Splash Biography



BEN MARKLEY, BC senior studying Philosophy




Major: Philosophy

College/Employer: BC

Year of Graduation: 2015

Picture of Ben Markley

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Hi, I'm Ben. I'm pretty sure I exist. I spent two decades growing up in Lawrence, Kansas (home of the KU Jayhawks, for you college basketball fans) before transferring to Boston College this fall to study the ideas of (mostly) dead people with weird names. I'm majoring in philosophy with the vague hope that one day I can get paid to blow students' minds and get them thinking critically about the world around them.

My favorite philosophical word is "epistemological."
My favorite non-philosophical word is "garbage."



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

R1163: If God is Good, Why Do Bad Things Happen? in Splash Fall 2014 (Nov. 16, 2014)
If God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there evil and suffering? The Problem of Evil is one of the most controversial ideas in all of philosophy and theology. This class seeks to articulate the Problem of Evil and discuss attempts to answer the problem (known as theodicies) from a wide variety of thinkers including Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, G.W. Leibniz, Thomas Malthus, David Hume, C.S. Lewis, J.L. Mackie, John Hick, Robert M. Adams, Richard Swinburne, Eleonore Stump and Alvin Plantinga. This class is meant to give students a survey of some highly interesting and controversial answers to a highly interesting and controversial problem, not convert anyone to any given religion or belief. People of any belief system are encouraged to enroll.


R912: How to Blow Your Friends' Minds and Then Shatter Their World with Philosophy in Splash Fall 2013 (Nov. 17, 2013)
You probably think you exist, don't you? Don't worry, you're right (although you're probably thinking of a different "you" than the "you" you really are), but don't go thinking the world exists, because it might not. Oh, but God totally does. Also, motion is impossible, and being good is for suckers. Students who don't believe me can come learn how these crazy ideas have been argued over 3000 years of philosophy and why they are still relevant today. No prior knowledge necessary.


R916: Why So Existential? - A Philosophical Analysis of "The Dark Knight" in Splash Fall 2013 (Nov. 17, 2013)
Through the lens of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight," this course will introduce some of the fundamental ideas of existentialist philosophy and the struggle to live a life of meaning. By discussing the characters of Batman, the Joker and Two-Face, we'll gain a basic understanding of the fundamental ideas of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus and Sartre. No prior knowledge necessary. (Note: Some of the clips we watch will contain psychologically disturbing or suspenseful content.)