ERIC MICHAEL DALE, Ph.D
Emerson College ● Dept. of Communication Studies
120 Boylston St., 9th Floor ● Boston, MA 02116
Email: eric_dale [at] emerson.edu
Academic Employment:
Instructor (since 2008), Fisher College, Boston, MA.
PH101 Introduction to Philosophy
PH103 Ethics
PH121 Topics in Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion
PH123 Introduction to World Religions
ISO 200 Honors Colloquium: Plato, Aristotle, and the Roots of Western Thought
Affiliated Faculty (Since 2007), Emerson College, Boston MA
PH105 Introduction to Ethics
PH110 Ethics and Justice
PH112 Religion in Eastern Cultures
PH200 Contemporary Ethics
PH204 Environmental Ethics
PH210 Narrative Ethics
Instructor (2005-2008), Newbury College, Boston, MA.
HU135 World Religions
HU152 Introduction to Western Philosophy
HU305 Ethics
Instructor, Boston University, Boston, MA.
RN103 Religions of the World: Eastern (Fall 2006)
RN104 Religions of the World: Western (Summer 2009)
Teaching Fellow, Boston University, Boston, MA.
RN103 Religions of the World: Eastern, with Prof. David Eckel (Fall 2005)
RN363 Zen Buddhism, with Prof. Dan Lusthaus (Spring 2005)
RN362 Chinese Medicine, and RN210 Buddhism, with Prof. Dan Lusthaus (Fall 2004)
STH810 Theology II: Christian Theology, with Prof. Wesley Wildman (Spring 2004)
STH704 Theology I: History of Christian Doctrine, with Prof. Luc Richard (Fall 2003)
Teaching Assistant, Southwestern Seminary, Fort Worth, TX.
HEBRW 4313 Elementary Hebrew I, with Prof. Rick Johnson (Fall 1999)
PHREL 4373 Christianity and World Religions, with Prof. Paul Sands (Spring 1999)
SYSTH 4443 Systematic Theology, with Prof. Robert Williams (Fall 1998)
Areas of Specialization, Teaching, and Research
Philosophy of religion (esp. divine action and theodicy)
Continental philosophy & phenomenology (esp. Schelling, Hegel, Heidegger, Lévinas, Marion)
History of philosophy (esp. German Idealism, post-Hegelian political philosophy)
World Religions (historical and comparative)
Systematic, historical theology (esp.19th-20th century Protestantism, Catholic nouvelle théologie)
Ethics (theory and applied, esp. issues of personhood, environmental ethics)
Biblical studies (esp. Hebrew wisdom lit. and its relationship to Johannine lit.)
Religion and literature (esp. theology and Romantic German and English poetry)
Education:
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D), Philosophy of Religion, Boston University. January 2009.
Alan Olson (principal advisor)
Dissertation: Hegel, History, and Evil: Toward Finite Theodicies. Defended 18 Dec 2008.
The committee consisted of Alan M. Olson, Michael Zank, Robert Cummings Neville, and
Krzysztof Michalski of Boston University, and Gordon D. Kaufman of Harvard University.
Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.), Harvard University, The Divinity School, 2002.
Francis Schüssler Fiorenza (advisor). Philosophy, theology.
Master of Arts (M.A.) cum laude, Theology, Southwestern Seminary, 2000
B. Keith Putt, Rick Johnson and Thomas Brisco (advisors). Philosophy, theology.
Thesis: Tradition, Novelty, and Transformation: Hermeneutics in Hans-Georg Gadamer with Constant Reference to Process Philosophy.
Bachelor of Music (Mus.B.), Voice, University of Central Arkansas, 1995
Tenor performance major
Minor in German language and literature
Awards and Fellowships:
Visiting Junior Fellow, Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna, Austria, 2006. Project Title: “Freedom in History: Revisiting Theodicy in Hegel's Philosophy of World History.”
Boston University Institute for Human Sciences Fellowship and Stipend, Spring 2006.
Publications:
“Humanism and Despotism: Hegel and Jaspers on Chinese History and Religion.” Existenz: An International Journal of Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts. Vol.5 No.1 (2010). (forthcoming).
“Hegel, Jesus, and Judaism.” Animus. The Canadian Journal of Philosophy and Humanities 11 (2006, Supplementa)
“Europe, Religion, and Self-Identity.” IWM Post 94 (Fall 2006):16-17, Vienna, Austria.
“Hegel, Evil, and the End of History.” In History and Judgement. Eds. Ingvild Torsen and Alice MacLachlan. IWM Junior Visiting Fellows Conferences, Vol. 21. Vienna: IWM, 2006.
