BERNARDO (BERNIE) JOAQUIN CANTEÑS, PH. D.
Executive Vice President and Provost of Sul Ross State University
Bernie Cantens, Ph.D., is in his fourth year as Executive Vice President and Provost of Sul Ross State University, a comprehensive public Hispanic-Serving Institution with over a century of history. Sul Ross serves 2,400 students across four campuses in Alpine, Uvalde, Del Rio, and Eagle Pass, offering more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The university is part of the Texas State University System, the oldest university system in Texas.
As Provost, Dr. Cantens has led a comprehensive reorganization of Academic Affairs, establishing the College of Business, the College of Health Sciences, and a stand-alone College of Education. Under his leadership, the university has hired more than forty new full-time faculty members and four new deans while launching over twenty new academic programs and certificates at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Dr. Cantens also played a key role on the leadership team, guiding the Strategic Planning Committee to finalize Sul Ross State University’s 2022–2027 strategic plan and shaping its mission, vision, and goals. This collaborative and inclusive process sets the course for the university’s future priorities. In addition, he partnered with Institutional Effectiveness to successfully complete SRSU’s SACSCOC Fifth-Year Report.
The Division of Academic Affairs also oversees the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, which manages a grant portfolio exceeding $63.5 million. Since 2022, outstanding grant funding has tripled, increasing from under $20 million to over $60 million. Sul Ross has secured over $40 million in grant funding in the past three years, with an additional $7 million pending proposals.
Dr. Cantens has prioritized student success, institutional innovation, and excellent online teaching. He created two key leadership roles, Assistant Dean for Student Success (Chief Retention Officer) and Director of Online Teaching and Learning/Quality Matters Manager, with two clear objectives in mind: first, to create a cohesive and comprehensive student success program for SRSU; second, to develop high-quality, student-friendly, and consistent online courses and programs. SRSU launched the Lobo LEADS initiative, which features faculty and peer mentoring programs, a redesigned First-Year Seminar, and an expanded leadership program in partnership with the National Society of Leadership and Success. Students participating in Lobo LEADS have achieved retention rates more than 20% higher than the general student population. Over the past three years, the university has also implemented campus-wide online teaching training and professional development through Quality Matters, raising the standard of its online offerings. Today, five of SRSU’s online graduate programs are ranked among the top 10 in the nation.
Dr. Cantens has worked closely with faculty to strengthen shared governance, promote academic freedom, and enhance work-life balance. He developed comprehensive market-based salary adjustments for faculty and introduced new faculty awards recognizing service, scholarship, and online teaching excellence. He also established a structured onboarding process for new faculty, created ongoing professional development for department chairs, and launched annual summer retreats for deans and vice presidents to reflect on strategy and foster a collaborative campus culture.
Dr. Cantens has served in numerous leadership roles within professional organizations and the community. He is the past president of the Society for Philosophy of Religion and currently serves as treasurer of the Associates for Philosophy of Religion. He also served as editor of the APA Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues (2008–2013) and was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University (2006). An active community member, Dr. Cantens has served with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valley, the Lions Club International in Texas, and other community organizations and initiatives.
A distinguished scholar in philosophy, Dr. Cantens is internationally recognized for his contributions to Latin American thought and American pragmatism. He was awarded the inaugural American Philosophical Association (APA) Prize in Latin American Thought (2004) for his essay Francisco Vitoria and Just War Theory and the APA William James Prize (2005) for Charles S. Peirce and the Neglected Argument for the Reality of God. His research has been supported by multiple National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants, including a 2005 NEH Fellowship for his work on Peirce’s evolutionary philosophy of religion, a 2006 NEH Summer Seminar Scholarship on ethnic and cultural identity, and a 2014–2016 NEH Enduring Questions Grant to develop a course on theories of peace. He also received a Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation Grant (2019) for Humanities for the Professions, an applied humanities project integrating virtue ethics into health sciences and business programs.
