William Irwin
Curriculum
Vitae
http://www.kings.edu/wtirwin/
47 Holiday Dr. apt. 100 King’s College
Kingston, PA 18704 Department of Philosophy (570) 331–0195 Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
wtirwin@Kings.edu (570) 208–5900 ext. 5493
Ph.D. in philosophy, The State University of New York at Buffalo, June 1, 1996. Presidential Fellowship.
Dissertation: “Harmonizing Hermeneutics: The Normative and Descriptive Approaches, Interpretation and Criticism,” Buffalo, 1996, 226 pp. Awarded the Perry Prize for Outstanding Dissertations in Philosophy.
Dissertation Committee: Jorge J.E. Gracia (director), E.D. Hirsch, Jr. (outside reader), Kah Kyung Cho, and James Lawler.
B.A. in philosophy, Summa
Cum Laude, Fordham University,
1992. Full Presidential Scholarship.
Attended Regis High School in Manhattan on full scholarship and graduated May 1988.
Current Areas
of Interest and Research
Areas of Specialization: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Continental Philosophy, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology and Existentialism, Aesthetics.
Areas of Competence: History of Philosophy, Logic and Critical Thinking, Applied Ethics.
Academic Positions and Research Experience
Present Position: Assistant Professor of Philosophy, King’s College Wilkes-Barre, PA (1996–).
Teaching Fellow, The State University of New York at Buffalo, (1993–1996).
Research assistant to Jorge J.E. Gracia Fall 1992. The research was in preparation for his A Theory of Textuality: The Logic and Epistemology (1995).
Awards,
Honors, and Grants
My Intentionalist Interpretation was the subject of a special book session at the 2000 annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Hermeneutics and Postmodern Thought.
Recipient of the King’s College Summer Research Grant for 1998.
One of six junior class members of Fordham University elected to ΦΒΚ (Phi Beta Kappa) June1991.
Outstanding Russian Language Student Award at Fordham University, October 1991.
Elected to Phi Sigma Tau, The International Honor Society in Philosophy, May 1991.
Hughes Award for the outstanding student of philosophy in the graduating class of 1992 at Fordham University.
Selected as one of three funded graduate student participants in the Monist conference “The Influence of Derrida and European Philosophy on the American Academy” February 11–13, 1993 Racine, Wisconsin.
Courses
Taught and/or Designed (Teaching
Portfolio Available Upon Request):
Introduction to Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophical Ethics
Critical Thinking
Phenomenology and Existentialism
Social and Ethical Values in Medicine
Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
Ethics for Physician’s Assistants
Hermeneutics in the Twentieth Century (independent study)
Ethical Issues in Cloning (independent study)
Feminist Philosophy (independent study)
Eastern Philosophy
Metaphysics
Senior Thesis Directed, “Foundations of a Sartrean Ethics”
by Joseph Zeccardi
College and
Department Service
Curriculum and Teaching Committee, 1997–1999; 2000-2001
Critical Thinking Project Team, 1996–present.
Department Work-Study Coordinator, 1996–present.
Ethics Center Faculty Development, 1996–present.
Faculty Advisor to Student Government, 1999-present.
Faculty Advisor to the Socratic Society 1999-present.
Faculty Benefits Committee, 1999-present.
Moreau Lecture Committee 1998-present.
Professional
Affiliations and Activities
The American Philosophical Association
The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
American Catholic Philosophical Association
American Society for Aesthetics
British Society for Aesthetics
British Society for Aesthetics
Referee for the Journal
of Value Inquiry
Intentionalist Interpretation: A Philosophical Explanation and Defense (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999).
The Death and Resurrection of the Author? (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, forthcoming).
Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (Chicago, Illinois: Open Court Press, 2000).
Critical Thinking: An
Introductory Course (with G. Bassham, H. Nardone, and J. Wallace),
(Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, forthcoming Summer
2001).
Publications:
Articles
1. “What Is an Allusion?” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, forthcoming.
2. “Philosophy and the Philosophical, Literature and the Literary, Borges and the Labyrinthine” in Gracia, Korsmeyer, and Gasche eds. Literary Philosophers? (Routledge, forthcoming).
3. “Philosophy and the History of Philosophy: On the Advantage of Nietzsche?” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, forthcoming.
4. “A Critique of Hermeneutic Truth as Disclosure,” International Studies in Philosophy 33 (2001), forthcoming.
5. “An Author Construct There Must Be,” Diálogos 74 (1999): 169-177.
