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My c.v.:DUNCAN JOHN RICHTER
Professor of Philosophy
Department of Psychology and Philosophy
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, Virginia 24450
(540) 464-7194
E-mail: richterdj@vmi.eduPERSONAL: Born: Chester, England (now permanent U.S. resident)
EDUCATIONUniversity of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. 1995 Ph.D. Dissertation: "Ethics After Anscombe" Supervisor: Cora Diamond
University of Wales, Swansea 1989 M.Phil. Thesis: "Wittgenstein: Language, Meaning and Methodology" Supervisor: D.Z. Phillips
University of Oxford, England 1988 B.A. Honours School: Philosophy, Politics and Economics
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION: Ethics (theory and applied), Wittgenstein
AREAS OF COMPETENCE: Epistemology, Existentialism, History of Philosophy (Ancient, Medieval and Modern), Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Human Nature, Philosophy of Religion, Political Philosophy.
PUBLICATIONS: Books
Why Be Good? A Historical Introduction to Ethics, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.
Wittgenstein At His Word, Thoemmes Continuum, Bristol, England, 2004.
Historical Dictionary of Wittgenstein's Philosophy, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2004.
Ethics After Anscombe: Post "Modern Moral Philosophy", Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands and Boston, Mass., 2000.
PUBLICATIONS: Papers
"Did Wittgenstein Disagree With Heidegger?" Review of Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 6, 2007.
"Onko Luonto Konservatiivinen? Wittgenstein Ja Heidegger Arkkitehtuurista Ja Runoudesta," (a Finnish translation by T. P. Uschanov of "Is Nature Conservative? Wittgenstein and Heidegger On Architecture And Poetry," in niin & näin, No. 38, 2003.
"The Fear of Playing God," in Ethical Issues in the New Genetics: Are Genes Us? edited by Brenda Almond and Michael Parker, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Aldershot, 2003.
"Whose Ethics? Which Wittgenstein?" Philosophical Papers, Vol. 31. No. 3, November 2002.
"Wittgensteinian Foundationalism," Erkenntnis, Volume 55, Number 3, December 2001.
"Missing the Entire Point: Wittgenstein and Religion," Religious Studies Volume 37, Number 2, June 2001.
"Social Integrity and Private 'Immorality': the Hart-Devlin Debate Reconsidered," Essays in Philosophy Vol. 2 No. 2, June 2001 (http://www.humboldt.edu/~essays/richter.html).
"Understanding Genocide: Wittgenstein and the Holocaust," The Review Journal of Philosophy and Social Science, Vol. XXV, 2000.
"Virtue Without Theory," The Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol. 33, Number 3, September 1999.
"Is Abortion Vicious?," The Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol. 32, Number 3, September 1998.
"Nothing To Be Said: Wittgenstein and Wittgensteinian Ethics," The Southern Journal of Philosophy Vol. XXXIV, Number 2, Summer 1996.
"The Incoherence of the Moral ‘Ought’," Philosophy 70, January 1995.
PUBLICATIONS: Reviews, etc.
Review of Alfred Nordmann Wittgenstein's 'Tractatus': An Introduction Cambridge University Press 2005, European Journal of Philosophy Volume 16, Issue 1, April 2008, pp. 148-152.
Review of Mary Geach and Luke Gormally, eds., Human Life, Action and Ethics: Essays by G. E. M. Anscombe Imprint Academic 2005, The Journal of Value Inquiry (2007) 41:113-119.
Review of P. M. S. Hacker Human Nature: The Categorical Framework Blackwell 2007, Metapsychology (http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=4010) posted January 8, 2008.
Review of J. Mark Lazenby The Early Wittgenstein on Religion Continuum 2006, The European Legacy 13:7, 2008.
Review of Michael Kober (ed.) Deepening Our Understanding of Wittgenstein Editions Rodopi B.V. 2006, The European Legacy 13:2, 2008.
Review of Alice Crary Beyond Moral Judgment Harvard University Press 2007, Metapsychology (http://www.centersite.org/books/books.php?type=de&id=3645) posted May 22, 2007.
Review of Rom Harré and Michael Tissaw Wittgenstein and Psychology Ashgate 2005, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=2849) posted October 8, 2005.
Review of Stephen Mulhall Philosophical Myths of the Fall Princeton University Press 2005, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=2815) posted September 10, 2005.
Review of Berel Dov Lerner Rules, Magic, and Instrumental Reason: A critical interpretation of Peter Winch’s philosophy of the social sciences Routledge 2002,Philosophia Volume 32, May 2005.
Review of David G. Stern and Béla Szabados (eds) Wittgenstein Reads Weininger Cambridge University Press 2004, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=2377) posted November 2, 2004.
