JON RICK CURRICULUM VITAE
204 Hill St. Department of Philosophy Chapel Hill, NC 27514 UNC Chapel Hill Phone: 917-301-6659 CB # 3125 Email: [email protected] 240 East Cameron St. Chapel Hill, NC 27599 Dept. Phone: 919-962-2280 Dept. Fax: 919-843-3929 EMPLOYMENT
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Visiting Assistant Professor, 2009-10
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Philosophy, Columbia University, 2009 M.Phil. Philosophy, Columbia University, 2005 M.A. Philosophy, Columbia University, 2003 B.A. Philosophy, Columbia University, 2001 Senior Honors Thesis: ‘Might There Be Normative Internal Reasons?’ Advisor: Akeel Bilgrami, 2001 Columbia University’s Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program, St. Peter’s College, Oxford, 1999-2000.
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy, History of Modern Moral Philosophy
AREAS OF COMPETENCE
Practical Reason & Value Theory, Metaethics, Philosophy of Economics
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
MELLON AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES DISSERTATION COMPLETION FELLOWSHIP, 2008-2009, National dissertation write-up fellowship WHITING FELLOWSHIP, Columbia University, 2008-2009 (declined to accept Mellon/ACLS) Dissertation write-up fellowship awarded to 11 (on average) Columbia students in the humanities WOLSTEIN FELLOWSHIP, Columbia University, 2007-2008 Awarded for scholarship in value theory TOBY STROBER MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP, Columbia University, 2005-2006 Awarded for scholarship in moral or scientific theory JONATHAN LEIBERSON MEMORIAL PRIZE, Columbia University, 2004 Awarded for the best essay showing the applicability of moral or scientific theory to a social or historical issue.
Page 1. Curriculum Vitae: Jon Rick PUBLICATIONS
“Hume’s and Smith’s Partial Sympathies and Impartial Stances,” Journal of Scottish Philosophy, vol. 5.2 (October 2007).
PRESENTATIONS Invited Panelist for a public discussion sponsored by the UNC Economics Club entitled, “What Defines Fairness? Theories of Justice and Inequality,” Chapel Hill, NC, December 2009.
Invited Conferee to the UNC-Chapel Hill / Duke University Philosophy Politics, and Economics Workshop on Non-Ideal Theory, Chapel Hill, NC, September 2009.
“The Impartial Spectator’s Amour-Propre,” The International Adam Smith Society & The Adam Smith Review Conference to Commemorate the 250th Anniversary of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Balliol College, Oxford, UK January 2009.
Invited Conferee to the Liberty Fund Colloquium entitled, “Law in a Polite and Commercial Society: Smith’s Lectures on Jurisprudence and Blackstone’s Commentaries,” Bath, UK, January 2009.
“Can We Find Hume’s Virtue of Justice on His Own Terms?” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Division I Panel entitled, “Hume as a Political Theorist,” Boston, MA, August 2008.
“Sympathy and Engagement,” Conference on Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, May 2006.
Comment on Nicholas Southwood’s paper entitled, “Reasons, Reasonable Rejectability, Redundancy,” Columbia/NYU Graduate Conference, New York, NY, March 2004.
UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE
COURSES TAUGHT
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, AND ECONOMICS UNC-Chapel Hill, Fall 2009 & Spring 2010 This interdisciplinary gateway course provides an introduction to subjects and quantitative techniques used to analyze problems in philosophy, political science, and economics. This course explores a number of issues at the intersection of philosophy, political theory and economic theory.
PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE UNC-Chapel Hill, Fall 2009 & Spring 2010
CONTEMPORARY CIVILIZATION Columbia University, Fall 2005-Spring 2006 & Fall 2006-Spring 2007 A year long Sophomore Seminar in the History of Western Moral, Political, Social and Religious Philosophy in Columbia University’s Core Curriculum.
HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY: AQUINAS TO KANT Columbia University, Summer 2004
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TEACHING ASSISTANT
History of Modern Philosophy: Aquinas to Kant Christia Mercer, Columbia University, Spring 2004
Ancient Philosophy: Pre-Socratics to Augustine Katja Vogt, Columbia University, Fall 2004
History of Modern Philosophy: Aquinas to Kant Christia Mercer, Columbia Univesity, Spring 2003
Methods and Problems in Philosophic Thought Akeel Bilgrami, Columbia University, Fall 2003
GRADUATE-LEVEL COURSEWORK [Columbia University unless otherwise indicated]
Credit Rousseau, Fred Neuhouser Quodlibetal Studies II, Philip Kitcher Research in Philosophy I, Philip Kitcher Philosophy of Economics, Philip Kitcher Modal Logic, Achille Varzi Topics in the Theory of Knowledge: Contextualism, John Collins Language and Mind, Akeel Bilgrami Evolution of Altruism, Philip Kitcher Aristotle, Wolfgang Mann Self-Knowledge, Akeel Bilgrami Political Philosophy: John Rawls, Thomas Nagel [NYU] Topics in the Theory of Knowledge: Realism/Anti-Realism, Crispin Wright (visiting prof.) Introduction to Symbolic Logic, Achille Varzi Problems in Legal Philosophy: Law and Morality, Joseph Raz Audit Seminar on Pragmatism, Philip Kitcher Philosophy of Social Science, Jon Elster Modern Legal Philosophy: The Books, Jeremy Waldron Problems in Legal Philosophy: Respect, Joseph Raz Recognition in Political and Moral Theory, Frederick Neuhouser Metaphysics: Personal Identity, Sydney Shoemaker (visitng prof.) [NYU] Meaning: Philosophy of John McDowell, Akeel Bilgrami Events, Achille Varzi Kant’s Ethics, Patricia Kitcher Equality of Respect, Joseph Raz & Jeremy Waldron Philosophy of Religion: Nietzsche and the Pragmatists, Wayne Proudfoot Normative Theories of Justice, Brian Barry & Jon Elster Empirical Studies of Justice, Brian Barry & Jon Elster Production of the Past (colloquia series), Partha Chatterjee & Nicholas Dirks (organizers)
Page 3. Curriculum Vitae: Jon Rick ACADEMIC SERVICE
Editorial Assistant, Archiv Fuer Geschichte Der Philosophie, 2004-2006
Referee, Columbia/NYU Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, 2003-2008
Departmental Representative in the Graduate School Academic Council, 2003-2004
Columbia University Departmental Graduate Student Representative, 2002-2003
LANGUAGES
Intermediate Spoken French & Intermediate/Advanced French Reading
DISSERTATION
FROM PARTIAL PASSIONS TO MORAL SENTIMENTS: TAKING UP ADAM SMITH’S IMPARTIAL SPECTATOR PERSPECTIVE.
This dissertation normatively reconstructs and defends Adam Smith’s sentimentalist Impartial Spectator theory of moral judgment. After beginning with a critical analysis of David Hume’s sentimentalist theory of moral evaluation, I reconstruct Smith’s theory of moral judgment as offering both a more explanatorily and normatively adequate meta-ethical theory of moral judgment, namely his account of the Impartial Spectator. Although, Smith’s moral project was arguably, largely descriptive, I develop a normative reconstruction of what would be morally required of persons were they to determine their moral judgments in the manner developed by Smith—were they to take up, normatively, the Impartial Spectator perspective. I argue that Smith offers a complexly nuanced account of morality, which realizes values that give persons good reasons to take up the perspective of the Impartial Spectator as their moral point of view. In developing and defending this Smithian theory of moral judgment, I appeal to moral psychological resources from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s account of Amour-Propre, the desire for recognition.
Dissertation Committee: Philip Kitcher (Director), Frederick Neuhouser, Macalester Bell.
REFERENCES
Philip Kitcher Columbia University Department of Philosophy Phone: 212-854-4884 Email: [email protected]
Fred Neuhouser Barnard College Department of Philosophy Phone: 212-854-2064 Email: [email protected]
Macalester Bell
Page 4. Curriculum Vitae: Jon Rick Columbia University Department of Philosophy Phone: 212-854-5073 Email: [email protected]
Joseph Raz Columbia University School of Law Phone: 212-854-5191 Email: [email protected]
Christia Mercer Columbia University Department of Philosophy Phone: 212-854-3190 Email: [email protected]
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