Who and What

Eric Michael Dale

Ph.D, Boston University

M.T.S., Harvard University

M.A., Southwestern Seminary

Mus.B, University of Central Arkansas

Selected Publications:

"Humanism and Despotism: Jaspers and Hegel on Chinese History and Religion." In Existenz: An International Journal of Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts. Vol.5 No.1 (2010). ISSN 1932-1066 (forthcoming).

"Hegel, Jesus, and Judaism." In Animus: The Canadian Journal of Philosophy and Humanities 11 (2006) ISSN 1209-0689.

My dissertation was successfully defended on 11 Dec 2008 at Boston University, under the supervision of Profs. Alan Olson and Michael Zank in the religion dept. The defense committee consisted of Olson, Zank, Robert Cummings Neville, Krzysztof Michalski, and Gordon D. Kaufman of Harvard. It deals with Hegel and the issue of theodicy, or the so-called problem of evil.

As a work of religious scholarship, the dissertation 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.

Return to Homepage