Review of Cressida J. Heyes (ed.) The Grammar of Politics: Wittgenstein and Political Philosophy Cornell University Press 2003, Philosophy in Review Volume XXIII no. 6 (December 2003).
Review of James C. Klagge and Alfred Nordmann (eds) Ludwig Wittgenstein: Public and Private Occasions Rowman & Littlefield 2003, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=1796) posted July 15, 2003.
Review of Adam Morton The Importance of Being Understood: Folk Psychology as Ethics Routledge 2003, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=1769) posted June 27, 2003.
Review of Donna Tartt The Little Friend Knopf 2002, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=1490) posted January 3, 2003.
Review of Terry Nardin The Philosophy of Michael Oakeshott Pennsylvania State University Press 2001, Philosophy in Review Volume XXII no. 6 (December 2002).
"Mutually Assured Destruction" forum with Dylan Suzanne and Robert Martin in Philosophy Now, issue 37, August/September 2002.
Review of Rosalind Hursthouse On Virtue Ethics Oxford University Press 1999, Metapsychology (http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=1176) posted June 5, 2002.
Obituary of G.E.M. Anscombe in Philosophy Now, issue 31, March/April 2001.
Review of John W. Cook Wittgenstein, Empiricism, and Language Oxford University Press 2000, Philosophy in Review Volume XXI no.1 (February 2001).
"Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)," The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
(http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/w/wittgens.htm), posted October 29, 1996."Richter Reviews Schauber," Brown Electronic Article Review Service, Jamie Dreier and David Estlund, editors (http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Philosophy /bears/homepage.html) posted September 13, 1996.
Brief critical notice of David Johnston The Idea of a Liberal Theory: A Critique and Reconstruction Princeton University Press 1994 in The Virginia Quarterly Review Volume 71, Number 2, Spring 1995.
OTHER REVIEWS
I have reviewed papers for The Journal of Moral Philosophy, Philosophical Papers, The Journal of Ethics, the Journal of Philosophical Research, and Inquiry, and a book-length manuscript for the State University of New York Press.
CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS
"Unsinn on Stilts, or Wittgenstein and the French Revolution" at the Wittgenstein in Virginia workshop at VMI, September 12 2008.
Guest lecture: "Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Language" at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, October 17 2007.
"Did Wittgenstein Disagree With Heidegger?" at Åbo Akademi, Turku, Finland, March 19 2007.
"In Praise of Nonsense: Wittgenstein on Heidegger" at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, January 24 2006.
"Against "Religion, Truth, and Toleration:" A Reply to Andrew Cohen" invited response at the 65th annual meeting of the Virginia Philosophical Association at VMI, October 8 2004.
"What Use Are Wittgenstein's Language-Games?" at the colloquium "Logic, Games and Philosophy: Foundational Perspectives" at the Institute of Philosophy, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, September 30 2004.
"The Ethics of Belief" at ACLA 2003 (the American Comparative Literature Association) California State University San Marcos, April 5 2003.
"Philosophy As Poetry" at the conference "Philosophy As ..." University of London, November 30 2002.
"Making Sex Inviting: A Reply to Laura Waddell Ekstrom" invited response at the 63rd annual meeting of the Virginia Philosophical Association at the University of Richmond, Virginia, October 18 2002.
"Is Ethics Nonsense?" at Southern Virginia University, Buena Vista, Virginia, April 4 2002.
"Education to Help Others: Romance vs. Truth" at the 75th annual meeting of the Virginia Social Science Association, Virginia Military Institute, March 22 2002.
"Getting Wittgenstein's Goat," at the Society of Christian Philosophers Eastern Regional Meeting, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, March 1-3 2001.
"Confusion," at the 25th Annual Midsouth Philosophy Conference, University of Memphis, Tennessee, February 23 2001.
"The Fear of Playing God," at the Society for Applied Philosophy Conference "Are Genes Us?," Manchester, England, May 19-21 2000, and at the Virginia Military Institute Symposium "The Flight of Future Days," October 20 2000.
"Missing the Entire Point: Wittgenstein and Religion," at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia, April 20 2000.
"Wittgensteinian Foundationalism," at the 91st Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Louisville, Kentucky, April 2 1999.
Chair, Hans-Johann Glock "Bringing Wittgenstein to Reason," at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute Philosophy Department annual Spring conference "Wittgenstein: Biography and Philosophy," March 27 1999.
"From ‘Nature’ to Nausea: The Philosophy of Meaning," at the Virginia Military Institute English Society meeting, April 6 1998.
"Wittgenstein and the Holocaust," at the 1997 Intermountain Philosophy Conference, East Tennessee State University, October 11 1997.
