Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Office:	SLTC 224
Office Hours:	TBA
Phone:	(501) 450-1434
E-mail:	simmons@hendrix.edu

Curriculum Vitae

I was recently interviewed by Alana Buie (Hendrix c/o 2009).  That interview is available here:
"On French Philosophy and Tennis Shoes: An Interview with J. Aaron Simmons" 

Education

• Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 2006, Philosophy
• M.A., Vanderbilt University, 2005, Philosophy
• M.A., Florida State University, 2001, Humanities
• B.A., Lee University, 1999, History

Areas of Specialization

• 19th and 20th Century European Philosophy (esp., Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Levinas)
• Philosophy of Religion

Areas of Competence

• Social and Political Philosophy
• German Idealism
• Environmental Philosophy
• Ethics
• Romanticism

2009-2010 Courses

• Fall: PHIL 110 - Introduction to Philosophical Questioning
• Fall: PHIL 370 - Philosophy of Religion
• Spring: PHIL 202 - Philosophy and Literature 
• Spring: PHIL 490 - Kierkegaard
• Spring: PHIL 490 - The Postmodern God

Books

• God and the Other: Ethics and Politics After the "Theological Turn." Indiana University Press, forthcoming.
• Whitehead and New Phenomenology: Alterity, Ecology, Dialogue, and Globalization. Co-authored with Jay McDaniel. Rodopi Press, under initial contract.
• Levinas and Kierkegaard: Ethics, Politics, and Religion. Co-edited with David Wood. Indiana University Press, 2008.   

• Religion With Religion. Co-edited with Stephen Minister. In Preparation for Fordham University Press. Featuring extended essays by Bruce Ellis Benson, Jeffrey Hanson, Drew Dalton, Stephen Minister, J. Aaron Simmons, John Caputo, and Merold Westphal.

Selected Journal Articles and Book Chapters

• “Richard Rorty: Kierkegaard in the Context of Neo-Pragmatism,” in Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception, and Resources: Vol.11, Kierkegaard’s Influence on Philosophy, ed. Jon Stewart (Aldershot: Ashgate, forthcoming).

• “'A Faith Without Triumph': Emmanuel Levinas and Prophetic Pragmatism,” Monokl: Special International Issue on Levinas, (Spring 2010), forthcoming.

• "Levinasian Otherism, Skepticism, and the Problem of Self-Refutation" (with Scott F. Aikin). Philosophical Forum 40, no. 1 (Spring 2009): 29-54.

• “From Necessity to Hope: A Continental Perspective on Eschatology Without Telos” (with Nathan R. Kerr), Heythrop Journal 50, no.6 (Fall 2009): 948-65.

• "Teaching Plato with Emoticons." Co-authored with Scott F. Aikin. APA Newsletter on Teaching. Forthcoming.
• "God in Recent French Phenomenology." Philosophy Compass 3, no.5 (Fall 2008): 910-32.

• “Revisiting Gender Inclusive God-Talk: A New, Wesleyan Argument” (with Mason Marshall). Philosophy and Theology 20, no.1 (Fall 2009): 241-61.

