Walter Ott's philosophical interests include metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language, especially in the modern period. Current work focuses on conceptions of causation and laws of nature in early modern empiricism.

Selected Publications:

"Hume on Meaning." Forthcoming, Hume Studies.

"Aristotle and Plato on Responsibility for Character." Ancient Philosophy 26, 1 (2006).

"Descartes and Berkeley on Mind." British Journal for the History of Philosophy 14, 3 (2006).

Locke's Philosophy of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

"The Cartesian Context of Berkeley's Attack on Abstraction." Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 85, 4 (2004).

"The New Berkeley." With Marc Hight. Canadian Journal of Philosophy 34, 1 (2004).

"Locke's Argument from Signification." Locke Studies 2 (2002).

"Propositional Attitudes in Modern Philosophy." Dialogue 41, 3 (2002).

"A Troublesome Passage in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics iii 5." Ancient Philosophy 20 (2000).

"Locke and the Idea of God: A Reply to Vivienne Brown." The Locke Newsletter 30 (1999).

"Locke and the Scholastics on Theological Discourse." The Locke Newsletter 28 (1997).