I am Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northern Illinois University. My research mostly concerns meaning and money.
MEANING
I continue to develop a novel semantic framework for both natural language and various formal systems. So far, I’ve used it for first-order logic and modal logic, under both metaphysical and deontic interpretations.
MONEY
In 2018, I began writing about bitcoin and the future of money at the intersection of philosophy, economics, and computer science. Some projects I’m involved with:
Resistance Money research team with Andrew M. Bailey and Bradley Rettler.
Bitcoin Policy Institute a non-profit, non-partisan research organization.
Digital Asset Project of the Law Commission of England and Wales, advisory panel.
Atomic Finance writer.
Select Popular Writing
“Bitcoin as Property” (2022) Bitcoin Policy Institute
“Bitcoin Stands Apart” (2022, w/ Bailey & Rettler) Cointelegraph
“Bitcoin is for Anyone, Left or Right ” (2022, w/ Bailey & Rettler) USA Today
“A Layperson’s Guide to Discreet Log Contracts” (2021) Atomic Thoughts
“Why Bitcoin Needs Philosophy” (2020, w/ Bailey & Rettler) CoinDesk
Academic Writing
Resistance Money: A Case for Bitcoin, under contract with Routledge. (w/ Bailey & Rettler)
“Bitcoin is King” (2023) In J. Liebowitz (ed.), Cryptocurrency: Concepts, Technology, and Issues (w/ Bailey)
“Electronic Coins” (2022) Cryptoeconomic Systems (MIT talk)
“What is Bitcoin?” (2021) Inquiry
“Money Without State” (2021) Philosophy Compass (w/ Bailey & Rettler)
“The Moral Landscape of Monetary Design” (2021) Philosophy Compass (w/ Bailey & Rettler)
Select Media
“On what bitcoin is and other philosophical questions,” 12/20. On the Brink w/ Castle Island
“Bitcoin doesn’t care about your politics,” w/ Bailey and Rettler, 1/21. The Breakdown w/ NLW
“A Philosophical Conversation about Bitcoin,” 5/21. Digital Money Adviser
“The Metaphysics of Bitcoin,” 6/21. Micro-Digressions
“Bitcoin Behind the Veil,” 2/22. The Progressive Bitcoiner
“Bitcoin Behind the Veil,” 6/22. What Bitcoin Did
“Power, Trust and Ethics,” 4/23. DeCenter Spring Conference at Princeton University.
“What Makes Bitcoin Unique among Cryptocurrencies,” 4/23. Bitcoin Policy Institute Summit at the National Press Club.
warmke@niu.edu | Department of Philosophy | NIU | DeKalb, IL 60115