"Is Abortion Vicious?" at the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology 89th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, March 27 1997.
"Iris Murdoch, Literature and the Moral Imagination," at the Society for Realist/Antirealist Discussion, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, Seattle, Washington, April 6 1996.
"Ethics in the Curriculum," at the Virginia Corps of Cadets Ethics in Leadership Seminar, Mary Baldwin College, March 22 1996.
"Wittgenstein and Wittgensteinian Ethics," at the Spring Program of the New Jersey Regional Philosophy Association, April 22 1995, and at the First Annual Mid-South University of Tennessee Graduate Philosophy Colloquium, March 4 1995.
"Defusing the Abortion Debate in Virginia" at the 1995 Virginia Issues and Policy Conference, University of Virginia, April 20 1995.
Guest lecture: "Ronald Dworkin on Abortion" at the University of Richmond, March 21 1995.
Guest lecture: "Platonism and the Western Mystical Tradition" at Mary Washington College, January 16 1995.
"The Incoherence of the Moral 'Ought'" at the University of Virginia Philosophy Department Colloquium, October 27 1993.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Virginia Military Institute: Assistant Professor
Greek and Medieval Philosophy (every Fall 1995-2007), Ethics (every semester Fall 1995-Fall 2002, then every Fall, and Spring 2007), Ethics II (Spring 2003 and 2004), History of Modern Philosophy (every Spring 1996-2007), Ethics and the Military (Fall 1996 and Spring 1997), Applied Ethics (Fall 2007), Philosophy of Law (Fall 1997 and Spring 1998), Existentialism (Spring 1998 and Spring 2004), Philosophy of Human Nature (Spring 1999), Minds and Machines (Fall 2003, 2006, and 2007), Logic (Spring 2004 and Spring 2007), Philosophy of Religion (Fall 2005 and Spring 2007).
Åbo Akademi: Visiting Professor
A mini course for graduate students on G. E. M. Anscombe's "Modern Moral Philosophy" (Spring 2007)
University of Richmond: Replacement Instructor
The Therapy of Desire: Aristotelian and post-Aristotelian Ethics (Spring 1995)
University of Virginia: Instructor
Existentialism (Summer 1994), The Meaning of Life (Spring 1994), Philosophy of Law (Summer 1993), Wisdom: a multicultural introduction to philosophy (Fall 1992).
HONORS, AWARDS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Virginia Military Institute:
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award 2008
Distinguished Teaching Award 2007
Winner of the Matthew Fontaine Maury Research Award 2005
Winner of the Best Letter to the Editor APA Centennial Prize 2002
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society member since April 2000
Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 2000, 2004, and 2005 (9th edition)
Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award 1998
Introduced a Minor degree in philosophy 1997
Started and ran the VMI Philosophy Club and speaker series 1998-presentUniversity of Virginia:
Dissertation Year Fellowship 1994-95
Society of Fellows 1994-95
DuPont Fellowship 1993-94
Secretary and acting President of the Philosophy Club Fall 1992
President's Fellowship 1990-93University College of Swansea:
British Academy Award 1988-89
University of Oxford:
Oades and Stafford Scholarship 1985-88
Smithson Society 1986-88
Levick Prize 1988
Pembroke College First Year Prize 1986OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
Participant in 1998 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar "Moore and Wittgenstein on Certainty," University of California San Diego, July 6--August 7 1998.
Participant in Jessie Ball duPont seminar "Transmitting the Hurt: Ethnicity, Nationalism and Genocide in the Late Twentieth Century," National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, June 7-28 1997.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Philosophical Association
Society for Applied Philosophy
Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology
Virginia Philosophical Association (Secretary 2004-2005, Vice-President 2005-2006, President 2006-2007)
Society for Philosophy and Public AffairsCOMMITTEE SERVICE
Chair of the Philosophy and Religion paper selection committee for NCUR 2004
Member National Editorial Board NCUR 2005 Proceedings
Graduate Education Committee (Pre-Law Advisor) (Fall 2000- Summer 2005)
Debate Club Committee (head) (Fall 2002- )
Writing Across the Curriculum Committee
Library Committee
Search Committee for the Stanley Chair in Ethics and Integrity
Student System Committee
Pregnancy Committee
Steering Committee for the "Flight of Future Days" symposium
Faculty Education on Sexual Harassment Committee
Undergraduate Research Committee (Associate Director of Undergraduate Research Symposium)
Institute Awards Committee
Faculty Development Committee (Fall 2003- Summer 2004)
International Study Committee (Fall 2004- )Grievance Hearing Panel (Fall 2007- )
Virginia Program at Oxford representative (Fall 2007- )
Tenure and Promotions Committee (Spring 2008)