Dr. Cantens has published over 30 scholarly articles, book chapters, and reviews with leading publishers, including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Wiley-Blackwell, Brill, Cambridge Scholars, and Bloomsbury. His books include A Critical Introduction to the Ethics of Abortion: Understanding the Moral Arguments (2019) and Philosophy, Law, and Mysticism in Renaissance Spain (Brill, 2018). He is working on two manuscripts, Ethics of Abortion: On the Potentiality Argument and Religious Pragmatism, and several articles on metaphysics, bioethics, and pragmatist theories of truth.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Cantens teaches courses in American pragmatism (William James, John Dewey, Charles Peirce), critical thinking, advanced logic, ethics, meta-ethics, medieval and early modern philosophy, and applied ethics in health sciences, including bioethics, medical ethics, ethical issues in genetic engineering, virtue ethics and nursing, and the ethics of abortion.
Publications
RECENT PUBLISHED WORKS
A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE ETHICS OF ABORTION: UNDERSTANDING THE MORAL ARGUMENTS
Bloomsbury Publishing, February 2019
Focusing on the most prominent and prevalent arguments from the philosophical literature, A Critical Introduction to the Ethics of Abortion deals with the abortion issue primarily from an ethical perspective.
Each chapter deals with a central argument to the debate, from the Being a Person vs. Functioning as a Person Argument and the permissibility of killing, to women's rights vis-à-vis the rights of the fetus, feminist arguments on abortion, and bioethical issues concerning prenatal and embryonic ethical problems. Based on a critical assessment of the evidence and the strength of the arguments examined, it offers an impartial view of each of the arguments and draws on the importance of critical thinking and the logic of argumentation throughout. Providing an overview of the legal history and politics of abortion in the United State, it discusses five of the most important and influential Supreme Court cases on abortion law during the past fifty years and examines the current state of abortion law, politics, and the main trends.
Presenting a balance between ethical concepts, views, and arguments, A Critical Introduction to the Ethics of Abortion is an up-to-date introduction to the choice of abortion illustrating the importance of evidence, clear thinking, and good arguments for supporting one's ethical beliefs.
CHAPTER 15 - PHILOSOPHY, LAW AND MYSTICISM IN RENAISSANCE SPAIN.
A Companion to Spanish Renaissance
Brill Publishers, 2018
A Companion to the Spanish Renaissance edited by Hilaire Kallendorf makes a renewed case for the inclusion of Spain within broader European Renaissance movements. Its introduction, “A Renaissance for the ‘Spanish Renaissance’?” will be sure to incite polemic across a broad spectrum of academic fields.
This interdisciplinary volume combines micro- with macro-history to offer a snapshot of the best new work being done in this area. With essays on politics and government, family and daily life, religion, nobles and court culture, birth and death, intellectual currents, ethnic groups, the plastic arts, literature, popular culture, law courts, women, literacy, libraries, civic ritual, illness, money, notions of community, philosophy, and law, science, colonial empire, and historiography, it offers breath-taking scope without sacrificing attention to detail. Destined to become the standard go-to resource for non-specialists, this book also contains extensive bibliography aimed at the serious researcher.
Contributors are: Beatriz de Alba-Koch, Edward Behrend-Martínez, Cristian Berco, Harald E. Braun, Susan Byrne, Bernardo Canteñs, Frederick A. de Armas, William Eamon, Stephanie Fink, Enrique García Santo-Tomás, Marya T. Green-Mercado, Elizabeth Teresa Howe, Hilaire Kallendorf, Henry Kamen, Elizabeth A. Lehfeldt, Michael J. Levin, Ruth MacKay, Fabien Montcher, Ignacio Navarrete, Lía Schwartz, Elizabeth Ashcroft Terry, and Elvira Vilches.
