USC offers extensive opportunites for research in the area of modern philosophy. Faculty have interests in a wide
variety of areas from Hegel and twentieth century continental philosophy, to American Pragmatism, to 17th century
philosophers: Newton, Descartes, Leibniz. USC offers a core curriculum of frequently taught survey courses
covering Continental Rationalism, British Empiricsm and Kant, as well as graduate seminars. Aside from course
offerings and dissertation supervision, faculty participate in the Modern Philosophy Discussion Group and other
informal reading groups. USC also offers opportunities for interdisciplinary work in the history of philosophy,
particularly with comparative literature. Larry Rhu (Associate, English) works on Cavell and Emerson; Meili
Steele (Professor, English) works on modern literary theory and hermeneutics. These activities contribute to
a lively intellectual environment for studying modern philosophy.
Philosophy Graduate Faculty
Tom Burke (Phd Stanford, Associate Professor, Philosophy) has interests in
Modern Philosophy that center around Darwinian influences on 19th century philosophy, particularly as embodied in American
pragmatist reactions to recalcitrant problems in modern epistemology. These reactions include James's "radical empiricism",
Peirce's "critical common-sensism" and "scholastic realism", Mead's evolutionary social psychology, and Dewey's
anti-dualist reconstruction of the notions of experience and reason.
Martin Donougho (Phd Toronto, Professor, Philosophy) has
interests in Modern Philosophy that include: history of aesthetics/philosophy of art, German Idealism (Kant, Hegel, Fichte,
Schelling) and German Romanticism (Schlegel, Novalis, Hûlderlin, et al.), history of social-political theory, 19th century
philosophy (Kierkegaard, Marx, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche), and Continental Philosophy (esp. Lukács, Benjamin, Adorno, and such
French figures as Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, Nancy, et al.). He is also interested in such contemporary figures as Zizek,
Henrich, and Agamben, as well as the sociologist Niklas Luhmann. Not least, he finds (or thinks he finds) considerable overlap
with his interests in comparative literature, philosophy of history, and visual studies (including art and architectural history).
Kevin Elliott (PhD Notre Dame, Assistant Professor, Philosophy) works in
the history and philosophy of science, the history and philosophy of biology, and practical ethics
(especially biomedical, environmental, and scientific research ethics). In the philosophy of science,
he is particularly interested in the nature of scientific anomaly, scientific discovery, epigenetic
mechanisms of biological inheritance, and the role of values in scientific reasoning.
Jerry Hackett (PhD Toronto, Professor and Chair, Philosophy) Hackett has interests in and
has published on medieval and renaissance sources of Berkeley's philosophy. He has also published on Gadamer and
Heidegger, and on the 19th century German-American thinker, Francis Lieber. Jerry has taught courses at the undergraduate
and graduate level on Modern European Philosophy, including "The Uses of Medieval Philosophy in 19th and 20th century
Philosophy, and "Phenomenology and Existentialism."
RIG Hughes (PhD British Columbia, Professor, Philosophy) has interests in both Kant and the history
and philosophy of science. He has recently edited and contributed to a volume on Newton's influences on his
contemporaries and successors, such as Locke and Kant. He regularly teaches and has published on Kant.
Ann Johnson (PhD Princeton, Philosophy and History) is an historian of modern Europe, as well
as an historian and philosopher of science and technology. One of her research interests is the structure of the
modern nation state and its use of science and technology in the creation of national identity. In the history
department she teaches courses in Europe since the 18th century, 20th century Europe, and historiography, which
include significant overlap with concerns in modern philosophy.
George Khushf (PhD Rice, Associate Professor, Philosophy) conducts research
in the philosophy of medicine, including concepts of health and disease, clinical decision making,
and the ways medical standards of care are formed. He also looks at the philosophy of emerging
technologies, especially bionanotechnology, the human/machine interface, and NBIC convergence.
In addition, he has a long-term research project to develop a philosophy of demonstration
science experiments.
