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Richard J . White, PhD

Professor

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College of Arts and Sciences
Philosophy
DHHC - Dowling Hall/Humanities Center - 110

Richard J . White, PhD

Professor

As a native of the United Kingdom, I studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Warwick.  After I graduated I came to the United States where I completed my Ph. D in Philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook.  At Creighton I teach a variety of different courses, including:  Philosophy and Literature, Philosophy of Love and Sex, Multiculturalism, World Philosophy, 19th and 20th Century Philosophy, and most recently, Philosophy and Spirituality, which is now the focus of my concern. For several years I have been the Director of the Masters in Liberal Studies program.  My books include: Nietzsche and the Problem of Sovereignty (University of Illinois), Love's Philosophy (Rowman and Littlefield); Radical Virtues: Moral Wisdom and the Ethics of Contemporary Life (Rowman and Littlefield); The Heart of Wisdom: A Philosophy of Spiritual Life (Rowman and Littlefield); The Spiritual Guide: Four Steps on the Path of Enlightenment (Cascade ); My next book, Spiritual Philosophers: From Schopenhauer to Irigaray will be published by Bloomsbury Academic.  I have edited an anthology on the work of Friederich Nietzsche: Nietzsche: Critical and Historical Perspectives (recently re-released by Routledge), and I have also published many essays on the history of philosophy.  I believe that philosophy asks all the big questions; it is a spiritual practice; and it can help us to live a better life.

Curriculum Vitae

Research Focus

.Philosophical perspectives on love, spirituality, wisdom, literature, and art.

Department

Philosophy

Position

Professor

Books

  • Bloomsbury
    Spiritual Philosophers: From Schopenhauer to Irigaray 2020
  • Cascade Books
    The Spiritual Guide: Four Steps on the Path of Enlightenment 2016
  • Rowman and Littlefield
    The Heart of Wisdom: A Philosophy of Spiritual Life 2013
  • Rowman and Littlefield
    Radical Virtues: Moral Wisdom and the Ethics of Contemporary Life 2008
  • Ashgate
    Nietzsche: Critical Essays in the History of Philosophy 2002
  • Rowman and Littlefield
    Love's Philosophy 2001
  • University of Illinois
    Nietzsche and the Problem of Sovereignty 1997

Articles

  • Journal for the Study of Spirituality
    Teaching Spirituality; A Personal View
    Vol.11 no.1, 2021 2021
  • Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism
    Spirituality without Religion: In a Post-Secular Age
    vol.28 article 4 2020 2021
  • The Philosophy of Spirituality
    'Spirit and Soul and Self-Overcoming: a Post-Jungian View, p. 293-311 2020
  • Religion and the Arts
    “Kandinsky: Thinking about the Spiritual in Art'
    vol.23, 2019 2019
  • Lexington Books: A Division of Rowman and Littlefield
    "From the Cave to Enlightenment" in Michael Brannigan (ed.), Spirituality and Deep Connectedness: Views on Being Fully Human., p. 1-16 2018
  • Cambridge University Press
    "Starting With Compassion" in David McPherson (ed.) Spirituality and the Good Life: Philosophical Approaches, p. 177-196 2018
  • Springer
    "Compassion in Philosophy and Education" in Paul Gibbs (ed.) The Pedagogy of Compassion at the Heart of Education, p. 19-31 2018
  • Journal of Aesthetic Education
    Walter Benjamin: the Storyteller and the Possibility of Wisdom
    forthcoming 2016
  • British Journal for the History of Philosophy
    Nietzsche on Generosity and the Gift-Giving Virtue
    November 2015 2015
  • Angelaki
    “Dialectics of Mourning” [death in Freud, Barthes and Derrida] in Angelaki:
    20:4 2015
  • Human Studies
    Foucault on the Care of the Self as an Ethical Project and a Spiritual Goal
    37, p. 489-504 2014
  • APA Newsletter Teaching Philosophy
    Teaching World Philosophy
    11, p. 5-9 2012
  • Heythrop Journal
    Levinas, The philosophy of suffering and the ethics of compassion.
    53, p. 111-123 2012
  • Creighton University Magazine
    A Return to Virtues
    Summer 2011 2011
  • International Philosophical Quarterly
    “Schopenhauer and Indian Philosophy: on the Limits of Comparative Thought”
    March 2010, p. 57-76 2010
  • Janus Head: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
    Bataille on Lascaux and the origins of art
    11, p. 319-331 2009
  • Utopian Studies
    George Orwell: Socialism and Utopia
    19, p. 73-95 2008
  • Journal of Philosophy of Education
    Rousseau and the education of compassion
    42, p. 35-48 2008
  • Philosophy Today
    Lyotard and posthuman possibilities
    50, p. 183-181 2006
  • Humanitas
    Herder: On the ethics of nationalism
    18, p. 166-181 2005
  • Journal for the Study of Spirituality
    Richard White,
    vol.11 no.1 2021 -0001

Editing and Reviews

  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    The Right to be Loved 2015
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Psychology 2015
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    The Cambridge companion to virtue ethics
    51, p. 648-649 2013
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    A philosophical history of love
    50, p. 888-888 2013
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    Forgiveness and love [Review]
    50, p. 1848-1848 2013
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    Migrating texts & traditions [REVIEW]
    50, p. 2244-2244 2013
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    The Smile of tragedy: Nietzche and the art of Virtue
    50, p. 679-679 2012
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    Empathy: philosophical and psychological perspectives
    49, p. 2070-2070 2012
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    Love: a history
    49, p. 1074-1074 2012
  • Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries
    Moralism: a study of a vice
    50, p. 97-97 2012
  • Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
    Understanding Nietzscheanism 2012
  • Heythrop Journal
    The Intersubjectivity of Time: Levinas and Infinite Responsibility
    vol.59 no.2 2018

Presentations

  • "Jung on the Answer to Job" at Creighton University, Philosophy Department Papers in Progress 2017
  • "Re-Reading Jung and the Answer To Job " at the European Studies Conference, Omaha 2017
  • "Spiritual but not Religious" at the Religion and Society Conference on Secularism at Creighton University 2017
  • "Four Steps on the Path of Enlightenment" at the Ethical Culture Society of New Jersey 2017
  • Schopenhauer's Philosophy of Music, presented at the European Studies conference 2016
  • Rilke's Philosophy of Love 2015
  • On Compassion presented at the Ethical Culture Society of New Jersey 2015
  • "Kandinsky on the Spiritual in Art" (extended version) presented at the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha 2014
  • "Kandinsky on the Spiritual in Art" presented at the European Studies conference, Omaha, 2014
  • "On Compassion" presentation with Carey Harrison, OM Center, Omaha 2014
  • "Walter Benjamin: The Storyteller and the Decline of Wisdom" presented at the European Studies conference, Omaha 2013
  • "Rumi: Mystic, Poet and Philosopher" presented at the Rumi Anniversary Celebration, OM Center, Omaha 2013
  • "Foucault on the Care of the Self" presented at Creighton University 2013
  • "Foucault on the Care of the Self: an Ancient Ideal for Modern Times?" presented at the European Studies conference, Omaha 2012
  • "Nietzsche and the Death of God Theology (50 Years 0n)" presented at Doane College, Lincoln, NE 2012
  • "Dialectics of Mourning," presented at the European Studies conference 2011
  • "Forgiveness as Spiritual Possibility: in Derrida and Modern European Thought," presented at the European Studies conference, Omaha 2010

Consulting

  • Program Reviewer
    I performed review of MALS Program at this site.
    Florida International University
    2014 - 2015
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