6. “Die Kunst der Anspielung,” Zeitschrift für Philosophie, 2000.
7. “Sartre, Freedom, and the Gambler,” Contemporary Philosophy 16 (1994): 9–13.
8. “Sartre on the Emotions: A New Evaluation,” Dialogue (PST) 38 (1995): 1–7.
9. “Intention and Foresight in the British Law of Murder,” Sorites 9 (1998): 6–15.
10. “Plato’s Two Immortalities,” Contemporary Philosophy 20 (1998): 3–8.
11. “Philosophical Literacy: Are There Things Every Philosopher Needs to Know?” American Philosophical Association Newsletters 98 (1998): 128–130.
12. “Existential Jeopardy: Reviews and Responsibility,” Journal for the Development of Philosophy Teaching 8 (1998): 8–11.
13. “A Modest Proposal to Students,” The Teaching Professor, 13 (1999), p.8.
Publications: Book Reviews
1. Review of William Elford Rogers’s Interpreting Interpretation, International Studies in Philosophy, 32 (2000): 143-144.
2. Review of Peter Berkowitz’s Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist, The Journal of Value Inquiry 32 (1998): 575–577.
3. Review of Jorge J.E. Gracia’s A Theory of Textuality: The Logic and Epistemology, Sorites 3 (1995): 64–68.
4. Review of Ray Perkins’s Logic and Mr. Limbaugh, Contemporary Philosophy 18 (1996): 26.
5. Review of Theodore Schick, Jr. and Lewis Vaughn’s How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age, Teaching Philosophy 20 (1997): 325–326.
Works in
Progress
“The Aesthetics of Allusion”
“The Informal Fallacies of Depression”
Presentations
1. “The Closed Nature of a Poem,” Syracuse University Graduate Philosophy Conference, March 1993.
2. “Sartre on the Emotions: A New Evaluation” The Tri-State Philosophical Association Fall Meeting Mercyhurst College Erie, Pennsylvania October 23, 1993.
3. “The Voluntary and Involuntary Nature of Belief,” The Tri-State Philosophical Association Fall Meeting Mercyhurst College Erie, Pennsylvania October 29, 1994.
4. “Plato’s Two Immortalities,” The Mid-South Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis February 1995.
5. Commentary on John Mizzoni’s “Moral Realism, Dilemma, Disagreement, and Pluralism,” SUNY Buffalo Graduate Philosophy Conference, April 22, 1995.
6. “Intention and Foresight in Criminal Responsibility,” The Tri-State Philosophical Association Fall Meeting Mercyhurst College Erie, Pennsylvania October 28, 1995.
7. “Forget About the History of Philosophy: On the Advantage of Nietzsche,” American Catholic Philosophical Association Western New York Regional Conference, Niagara University November 11, 1995.
8. Commentary on Seon-Wook Kim’s “What is Dialogue for Gadamer?” SUNY Buffalo Graduate Philosophy Conference February 9, 1996.
9. “Reviving the Author,” The Mid-South Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis February 23, 1996.
10. Commentary on Aeon J. Skoble’s “The Relevance of Artists’ Intentions in Interpretation and Criticism,” The Mid-South Philosophy Conference the University of Memphis, Tennessee February 24, 1996.
11. “Interpretation and Medical Ethics: Text and Author,” 24th Conference on Value Inquiry D’Youville College Buffalo, New York April 19, 1996.
12. “Sartre on the Emotions: A New Evaluation,” The North American Sartre Society at Denison University in Granville, Ohio May 11, 1996.
13. “Philosophical Literacy: Are There Things Every Philosopher Needs to Know?” The Tri-State Philosophical Association Fall Meeting Behrend College Erie, Pennsylvania October 26, 1996.
14. “Philosophical Literacy: Are There Things Every Philosopher Needs to Know?” The Phi Sigma Tau Lecture at King’s College Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania November 11, 1996.
15. “An Analysis of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: The Fusion of Horizons, Prejudice, and Tradition,” The Mid-South Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis February 28, 1997.
16. “Texts Have No Meaning: A Critique of Hirsch in Defense of Humpty Dumpty,” Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania April 25, 1997.
17. “Truth Without Method: A Critique of Hermeneutic Truth as Disclosure,” Realia Conference Truth: Classical, Modern, Academic, Popular, Estes Park, Colorado August 4, 1997.
