Alexander Nehamas
Encyclopedia
Alexander Nehamas is Professor of philosophy
and Edmund N. Carpenter, II
Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University
. He works on Greek philosophy
, aesthetics
, Nietzsche, Foucault
, and literary theory
.
He was born in Athens
, Greece
in 1946. In 1964 he enrolled to Swarthmore College
. He graduated in 1967 and completed his doctorate on Predication in Plato
's Phaedo
under the direction of Gregory Vlastos
at Princeton in 1971. He taught at the University of Pittsburgh
and the University of Pennsylvania
before joining the Princeton faculty in 1990.
His early work was on Platonic
metaphysics
and aesthetics
as well as the philosophy of Socrates
, but he gained a wider audience with his 1985 book Nietzsche: Life as Literature, which argued that Nietzsche thought of life and the world on the model of a literary text. More recently, he has become well known for his view that philosophy should provide a form of life, as well as for his endorsement of the artistic value of television
. In 2008, he delivered the Gifford Lectures
at the University of Edinburgh.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Edmund N. Carpenter, II
Edmund N. Carpenter, II
Edmund N. Carpenter, II was president of Richards, Layton & Finger, a law firm. He studied at Princeton, where he established the Edward N. Carpenter, II professorship, and at Harvard University. He earned a Bronze Star for his service in World War II, and was a past president of the Delaware Bar...
Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. He works on Greek philosophy
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
, aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, Nietzsche, Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, and literary theory
Literary theory
Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. However, literary scholarship since the 19th century often includes—in addition to, or even instead of literary theory in the strict sense—considerations of...
.
He was born in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1946. In 1964 he enrolled to Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
. He graduated in 1967 and completed his doctorate on Predication in Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's Phaedo
Phaedo
Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days .In the dialogue, Socrates...
under the direction of Gregory Vlastos
Gregory Vlastos
Gregory Vlastos was a scholar of ancient philosophy, and author of several works on Plato and Socrates. He was also a Christian and has written on Christian faith as well.-Life and works:...
at Princeton in 1971. He taught at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
before joining the Princeton faculty in 1990.
His early work was on Platonic
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it. In a narrower sense the term might indicate the doctrine of Platonic realism...
metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
and aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
as well as the philosophy of Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
, but he gained a wider audience with his 1985 book Nietzsche: Life as Literature, which argued that Nietzsche thought of life and the world on the model of a literary text. More recently, he has become well known for his view that philosophy should provide a form of life, as well as for his endorsement of the artistic value of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. In 2008, he delivered the Gifford Lectures
Gifford Lectures
The Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...
at the University of Edinburgh.
Works
- Nietzsche: Life as Literature, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Literature (1985)
- SymposiumSymposium (Plato)The Symposium is a philosophical text by Plato dated c. 385–380 BCE. It concerns itself at one level with the genesis, purpose and nature of love....
(translation, with Paul WoodruffPaul WoodruffPaul Woodruff is a classicist, professor of philosophy, and dean at the University of Texas at Austin, where he once chaired the department of philosophy and has more recently held the Hayden Head Regents Chair as director of Plan II Honors program, which he resigned in 2006 after 15 years of...
) (1989) - The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
to FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
(1998) - Virtues of AuthenticityAuthenticity (philosophy)Authenticity is a technical term in existentialist philosophy, and is also used in the philosophy of art and psychology. In philosophy, the conscious self is seen as coming to terms with being in a material world and with encountering external forces, pressures and influences which are very...
: Essays on PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and SocratesSocratesSocrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
(1999) - The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from Plato to Foucault: University of California Press (2000)
- Only A Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art (2008)
External links
- Nehamas' page at the Princeton department of philosophy
- "An Essay on Beauty and Judgment"
- Nehamas interviewed on Friendship for Philosophy Bites podcast
- What is Art? Radio interview on Philosophy TalkPhilosophy TalkPhilosophy Talk is a talk radio program co-hosted by John Perry and Ken Taylor, who are professors at Stanford University. The show is also available as a podcast, available for purchase. The program deals both with fundamental problems of philosophy and with the works of famous philosophers,...
- What is Beauty? Radio interview on Philosophy Talk
- List of articles (in Greek)
- Audio and video of Alexander Nehamas's 2005 lecture, "Only in the Contemplation of Beauty Is Human Life Worth Living"
- Review of Nehamas' book Only A Promise of Happiness in the New York Sun
- Art, Interpretation And The Rest Of Life
- The Gifford Lectures 2008
- Interview in Greek daily Kathimerini (February 13, 2011) on the occasion of Nehamas' award of an honorary doctoral degree at the School of Fine Arts of Athens University (in Greek)