Oisín Keohane
Research Bio
My research primarily explores issues of linguistic justice, 'Anglobalisation', and philosophical nationalism. Another strand of my research explores film-philosophy, feminism, carnal hermeneutics, the nude and erotic friendship.
I cross the analytic-continental divide, and the three 'traditions' that most influence me are: Phenomenology, the Frankfurt School and so-called Ordinary Language Philosophy.
Wider Research Interests:
Continental Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Aesthetics, Philosophy and Film, Philosophy and Painting, Philosophy and Literature, History of Philosophy.
Employment
Sep 2015– University of Dundee
Lecturer in Philosophy
July 2013-June 2015 University of Toronto, Canada
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
January 2013– University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Senior Research Associate
January-June 2013 University of Edinburgh, UK.
IASH Postdoctoral Fellow
2012 University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
NRF Free-Standing Postdoctoral Fellow
Visiting Fellowships
May-June 2015, Australian National University, Australia. Visiting Fellow at the Humanities Research Center.
Qualifications
PhD, London School of Economics, UK (2011)
MA, University of Kent, UK (2007)
BA, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (2005)
I have published one book, and I am currently working on two more:
1) Cosmo-Nationalism: American, French and German Philosophy
My first book (published by Edinburgh University Press) examines both the national character of philosophy (e.g. the very idea of ‘German Philosophy’ or ‘French Philosophy’) and the philosophical character of the national. It focuses on Kant, Fichte, Tocqueville, and Emerson, as well as Derrida’s unpublished seminars on philosophical nationalism. The argument of the book takes on two rivals: on the one hand, those social scientists who dismiss the philosophical aspects of nationalism as epiphenomenal and, on the other hand, those philosophers who dismiss nationalism as something external to philosophy. My central thesis is that nationalism always involves a non-empirical construal about what man is and which group is best fit to represent humanity.
2) How to Do Things with 'Anglobalisation': Towards Linguistic Justice
In my second book project, I argue that rather than being simply for or against English as a world language (what I call ‘Anglobalisation’), one needs to find, in specific contexts, the best negotiation between linguistic justice and transnational democratic needs. This research can be divided into four aspects: 1) reconceptualising languages in the age of ‘Anglobalisation’, 2) the philosophy of globalisation, 3) linguistic justice, and 4) philosophical untranslatables. The book revisits some of the major ideas of the linguistic turn via the emerging field of linguistic justice, with a view to providing solutions to the dominance of English in philosophy and the world at large.
3) Being Without Clothes: A Phenomenology of Venus
My third project is on carnal hermeneutics and the philosophical status of nudity in film, painting and sculpture. This is an interdisciplinary work which seeks to combine a philosophical interest in the nude (in such figures as Nancy, Derrida, Jullien and Agamben) with the nude as a genre in art history (in such figures as Kenneth Clark, T.J. Clark, Nanette Salomon and Lynda Nead). As well as examining the philosophical and artistic history of the nude, it also analyses the contemporary uses of nudity, from the nude selfie to nudity as a means of political protest.
Address: University of Dundee
My research primarily explores issues of linguistic justice, 'Anglobalisation', and philosophical nationalism. Another strand of my research explores film-philosophy, feminism, carnal hermeneutics, the nude and erotic friendship.
I cross the analytic-continental divide, and the three 'traditions' that most influence me are: Phenomenology, the Frankfurt School and so-called Ordinary Language Philosophy.
Wider Research Interests:
Continental Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Aesthetics, Philosophy and Film, Philosophy and Painting, Philosophy and Literature, History of Philosophy.
Employment
Sep 2015– University of Dundee
Lecturer in Philosophy
July 2013-June 2015 University of Toronto, Canada
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
January 2013– University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Senior Research Associate
January-June 2013 University of Edinburgh, UK.
IASH Postdoctoral Fellow
2012 University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
NRF Free-Standing Postdoctoral Fellow
Visiting Fellowships
May-June 2015, Australian National University, Australia. Visiting Fellow at the Humanities Research Center.
Qualifications
PhD, London School of Economics, UK (2011)
MA, University of Kent, UK (2007)
BA, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (2005)
I have published one book, and I am currently working on two more:
1) Cosmo-Nationalism: American, French and German Philosophy
My first book (published by Edinburgh University Press) examines both the national character of philosophy (e.g. the very idea of ‘German Philosophy’ or ‘French Philosophy’) and the philosophical character of the national. It focuses on Kant, Fichte, Tocqueville, and Emerson, as well as Derrida’s unpublished seminars on philosophical nationalism. The argument of the book takes on two rivals: on the one hand, those social scientists who dismiss the philosophical aspects of nationalism as epiphenomenal and, on the other hand, those philosophers who dismiss nationalism as something external to philosophy. My central thesis is that nationalism always involves a non-empirical construal about what man is and which group is best fit to represent humanity.