Matthew Kisner (PhD UC San Diego, Assistant Professor,
Philosophy) researches across a wide variety of topics within Early Modern Philosophy. He has published on the
subject of method in the seventeenth-century and Hobbes' account of the covenant. He is particularly interested
in the history of naturalism, broadly construed, during this period. In this vein he has written a number of
articles advancing the view that Descartes
understands reason as a natural power. Matt's most recent research
examines Spinoza's naturalism, focusing, in particular, on his conception of freedom.
Konstantin Pollok (Dr. phil, Marburg,
Assistant Professor, Philosophy) works on Kant, the history
of science, and practical reasoning. His current reserach
focuses on Kant's theory of normativity.
Heike Sefrin-Weis (PhD Pittsburgh, Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Classics)
is interested in the historical development of mathematical techniques, theories, and practices in the 16th and
17th century, and in the way in which they both refect, and in turn influence, considerations of methodology and
epistemology in science and philosophy. Specifically, she works on Leibniz's mathematical papers, and is interested
in the connection between his Calculus and his epistemology in the context of his project for a universal science.
Associated Faculty
Robert Mulvaney (Phd
Emory, Emeritus Professor, Philosophy) works on Seventeenth
century philosophy, philosophy of education, and the
reception of Leibniz in America.
Several graduate students at USC have research interests in modern philosophy, including
some who are currently working on dissertation projects in this area.
Dissertations in Progress
- Heather Allen: Subjectivity, Materiality and Naturalism in Kant's Critical Philosophy. Advisor: RIG Hughes.
- Roger Gregory: Being, Existence and Truth: Heidegger's Chronology of Truth. Advisor: Eugene Long.
- Sulia Mason: Peirce and Descartes. Advisor: Tom Burke.
Recent (Completed) Dissertations
- David Przekupowski (2005): Dialogical Authenticity: Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and the Quest for Authentic Identity. Advisor: Jerry Hackett.
- Matthew Miller (2005): Hegel's Ladder and Symbolic Forms. Advisor: Martin Donougho.
- Nikola Ristic (2004): Nietzsche and Modern Subjectivity. Advisor: Martin Donougho
- Dina Mendonça (2004): The Anatomy of Experience: An Analysis of Dewey's Concept of Experience. Advisor: Tom Burke
- Andrew Cathcart (2002): Freedom, Self-Knowledge, and Self-Deception: A Problematic in the Thought of Kant, Hegel, and Kierkegaard. Advisor: George Khushf.
- John Catalano (1999): Francis Lieber: Hermeneutics and Practical Reason. Advisor: Jerry Hackett.
The Department regularly offers numerous courses in the history of modern philosophy. Some recently offered courses
include:
- Hegel
- Modern Moral Philosophy
- Classical American Pragmatism
- The Sublime
- Three Heretics: Hobbes, Spinoza, Nietzsche
- Peirce and Heideggar on Medieval Philosophy
- British Empiricism
- Continental Rationalism
- Phenomenology and Existentialism
- Hume
- Kant
The Philosophy Department has an active Colloquium Series, which
often features talks and other activities related to Modern
Philosophy. In addition, there is an active History of Modern
Philosophy Discussion Group. This group aims to serve as a forum
for advancing the research interests of graduate students and
faculty. The group, comprising faculty and graduate students, meets
bi-weekly to discuss articles or primary sources pertaining in some
way to the history of philosophy from Francis Bacon to Nietzsche.
Articles may be published or works in progress by participants. In
the case of the latter, the group serves as a writing workshop,
rather than a venue for presentations. Some recent meetings have
discussed "Descartes' Quasi-Platonism about Mathematical Essences,"
by Ot½vio Bueno and Raffaella De Rosa, "Is the Argument
Ontological? The Anselmian Proof and the Two Demonstrations of the
Existence of God in the Meditations," by Jean-Luc Marion, "Dr.
Fichelson's Dilemma: Spinoza on Freedom and Sociability," by Daniel
Garber. Future meetings are slated to discuss Hobbes, Nietzsche,
and others.
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