Mihretu Guta, PhD

Adjunct Professor, MS Biotechnology Studies, Department of Biology and Chemistry
Department of Philosophy

Photo of Mihretu Guta, PhD

Biography

Mihretu P. Guta completed his Ph.D., at Durham University in the UK. After completing a Ph.D., Guta spent a year at Durham University as a postdoctoral research fellow within the Durham Emergence Project, set up with cooperation between physicists and philosophers (funded by the John Templeton Foundation). His postdoctoral research was focused on the nature of the emergence of the phenomenal consciousness taken from the standpoint of metaphysics, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and quantum physics. Currently, Guta teaches philosophy at Azusa Pacific University, Biola University, and Addis Ababa University. Guta is also an Associate Fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity of the Academy of Fellows. Guta’s primary research interest is in analytic metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and consciousness studies. His other research interest areas include ethics, bioethics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language/logic, epistemology, philosophical theology, science and religion, the philosophy of cognitive neuroscience, and the philosophy of quantum physics.

His publications include: Selfhood, Autism, and Thought Insertion edited with Sophie Gibb (Academic Imprint, UK, 2021, the Journal of Consciousness Studies); “E. J. Lowe’s Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology,” a Special Issue edited with Eric LaRock (TheoLogica: An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology, 2021); Consciousness and the Ontology of Properties (Routledge, 2019); and Taking Persons Seriously: Where Philosophy and Bioethics Intersect edited with Scott Rae (forthcoming, Pickwick Publications, Wipf and Stock Publishers). Guta also has published articles, short response commentaries, and book reviews in academic journals such as Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophia Christi, Analysis, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Teorema: International Journal of Philosophy, and the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation. Guta has presented research/public lectures over 80 times. Some of the places he spoke at include Durham University (UK), Tyndale House at Cambridge University, University of Vienna (Austria), University of Helsinki (Finland), Boston University, University of Arizona, Biola University, Azusa Pacific University, Wheaton College (IL), Trinity International University (IL), Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, and Ethiopia’s Evangelical Theological College. Currently, Guta is working on a book manuscript entitled: The Metaphysics of Substance and Personhood: A Non-Theory-Laden Approach and another co-written book entitled: Bracketed Issue: A Case for Metaphysical Foundation for Bio-Ethics.

Education

  • PhD, Philosophy, Durham University (United Kingdom)
  • MA, Philosophy, Biola University
  • MA, Science and Religion, Biola University
  • BTh, Academic Theology, Evangelical Theological College (Ethiopia)

Academic Areas

  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    • Department of Biology and Chemistry
  • Honors College
  • School of Theology
    • Department of Philosophy

Expertise

  • Consciousness Studies
  • Metaphysics
  • Philosophical Theology
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Science and Religion
  • The Philosophy of Cognitive Neuroscience

Courses Taught

  • PHIL 100 – Introduction to Philosophy
  • PHIL 410 - Philosophy of Religion
  • WRIT 202 - Writing with CS Lewis
  • HON 300 - CORE IV
  • BIOT 516 - Ethics for Biomedical Products Industry