Lectures and Presentations:
“Humanism and Despotism: Hegel and Jaspers on Chinese History and Religion.” American Philosophical Assoc. Eastern Division Meeting, 28 December 2009.
“Quinquae viae: Aquinas and the Western Medieval Reception of Aristotelian Thought ”
John Brown University Dept of Biblical Studies, 14 February 2008.
“Loss and the Religious Quest in the Poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin and Charles Williams”
Boston University College of Fine Arts, Tuesday Evening Lecture Series, 23 January 2007.
“The State/Individual and God/World Dynamics in Hegel's Philosophy of World History”
Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna, Austria, 15 February 2006.
“Distance and the Divine: Wordsworth, Hölderlin, and the Absence of God”
University of Texas at Brownsville, 2005 Southwest Conference on Christianity and Literature, 29 September 2005. Paper accepted, declined the invitation to present.
“Infinite Relationship: Reflections on the Trinity as Actus Purus”
Boston, MA, St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, 22 May 2005.
“The Possibility of Facing Death: Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Death, and Faith”
Florida State University, 2005 Dept. of Religion Graduate Symposium, 2 April 2005.
“Yogācāra Buddhism, Kant, and Husserl: Comparative Phenomenology or Misplaced Idealism?”
Boston University College of Arts and Sciences, 4 October 2004.
“Christ and the Religions, the Religions and Christ: A Comparative Theology of Religion”
Boston University School of Theology, 30 March 2004.
“Towards a Poetics of Place: Heidegger, Hölderlin, World, and Earth”
Harvard University, The Worldly Earth: An Ecological Conference, 20 March 2004.
“Comparing Kant and Aristotle: A Contemporary Ethical Example”
Boston University, Graduate Symposium in Philosophy of Religion, 4 November 2002.
Current Research:
My dissertation, Hegel, History, and Evil: Towards Finite Theodicies, deals with Hegel and the issue of theodicy or the problem of evil. As a work of religious scholarship, it contributes to the conversation surrounding the nature of the divine and the question of human evil. As a work of philosophy, it is a reappraisal both of Hegel’s philosophy of history and his philosophy of religion. I problematize the prevalent critical reading of Hegel’s philosophy of history by considering Hegel’s historical theodicy in light of his so-called “end of history” thesis, and the challenges that have arisen against theodicy in the wake of Heidegger’s critique of metaphysics. By using this approach, I show that Hegel’s theodicy has very definite limitations, but not the ones usually leveled against it. My goal in this study is to take seriously the criticisms brought against Hegel and theodicy, while proposing a new way to view the relationship between the two.
I am in the process of revising this dissertation into two book-length manuscripts (250-300pp each.) The first, a work of philosophy and history, situates Hegel’s philosophy of history between its two most important predecessors, Herder and Fichte, and its two most important early critics, Engels and Nietzsche. By tracing the development of philosophy of history from Herder to Nietzsche, I am able to show the strengths and weaknesses of Hegel’s work on history. At the same time, I provide a much-needed reappraisal of Hegel’s philosophy of history. The revision of this manuscript is nearly complete, with the chapter on Fichte completely rewritten from the dissertation. The second manuscript, a work of religion and philosophical theology, is a reading of Hegel’s historical theodicy in dialogue with Heidegger and Hölderlin. Arguing that neither Hegel’s absolute God nor Heidegger’s last God offers a satisfying account of evil, I offer an interpretation of Hölderlin’s poetic theme of an absent God, in order to suggest a new way to approach the issue of evil and the divine. This manuscript is being thoroughly reworked from the form it took in the dissertation, and will be ready to submit to publishers within one year.
In addition, I am structuring a manuscript for a book on justice, based on my successful course at Emerson College PH110 Ethics and Justice. The book is arranged chronologically, and right now has chapters on Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Kant, Mill, Hegel, Rawls, and Lévinas. I envision the book as both an introduction to the issues of ethics and justice, as well as an original argument about the concept of the self and the self’s relationship with notions of individual and societal justice. This manuscript is in the planning and research stage.
I am also in the process of revising my essays on Hölderlin, Wordsworth, and Williams, and researching work on Whitman, Auden, and Rilke, in order to present a book-length study on the theological, biblical, and philosophical theme of divine presence and absence in their poems.
Languages:
German: reading and research competence, basic speaking skills
French: reading and research competence, basic speaking skills
Biblical Greek: good reading and research competence
Classical Greek: basic reading and research competence
Biblical Hebrew: basic reading and research competence
Professional Memberships:
American Academy of Religion
American Philosophical Association
Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Society of Christian Philosophers
The Medieval Academy of America
Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars
Professional References:
A complete list of references and letters of recommendation can be supplied upon request.
Updated 12 January 2010