• "Evangelical Environmentalism: Oxymoron or Opportunity?" Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion 13, no.1 (2009): 40-71.
• "Moments of Intense Presence: An Interview with David Wood." Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory 10, no.1 (Winter 2009): 81-101.
• "Vision Without Image: A Levinasian Topology," Southwest Philosophical Review 25, no. 1 (2009).
• "Toward a Relational Model of Anthropocentrism: A Levinasian Approach to the Ethics of Climate Change." In Faces of Nature: Levinasian Ethics and Environmental Philosophy. Eds. William Edelglass, Chris Diehm, and Jim Hatley. In Preparation for Duquesne University Press.
• "Is Continental Philosophy Just Catholicism for Atheists? On the Political Relevance of Kenosis." Philosophy in the Contemporary World 15, no.1 (Spring 2008): 94-111.
• "Seeking Charity After Justice: A Levinasian Vision of Liberal Democracy." In Levinas and Liberal Democracy. Ed., Richard A. Cohen. State University of New York Press: forthcoming.
• "Continuing to Look for God in France: On the Relationship Between Phenomenology and Theology." In Words of Life: New Theological Turns in French Phenomenology. Eds., Bruce Ellis Benson and Norman Wirzba. Fordham University Press, 2009, 15-29.
• "What About Isaac? Re-Reading Fear and Trembling and Re-Thinking Kierkegaardian Ethics." Journal of Religious Ethics 35, no.2 (2007): 319-45.
• "Finding Uses for Used-Up Words: Thinking Weltanschauung 'After' Heidegger." Philosophy Today 50, no.2 (Summer 2006): 156-69.
• "Politics as an Ethico-Religious Task: Kierkegaard and Levinas on Religion in the Public Square." Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal 89, no.1-2 (Spring/Summer 2006): 37-54.
• "Making Tomorrow Better than Today: Rorty's Dismissal of Levinasian Ethics" (with Diane Perpich). Symposium 9, no.2 (Fall 2005): 241-66.
• Translation from the French of, Pierre Hadot. "There are Nowadays Professors of Philosophy, but not Philosophers." The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 19, no.3 (June 2005): 229-37.

Recent and Upcoming Presentations

• “Between Walzer and Levinas: Political Viability as a Regulative Constraint on Environmental Philosophy.” Society for Social and Political Philosophy (in conjunction with the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association). New York, NY. Winter 2009.
• “Climate Change as Meta-Ethical Emergency: An Argument for a Relational Anthropocentrism.” MidSouth Philosophy Conference. Spring 2009.
• “Is Anthropocentrism the Best Model for Contemporary Environmental Ethics?” (with Steven Smith). Tri-State Liberal Arts Philosophy Symposium. Spring 2009
• “Widows, Orphans, Strangers, and Swamp-Marshes.” Harding University (invited). Spring 2009.
• "Vision Without Image: A Levinasian Topology." Southwestern Philosophical Society. Fall 2008.
• "Existential Appropriations: The Influence of Jean Wahl on Levinas's Reading of Kierkegaard." Søren Kierkegaard Society (at National American Academy of Religion). Fall 2008.
• "What Does 'Ethics' Mean in Postmodernism?" Harding University (invited). Fall 2008.
• "Reconstructive Separatism: What Has Phenomenology to do with Theology?" University of Mississippi (invited). Fall 2008.
• "'If I Came Naked Thus . . .': Geocultural Constraints on Deliberation and an Appeal for Environmental Theo-Praxy." Climate Change and Consumption-An Interdisciplinary Conference. Spring 2008.
• "Five Themes in New Phenomenology." North Texas Philosophical Association. Spring 2008
• "Levinasian Otherism, Skepticism, and the Problem of Self-Refutation" (with Scott Aikin). Midsouth Philosophy Conference. Spring 2008.
• "Opposition or Interlocutor: New Possibilities for Contemporary Continental Philosophy of Religion." Mississippi Philosophical Association. Spring 2008.
• "On Giving and Receiving Accounts: Justification in a Deconstructive Democracy." American Academy of Religion Southwestern Regional Meeting. Spring 2008
• "Is Caring for People the Key to Caring for the Environment?" Vanderbilt Univeristy Berry Lecture (invited Keynote Address). Spring 2008
• "Eschatology Without a Telos." Co-authored with Nathan R. Kerr. Wesleyan Theological Society. Duke University. Spring 2008

Works in Progress

• With Good Reason: Toward a Deconstructive Epistemology. I am in the early stages of working on this book manuscript. 
• Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good: On the Evangelical Turn to the Environment. The manuscript is currently under review.
• Co-authoring (with Nathan R. Kerr) a book manuscript entitled From Necessity to Hope: Continental Perspectives on Eschatology.