CHAPTER 5 - SUÁREZ'S COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
Interpreting Suarez: Critical Essays
Cambridge University Press, 2013
Francisco Suárez is arguably the most important Neo-Scholastic philosopher and a vital link in the chain leading from medieval philosophy to that of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Long neglected by the Anglo-Saxon philosophical community, this sixteenth-century Jesuit theologian is now an object of intense scholarly attention. In this volume, Daniel Schwartz brings together essays by leading specialists which provide detailed treatment of some key themes of Francisco Suárez's philosophical work: God, metaphysics, meta-ethics, the human soul, action, ethics and law, justice and war. The authors assess the force of Suárez's arguments, set them within their wider argumentative context and single out influences and appraise competing interpretations. The book is a useful resource for scholars and students of philosophy, theology, philosophy of religion and history of political thought and provides a rich bibliography of secondary literature.
Chapter 5 examines Francisco Suárez's cosmological argument for the existence of God, and offers a critical evaluation of the argument. It examines in detail Suárez's argument and its logical structure, as well as proposed objections and rebuttals to the objections. Traditional arguments for the existence of God can be divided into three categories: (1) ontological arguments, (2) teleological arguments, and (3) cosmological arguments. These categories are based on the kind of evidence an argument uses as premises in support of its conclusion. Suárez's argument for the existence of God begins with a metaphysical cosmological argument for the existence of an uncreated being. He then defines God as an uncreated being and the creator of all things. He deliberately avoids the version of the cosmological argument based on physical principles taken from natural philosophy.
CHAPTER 2 - THE RIGHTS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS
A Companion to Latin American Philosophy
Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, 2010
This comprehensive collection of original essays written by an international group of scholars addresses the central themes in Latin American philosophy.
Represents the most comprehensive survey of historical and contemporary Latin American philosophy available today
Comprises a specially commissioned collection of essays, many of them written by Latin American authors
Examines the history of Latin American philosophy and its current issues, traces the development of the discipline, and offers biographical sketches of key Latin American thinkers
Showcases the diversity of approaches, issues, and styles that characterize the field
CHAPTER 14 - IS POLITICAL FORGIVENESS POSSIBLE?
Politics, Pluralism and Religion Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010
The chapters in this volume discuss the many facets of pluralism in a liberal democracy, as well as the interplay between religion and politics. Religion is a central theme in this book for two reasons. First, religions often claim to possess truths about the nature of God and the proper path to lead in order to achieve eternal life in heaven, or enlightenment or spiritual liberation. Unfortunately, different religions offer different sets of truths on these issues, which create an obvious competition and rivalry between religions. Historically, religious differences have produced countless wars, violent clashes, human rights violations and various forms of religious persecutions. Our record of coexisting peacefully in a religiously pluralistic world has been abysmal at best. Some chapters in this book discuss religious pluralism, the clash between science and religion and the role religious reasons should play in a public dialogue about public policy and law.
The second reason why religion is a prominent theme is that, since religion is constitutive of the identities of so many individuals, its influence on politics, for better or for worse, is extremely significant. Many chapters explore the various ways in which religion can affect politics: From the dangers of theocracy, to Jihadist terrorism, to a Hindu approach to addressing terrorism, to a Unitarian Universalist perspective on ethical eating and to the Christian virtue of forgiveness applied to political dispute resolution. All in all, the chapters in this book represent a variety of approaches to understanding the interrelated problems associated with religion and politics in a pluralistic world.
CHAPTER 5 - FRANCISCO SUÁREZ
The History of Western Philosophy, Vol. 3 Early Modern Philosophy Oxford University Press, 2009
The most comprehensive history of the philosophy of religion available anywhere, making this an essential resource
Each volume includes an introduction, approximately 20 essays, a timeline of major events, a bibliography, notes on contributors, and an index providing valuable tools for inquiry and research
Includes more than 100 essays covering the most important Western philosophers of religion from all ages - from Abelard to Voltaire to Spinoza to Emerson - making this of interest to anyone interested in this subject
Clear, engaging essays appeal to a wide audience of scholars, students, and individuals interested in the formation ideas
Essays written by the foremost philosophers of religion from across the globe
ON THE METAPHYSICS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY: A DARWINIAN ACCOUNT
Latino Studies, Palgrave-Journals, Vol. 7 (2), (2009): 167-196.
