James E. Faulconer is an American philosopher, a former Richard L. Evans Professor of Philosophy at Brigham Young University, the former director of BYU's London Centre, a Fellow at the Wheatley Institution (and its former associate director), and a senior research fellow at the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He previously served as the dean of undergraduate education and the chair of the Philosophy Department at BYU.
Faulconer was born 27 September 1947 in Warrensburg, MO, USA, his family being from the nearby small towns of Knob Noster and Lamont. His father spent his career in the U.S. Army, so Faulconer lived for substantial periods of his life in Germany, Korea, and several U.S. states. He graduated from high school in Korea and later lived in Korea as a missionary for two and one-half years (March 1967- September 1969).
Faulconer met and married Janice Kay Allen in 1971. They have four children (Christian, Matthew, Rebecca, and Elisabeth) and thirteen grandchildren.
Faulconer received his B.A. in English from BYU. He then received master's and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy from Pennsylvania State University. His area of interest in philosophy is contemporary European philosophy, particularly the work of Martin Heidegger and late 20th- and early 21st-century French thinkers, particularly as that work bears on religious experience. Faulconer was the founding editor of . He was a visiting professor at the Higher Institute for Philosophy, Catholic University of Leuven (1995–96) and a visiting researcher in the library of the École Normale Supérieur (2000–2001).
Faulconer is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is also a member of the United States Democratic Party, where he has served as a district chairperson.