18. Moderator of the “Roundtable on Truth and Religion,” Realia Conference Truth: Classical, Modern, Academic, Popular, Estes Park, Colorado August 6, 1997.
19.”Illustrating the Fallacy of Appeal to Authority: A Case Study of Junk Science,” ISETA Annual Conference, New Brunswick, Canada, October 17, 1997.
20. “An Author Construct There Must Be,” The Mid-South Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis February 27, 1998.
21. “A Critique of Hermeneutic Truth as Disclosure,” Pacific Division Meeting of The American Philosophical Association Los Angeles, California March 27, 1998.
22. Commentary on Pol Vandevelde’s “Poetry as Subversion of Narrative in Heidegger,” American Catholic Philosophical Association Seventy-second Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania March 28, 1998.
23. “Philosophy and the History of Philosophy: On the Advantage of Nietzsche?” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Denver, Colorado October, 1998.
24. “Weird Things and Parallel Lives: Alternative Texts and Unorthodox approaches to Critical Thinking and Assessment,” ISETA Annual Conference, Cocoa Beach, Florida October 1998.
25. “What is an Allusion?” Eastern Division Meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics at Towson University, Baltimore, Maryland, March 20, 1999.
26. “The Aesthetics of Allusion,” Central Division Meeting of The American Philosophical Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 6, 1999.
27. Session Chair at the conference “Literary Philosophers? Borges, Calvino, Eco at The Center for Inquiry in Buffalo, NY October 2, 1999.
28. Session Chair for “Insight and Intuition in the History of Philosophy” at the annual meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association in Minneapolis, MN November 5, 1999.
29. “Literature and the Literary,” invited lecture to the philosophy club at The United States Military Academy at West Point, November 16, 1999.
30. “Family Resemblance, Philosophy, and the Philosophical,” The Mid-South Philosophy Conference at the University of Memphis February 25, 2000.
31. “Family Resemblance, Literature, and the Literary,” Eastern Division Meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics at the University of South Carolina March 25, 2000.
32. Special book session on my Intentionalist Interpretation: A Philosophical Explanation and Defense at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Hermeneutics and Postmodern Thought, Edmonton, Alberta May 25, 2000. Panelists included: Jeff Mitscherling, John Bruin, and Eric Dayton.
33. “The Aesthetics of Allusion,” national meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics, Reno, Nevada, October 27, 2000.
34. Session Chair for “Philosophical Perspectives on Christology” at the annual meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association in Dallas, TX November 3, 2000.
35. “Against Intertextuality,” invited lecture to the Philosophy Department at The University of Manitoba. Scheduled for March 16, 2001.
36. “Cultural Literacy, Pop-Cultural Literacy, and Allusion,” invited lecture to the Development Luncheon at King’s College, March 28, 2001.
37. “Cultural Literacy, Pop-Cultural Literacy, and Allusion,” invited lecture to the Honors Colloquium at College Misericordia, March 30, 2001.
38. “Cultural Literacy, Pop-Cultural Literacy, and Allusion,” invited lecture to the philosophy club at The United States Military Academy at West Point, April 3, 2001.
Modern and
Classical Languages Studied
German (reading proficiency exam), French (reading knowledge), Latin (some limited reading knowledge and two years of formal study), Ancient Greek (some limited reading knowledge, self-taught), Russian (award and several years of formal study).
1. Entertainment Weekly July 11, 1999, p. 63. Blurb on Seinfeld and Philosophy.
2. Television interview on NBC News affiliate WBRE October 14, 1999.
3. The Crown, October 28, 1999 “King’s Faculty Member is Interviewed by Television Station,” p. 6.
4. The Times Leader, Sunday October 31, 1999 “Seinfeld as Socrates: King’s Prof’s Book Zeros in on Seinfeld.”
5. The Joey Reynolds Show, WOR AM New York City November 24, 1999.
6. The Bruce Kenyon Show, QR 77 Calgary January 17, 2000.
7. The Tom Mundt Show, National Public Radio January 27, 2000.
10. “Seinfeld Makes Philosophy Students Masters of their Own Domains,” by Dan McCauslan www.schoolsnet.com February 2000.
References (available upon request)
Jorge J.E. Gracia, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, SUNY Buffalo.
Kah Kyung Cho, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy, SUNY Buffalo.
James Lawler, Associate Professor of Philosophy, SUNY Buffalo.
Peter H. Hare, Professor of Philosophy, SUNY Buffalo.
Gregory Bassham, Associate Professor of Philosophy, King’s College