Regents Professor of Philosophy Russell Goodman has been named a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. He will spend the summer of 2009 working on philosophers of the "Scottish Enlightenment" of the mid-18th century, including David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Reid and Francis Hutcheson.
“These European figures are important influences on 18th century American thinkers, including the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin,” Goodman said. He will write about them in a new history of American Philosophy Before Pragmatism that Oxford University Press asked him to write.
Goodman specializes in 19th and 20th century philosophy, especially Wittgenstein, American philosophy and pragmatism. He has written a number of books, among them “American Philosophy and the Romantic Tradition”, “Pragmatism: A Contemporary Reader”, and “Wittgenstein and William James.” He has also written a number of encyclopedia entries in the field of philosophy.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzalez (505) 277-5920; cgonzal@unm.edu