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Joseph C. Berendzen

Chair of the Department of Philosophy; William and Audrey Hutchinson Distinguished Professor

Education

Ph.D., Villanova

Departments

  • College of Arts and Sciences
  • Philosophy

Bio

Dr. Berendzen specializes in 19th and 20th Century European philosophy, focusing on German Idealism, Frankfurt School critical theory, and French existential phenomenology.  Much of his research is concerned with drawing links between so-called Continental philosophy and certain movements in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy.  Along with teaching in his research areas, he regularly teaches courses on topics in political philosophy and philosophy of law.

Classes Taught

  • German Romanticism
  • Naturalism and its Critics
  • Social and Political Philosophy
  • European World Views

Areas of Expertise

  • Phenomenology
  • Critical Theory
  • German Idealism

Publications

  • "Reciprocity and Self-Restriction in Primary Recognition," in Axel Honneth and the Critical Theory of Recognition, ed. Volker Schmitz, Palgrave MacMillan, 2019.
  • “Picking Out the Right Color: Perceptual Normativity in Merleau-Ponty,” in Living Existentialism: Essays in Honor of Thomas W. Busch, eds. Gregory Hoskins and J.C. Berendzen, Pickwick Publications, 2017.
  • "Motor Imagery and Merleau-Pontyian Accounts of Skilled Action," Ergo 1:7 (2014).
  • "Disjunctivism and Perceptual Knowledge in Merleau-Ponty and McDowell," Res Philosophica 91:3 (2014) 1-26.