Robert C. Koons is a contemporary analytic philosopher at the University of Texas at Austin known for his rigorous formal defenses of classical metaphysics and natural theology. He has worked extensively on causation, mereology, and non-monotonic logic, and is a leading figure in the revival of Aristotelian and Thomistic metaphysics within analytic philosophy. His cosmological argument employs first-order logic and situation theory to ground a scientifically respectable case for a first cause.
Developed a formal cosmological argument using first-order logic, mereology, and situation theory
Authored Realism Regained (2000), an exact theory of causation, teleology, and mind grounded in Aristotelian metaphysics
Co-authored Metaphysics: The Fundamentals (2014) with Timothy Pickavance
Pioneered application of non-monotonic and defeasible logic to epistemology and metaphysics
Defended Aristotelian hylomorphism and teleology as compatible with contemporary science