Welcome
“Only the clown calls the circus into question”
– Heiner Müller –
I am Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University, working in Post-Kantian European Philosophy (with strengths in the German tradition); i.e, phenomenology, existentialism, Marx, philosophical anthropology, and critical theory. I have also done some work in aesthetics (which, for me, is part of philosophy of culture). I have taught PhD seminars on major figures and issues in 20th and 21st century European philosophy, current political economy, and aesthetics, and written papers on a broad list of topics, such as the lived body, memory, affectivity, images, society, class, social theory method, and social categories.
My current work focuses on three areas: [1] Understanding better the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of political positions on the left and right (and their breakdown during the last decades). [2] Synthesizing Marx inspired critical theory of society with phenomenology. In order to develop basic social theories, we need to have better ideas about concept formation. I read Marx as a philosopher and theorist, not as a Marxist. In this vein, the relation between Marx and Heidegger still occupies me. In my mind, Kapital and Gestell are two sides of the same coin. The concept of capital is the condition of the possibility of all contemporary societal concepts. Without a proper understanding of “capital”, we cannot properly understand social reality. Similarly, in Heidegger’s words, technology is the only way of grasping what is. Finally, [3], I remain committed to the existentialist tradition in philosophy (broadly construed), as I believe that philosophical reflection itself is rooted in how we experience and relate to ourselves as existing beings. For this, basic experiences, such as faith, anxiety, death, love, or thankfulness are central. Thinking through these basic human concepts helped me see the limits of critical social theory.
In The Capitalist Schema, I argued that Kant’s idea of a mental schematism, which gives the human mind access to a stable reality, can be interpreted as a social concept, which, using Marx, I identify as money. Money and its “fluid” form, capital, constitute sociality in capitalism and make access to social reality possible. Put differently, I argue that the schematization of reality depends upon societal synthesis. Following Marx, I argue that money – and not the ego – is the true Universal of modern life. I am working currently on a book entitled The Logic of Annihilation. Reification and De-Reification in 20th Century German Philosophy. This work marks a return to phenomenology and broader intellectual themes that run through post-Kantian German philosophy.
My essays on US culture and politics have been published in Frankfurter Rundschau since 2021. These can be found here.
The details of my overall academic work and life can be found in “Bio“. Almost all of my publications can be downloaded via “Articles” (check the menu on top of this page). My academia.edu profile can be found here; my CV is available on top of this page via “CV.”
This web page is my only online presence. I am not on social media.
I served between 2016 and 2019 as a member-at-large on the executive board of the US society for European Philosophy, SPEP, and edit with Antonio Calcagno the Continental Philosophy and the History of Thought series published by Bloomsbury.
In addition, I serve as Associate Chair and Director of the Graduate Program in MSU’s philosophy department.
I am currently accepting PhD students.