4
2020-04-30
Landon Frim discusses the psychology behind theories linking 5G and coronavirus.
Headless chickens and goat skulls are part of Santeria. But neighbors worry the remnant carcasses will bring nuisance alligators
The News-Press print
2020-02-01
Landon Frim discusses the origins of Santeria and its intersection with Catholicism.
Understanding Santería and Afro-Cuban spiritual traditions
The News-Press print
2020-01-30
Dr. Landon Frim discusses Santeria.
The centuries-old history of Jewish “puppet master” conspiracy theories
Vox online
2018-11-02
Dr. Landon Frim comments on the antisemitic attack in Pittsburgh.
Steven Pinker: False Friend of the Enlightenment
Jacobin magazine online
2018-10-10
Dr. Landon Frim and his co-writer Harrison Fluss discuss Steven Pinker's new book.
Aliens, Antisemitism, and Academia
Jacobin magazine online
2017-03-11
Dr. Landon Frim and his co-writer Harrison Fluss discuss alt-right politics and philosophy.
Mill, Mao and Socrates
Inside Higher Ed online
2017-02-06
Dr. Landon Frim and his co-writer Harrison Fluss discuss teaching in polarized era.
What Bernie and the Left Need Now: A Radical Enlightenment
The New Republic online
2016-02-29
Dr. Landon Frim and his co-writer Harrison Fluss discuss Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign.
A Realist’s Utopia
counterpunch online
2011-06-17
Dr. Landon Frim discusses the Israeli and Palestinian peace process.
Selected Event Appearances (3)
Should the State Teach (a Secular) Ethics?
Ethics Across the Curriculum Conference Grand Rapids, Michigan
2017-10-01
Violence and Peace in Islam
Annual Khatib Lecture St. Joseph’s College
2017-04-01
Marx’s Metaphysics: Re-interpreting Marxist Humanism through a Rationalist Metaphysic
Historical Materialism Conference New York University
2015-04-01
Research Focus (1)
Enlightenment philosophy of Baruch Spinoza
The philosophy of Baruch Spinoza represents the most radical, rationalist tendency within the Enlightenment tradition. In the context of 17th Century Europe, Spinoza argued for political toleration, representative democracy, and secularism. He grounded these positions in a consistent worldview or “metaphysics.” This worldview was one of an intelligible universe, governed by equally intelligible, natural laws — free from miracles, mysteries, or a theistic God. Today, Spinoza’s system serves as inspiration for those philosophers, political scientists, and intellectual historians who see the Enlightenment project as yet to be completed. It affirms the power of human reason in the face of superstition, parochialism, and unaccountable authority.
Selected Research Grants (1)
Support for the St. Joseph's College ethics research
Rubin Foundation $10,000
2016-02-01
This grant supported research and teaching in the field of ethics, especially student participation in team ethics debates.
Selected Articles (3)
Impartiality or Oikeiôsis? Two Models of Universal Benevolence
SymposionLandon Frim
2019 ‘Universal benevolence’ may be defined as the goal of promoting the welfare of every individual, however remote, to the best of one’s ability. Currently, the commonest model of universal benevolence is that of ‘impartiality,’ the notion promoted by Peter Singer, Roderick Firth, and others, that every individual (including oneself) is of equal intrinsic worth. This paper contends that the impartialist model is seriously flawed. Specifically, it is demonstrated that impartialist accounts of benevolence (1) attempt to draw positive moral conclusions from negative premises, (2) draw actual conclusions from merely counterfactual premises, (3) fail to live up to stated claims of naturalism, and (4) give no compelling account of moral motivation. By contrast, I propose an alternate model of universal benevolence, grounded in the Stoic, cosmopolitan theory of oikeiôsis, i.e. ‘appropriation.’ Such a model, in contradistinction to impartiality, would see benevolence as the positive identification between moral agent and moral patient, rather than a charitable sacrifice of oneself for a distinct but equal other. An ethics of oikeiôsis has the further benefit of avoiding each of the four above mentioned conceptual pitfalls common to impartialist theories.
Book Chapter: Back to the Futurists? On Accelerationism Left and Right
Anti-Science and the Assault on Democracy: Defending Reason in a Free SocietyLandon Frim and Harrison Fluss
2018 Dr. Landon Frim writes about the accelerationist movement in both left- and right-wing politics.
Nature or Atoms? Reframing the IR Curriculum through Ethical Worldviews
Teaching EthicsLandon Frim
2017 The international relations (IR) curriculum has long presented a dichotomy between the so-called “realist” and “idealist” positions. Idealists seek to embody universal norms of justice in foreign policy. Realists, by contrast, see competition between states, the balance of power, and relative advantage as basic to international politics. Though considered polar opposites, both the realist and idealist affirm the primacy of the nation state as a sovereign political unit, and so neither embraces cosmopolitanism in the strongest sense, i.e., the transcendence of national divisions as such. Opening up the IR curriculum to such a radical possibility requires its reframing in terms of underlying, ethical worldviews. Under this lens, it becomes evident that the realist and idealist share far more in common than contemporary policy debates would suggest. It also points us toward the space for an alternate ethical worldview, provided by Stoic rationalism, which is more viable for grounding cosmopolitan thought.
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