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. I’m also a Senior Fellow with the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization.
Select Popular Writing
“Bitcoin Reserve: An Idea Ahead of its Time?” (2024, w/ Susan Joseph) TabbForum
“Bitcoin Can Protect Freedom and Help Win Elections” (2024, w/ several others) Newsweek
“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
“Bitcoin Behind the Veil” (2022, Bitcoin Times)
“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 (2024) 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