2) How to Do Things with 'Anglobalisation': Towards Linguistic Justice
In my second book project, I argue that rather than being simply for or against English as a world language (what I call ‘Anglobalisation’), one needs to find, in specific contexts, the best negotiation between linguistic justice and transnational democratic needs. This research can be divided into four aspects: 1) reconceptualising languages in the age of ‘Anglobalisation’, 2) the philosophy of globalisation, 3) linguistic justice, and 4) philosophical untranslatables. The book revisits some of the major ideas of the linguistic turn via the emerging field of linguistic justice, with a view to providing solutions to the dominance of English in philosophy and the world at large.
3) Being Without Clothes: A Phenomenology of Venus
My third project is on carnal hermeneutics and the philosophical status of nudity in film, painting and sculpture. This is an interdisciplinary work which seeks to combine a philosophical interest in the nude (in such figures as Nancy, Derrida, Jullien and Agamben) with the nude as a genre in art history (in such figures as Kenneth Clark, T.J. Clark, Nanette Salomon and Lynda Nead). As well as examining the philosophical and artistic history of the nude, it also analyses the contemporary uses of nudity, from the nude selfie to nudity as a means of political protest.
Address: University of Dundee
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Books by Oisín Keohane
So why do we assign nationalities to philosophies? Building on Jacques Derrida's unpublished seminars on philosophical nationalism, Oisín Keohane claims that national philosophies are a variant of some form of cosmo-nationalism: a strain of nationalism that uses, rather than opposes, ideas in cosmopolitanism to advance the aims of one nation.
Papers by Oisín Keohane
In 1763, the French-language philosopher D’Alembert, who co-edited the Encyclopédie, ruefully predicted that by the end of the eighteenth century a philosopher who wished to fully understand the works of the preceding generation would be obliged to acquire a knowledge of seven or eight different languages. Had he lived in the present generation, he would have likely worked for Google and published his Encyclopaedia in English, and it is also plausible to believe that he would have been happy that philosophers once again had one tongue to mutually converse in, even if that language wasn’t French.
I believe however that the current linguistic situation of philosophy is much more fraught and poses a series of challenges to all who engage in it. While philosophers are not obliged to learn seven or eight different languages, there is a real danger of English monolingualising philosophical discourse, or having an undue influence on it. This danger arises not because the language used to philosophise predetermines how philosophy will proceed, but because, in much more subtle ways, linguistic hegemony can produce unjust forms of influence that remain largely undetected. This influence ranges from different connotations coming to mind when reading owing to different semantic overtones, to treating a word deeply embedded in Anglophone culture as if it were the name of a universal norm. The fact that this happening to philosophy is all the more alarming given that philosophy is supposed to challenge all unjust forms of influence as well liberate us from them. My overarching thesis is thus that while there are real advantages to using English, this does not mean that philosophy should be unburdened from its responsibility to think beyond any given language, including English. Put otherwise, the globalisation of English is not a free ride for philosophy, and as a result, it behoves us philosophers, whether we use English as a second language or not, to think about language politics, including the language politics of philosophical discourse, more than we do.
So why do we assign nationalities to philosophies? Building on Jacques Derrida's unpublished seminars on philosophical nationalism, Oisín Keohane claims that national philosophies are a variant of some form of cosmo-nationalism: a strain of nationalism that uses, rather than opposes, ideas in cosmopolitanism to advance the aims of one nation.
In 1763, the French-language philosopher D’Alembert, who co-edited the Encyclopédie, ruefully predicted that by the end of the eighteenth century a philosopher who wished to fully understand the works of the preceding generation would be obliged to acquire a knowledge of seven or eight different languages. Had he lived in the present generation, he would have likely worked for Google and published his Encyclopaedia in English, and it is also plausible to believe that he would have been happy that philosophers once again had one tongue to mutually converse in, even if that language wasn’t French.
I believe however that the current linguistic situation of philosophy is much more fraught and poses a series of challenges to all who engage in it. While philosophers are not obliged to learn seven or eight different languages, there is a real danger of English monolingualising philosophical discourse, or having an undue influence on it. This danger arises not because the language used to philosophise predetermines how philosophy will proceed, but because, in much more subtle ways, linguistic hegemony can produce unjust forms of influence that remain largely undetected. This influence ranges from different connotations coming to mind when reading owing to different semantic overtones, to treating a word deeply embedded in Anglophone culture as if it were the name of a universal norm. The fact that this happening to philosophy is all the more alarming given that philosophy is supposed to challenge all unjust forms of influence as well liberate us from them. My overarching thesis is thus that while there are real advantages to using English, this does not mean that philosophy should be unburdened from its responsibility to think beyond any given language, including English. Put otherwise, the globalisation of English is not a free ride for philosophy, and as a result, it behoves us philosophers, whether we use English as a second language or not, to think about language politics, including the language politics of philosophical discourse, more than we do.