Esther Meek

Esther Lightcap Meek is an American philosopher and Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Geneva College in Western Pennsylvania. She is also a Fellow Scholar of the Fujimura Institute, an Associate Fellow with the Kirby Laing Center for Public Theology, and a member of the Polanyi Society. Meek was born in Philadelphia and later moved to its western suburbs. She attended Marple Newtown School District, graduating in 1971. Her higher education began at Lebanon Valley College, where she studied chemistry for a year before transferring to Cedarville University, earning a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies/philosophy in 1975. She continued to Western Kentucky University, obtaining an M.A. in humanities/philosophy in 1976. Meek also completed a semester of study at Westminster Theological Seminary in 1976, where theologian John Frame significantly influenced her philosophical work. She pursued her Ph.D. at Temple University, completing it in 1985. Initially trained in the Anglo-American philosophical tradition, her path was redirected by the work of Michael Polanyi. Her dissertation, "Contact with Reality: An Examination of Michael Polanyi's Epistemic Realism," was supervised by Joseph Margolis. Meek's teaching career included part-time positions at various institutions before she joined Geneva College in 2004, eventually retiring in 2021. She also taught at Redeemer Theological Seminary and offers courses for Theopolis Institute, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, and Regent College. Meek's scholarly work primarily focuses on epistemology, the study of how knowing works, and she terms her approach "covenant epistemology." Her published works include "Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People" (2003), "Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology" (2011), "A Little Manual for Knowing" (2014), and "Contact With Reality: Michael Polanyi's Realism and Why It Matters" (2017). She also co-authored "The Practices of a Healthy Church" (1999). Her ongoing book project, "Doorways," aims to apply covenant epistemology to various disciplines. Meek received the Outstanding Scholar of the Year award from Geneva College in 2011 and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary's Award For Outstanding Academic Achievement in 2016.