Debra Nails is a philosophy professor and well known classics scholar currently teaching at Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

. Nails earned her M.A. in philosophy and classical Greek from Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 before going on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand

University of the Witwatersrand

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...

, Johannesburg in 1993. Previously, she taught at in the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion at Mary Washington College. Nails currently teaches courses on the history of philosophy, continental rationalism, metaphysics, and modern philosophy.

Contributions to Philosophy

Nails' work primarily focuses on ancient Greek philosophy, metaphysics, feminist philosophy, and early modern philosophy. She is the chair of the Committee for Professional Ethics of the American Association of University Professors

American Association of University Professors

The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...

 and was previously on the Committee for the Defense of Professional Rights of Philosophers, and the Committee on Academic Career Opportunities and Placement of the American Philosophical Association

American Philosophical Association

The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, to facilitate the professional work...

.

Professional Publications

Nails has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals such as The Southwest Philosophy Review, The Classical Journal, Skepsis, Phoenix, and Ancient Philosophy. In addition, she has written chapters in books such as A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought, Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception, A Companion to Plato, Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy, and Plato’s Laws: From Theory into Practice. Her books include The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics, and Agora, Academy, and the Conduct of Philosophy. She also edited Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception with J. H. Lesher and Frisbee C. C. Sheffield; Naturalistic Epistemology: A Symposium of Two Decades with Abner Shimony; Spinoza and the Sciences with Marjorie Grene; and Women and Morality with Mary Ann O’Loughlin and James C. Walker.

Awards and Distinctions

In addition to being named chair of the Committee for Professional Ethics of the American Association of University Professors

American Association of University Professors

The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...

, Nails was also a Research Fellow at the Boston University Center for the Philosophy and History of Science and a University Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Witwatersrand University.

Selected Works

Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception. Hellenic Studies Series 22 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). Ed. Debra Nails, J. H. Lesher, and Frisbee C. C. Sheffield. xii + 446 pp.

The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics (Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 2002), xlviii + 414 pp.

Agora, Academy, and the Conduct of Philosophy. Philosophical Studies Series 63 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995), xxii + 264 pp.

Naturalistic Epistemology: A Symposium of Two Decades. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series 100 (Boston: Reidel, 1987), vi + 384 pp. Ed. Debra Nails and Abner Shimony.

Spinoza and the Sciences. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series 91 (Boston: Reidel, 1986) xix + 336 pp. Ed. Debra Nails and Marjorie Grene.

Women and Morality. Social Research 50:3 (1983). Debra Nails, Mary Ann O’Loughlin, and James C. Walker.

See also

American Philosophy

American Philosophers