Constructing a theory of cultural identity requires that we first understand the metaphysics of identity and the ontological status of cultural groups. What are cultural groups? Are cultural groups objectively discernable identities with real and essential properties (essentialism)? Or are cultural groups socially constructed entities that have no basis in reality (eliminativism)? Regardless of the view we accept, some metaphysical theory of group identity will have to provide the basis for an intelligible and consistent account of cultural groups. In this article, I propose a metaphysical theory of cultural identity based on Darwin's view of the order of nature that can avoid the extreme views of essentialism and eliminativism. First, I discuss the theories of identity of Linda Martin Alcoff, J. Angelo Corlett and Jorge J. E. Gracia and evaluate their success as models for determining cultural identity. Second, I explore the various metaphysical views of group identity, and I expound a Darwinian view of the ontological nature of group identities. Finally, I illustrate how a Darwinian taxonomy can help us understand cultural identity and Gracia's Familial-Historical View of ethnic identity.
FORGIVENESS AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN POST-WAR ETHICS
Journal of Religion, Disability and Health, 12 (3) (2008): 251-266.
The casualties of war are numerous and widespread. Two types are most familiar to the general population of Americans: deaths and serious bodily injuries. However, there are other serious psychological effects of war, such as resentment, anger, and hatred that remain at the margins of the healthcare radar. Uncontrolled and unmanaged resentment, anger, and hatred can have destructive consequences for veterans and their families. One solution for overcoming and dealing with these vindictive passions is learning to forgive.
PEIRCE ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 59 (2) (2006): 93-115.
“In my opinion, the present infantile condition of philosophy,... is due to the fact that during this century it has chiefly been pursued by men who have not been nurtured in dissecting-rooms and other lab- oratories, and who consequently have not been animated by the true scientific Eros, but who have on the contrary come from theological seminaries, and have consequently been inflamed with a desire to amend the lives of themselves and others, a spirit no doubt more important than the love of science for men in average situations, but radically unfitting them for the task of scientific investigation.” (Peirce)
This statement, delivered in The Cambridge Lectures of 1898, disapproves of those with theological training to engage in metaphysical inquiries. While it is one of Charles Sanders Peirce’s (1839–1914) most controversial statements, it is not the only one that is critical of religion. Theistic philosophers tend to view this and other similar statements as antagonistic and hostile to all forms of religiosity. On the other hand, atheistic philosophers tend to view it as a declaration of anti-religiosity and a resolution contra religion. How are we to interpret Peirce’s statement? Why does he believe that those with theological training should not engage in metaphysical research? There is also the question of how this apparently anti-religious statement can be reconciled with his more supportive writings on religion, especially his Neglected Argument (1908).In this paper, I will argue that a deeper meaning of Peirce’s claim concerns the incommensurability between the methodof theology and the method of science. Moreover, I intend to show that religious philosophers are not the intended target of Peirce’s critique.
COGNITIVE FACULTIES AND EVOLUTIONARY NATURALISM
American Catholic Philosophical Association Proceedings 80 (2006): 201-208.
In Warrant and Proper Function Plantinga argues that his natural view of warrant is best understood within a supernatural ontology. A central reason why a naturalistic ontology cannot accommodate his version of natural epistemology is that it cannot explain the reliability of cognitive functions. He presents arguments for the following two conclusions: (1) that naturalism is probably false; and (2) that naturalism is irrational. He considers the latter to be his main argument. The objective of this paper is to refute Plantinga’s arguments for the conclusion that naturalism is irrational. The paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, I will explain Planting’s arguments. In the second part, I will demonstrate that, given naturalistic evolution, we have reason to believe that it is likely that we would develop reliable cognitive theoreticalfaculties, and thus that a naturalist has sufficient epistemic ground to maintain the reasonableness of the view that her theoretical cognitive faculties are reliable and her theoretical beliefs true.
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