Professor Raimond Gaita Ph.D. (Leeds), M.A. (Melb), B.A. (Hons. Melb.) Fellow of the Australian Aacdemy of the Humanities
Foundation Professor of Philosophy
Raimond Gaita was educated in Victoria, Australia where he received a BA (Hons) and an MA from the University of Melbourne. Under the supervision of R.F. Holland, he wrote a Ph.D. at the University of Leeds. He is currently Foundation Professor of Philosophy at ACU National and Professor of Moral Philosophy at King's College London. Each year he is in England from October until the beginning of the academic year at ACU.
Gaita's main research interests and publications have been in ethics. He has also worked and written on scepticism (moral, of other minds and of the external world), on the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of psychology, on aspects of political philosophy (collective responsibility, the role of moral considerations in politics, genocide and the alleged uniqueness of the Holocaust), on education (the nature of teaching as a vocation, the role of love in learning and the plight of the universities) and on Wittgenstein's philosophy of mind and language.
Because he believes that it is generally a good thing for philosophers to address an educated and hard-thinking lay audience as well as their colleagues, Gaita has written extensively for non-academic publications. He has also written a prize-winning memoir about his father, Romulus, My Father, which has been made into a feature film of the same name (http://www.romulusmyfather.com.au).
Contact details
Email: raimond.gaita@acu.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 9953 3159
Fax: +61 3 9953 3325
Location: 45, Level 4, 250 Victoria Parade, Melbourne Campus (St Patrick's)
Fields of expertise/interest
Ethics, scepticism, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, aspects of political philosophy, collective responsibility, genocide, education and Wittgenstein's philosophy of mind and language.
Selected Publications and Papers
Books
(ed.) Value and Understanding: Essays for Peter Winch (London & New York: Routledge 1990).
Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception (London: Macmillan, 1991. Reprinted New York: St. Martins Press, 1994, 1996). 2nd. ed., (London and New York: Routledge, 2004).
Romulus, My Father (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 1988), (Barcelona: Ediciones Del Bronce, 2001), (Salzburg and Hamburg, Salzburg and Vienna: Residenz Verlag, 2001) (Amsterdam: Ambo, 2004) (Haifa: Carmel, 2008). Winner, Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, 1998; Shortlisted, Queensland Premier’s Award for Contribution to Public Debate 1999; Braille Book of the Year 1999; Age Book of the Year 1999, National Biography Award, 1999. Nominated by New Statesman, London, as one of the best books of 1999 and by The Australian Financial Review as one of the ten best books of the decade.
Romulus My Father is also published as an Audio Book. (ABC Cassettes, 1999; ABC CD, 2007)
A Common Humanity; Thinking about Love & Truth & Justice (Melbourne: Text Publishing 1999); (London and New York: Routledge, 2000). Nominated by The Economist as one of the best books of 2000
The Philosophers Dog (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2002), pp. 214; (London: Routledge, 2003); (New York: Random House, 2003); (Amsterdam: Ambo/Anthos, 2003); (Berlin: Rogner and Berhnard 2003); (Tapai: The Bookery, 2004); (Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 2004); (Istanbul: Dost Kitabevi Yayinlari, 2005); (Tokyo: Shuei-Sha, 2005); (Jerusalem: The Attic, 2005); (Rio deJaneiro: Betrand Brasil); (Genoa: Il Melangola 2007) (Portugal: Casa das Letras 2007). Shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Award (2003) and The Age Book of the Year (2003). Nominated by the Kansas City Star as one of the ten best books of 2005.
(ed.) Why the War Was Wrong (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2003).
Breach of Trust: Truth, Morality and Politics (Melbourne: Black Inc 2004) reprinted in Four Quarterly Essays on Australian Politics (Melbourne: Black Inc, 2007).
Chapters in Books
'The Personal in Ethics', in P. Winch and D. Z. Phillips (eds.), Wittgenstein: Attention to Particulars, (London: Macmillan, 1989).
'Ethical Individuality', in R. Gaita (ed.), Value and Understanding: Essays for Peter Winch, (London & New York: Routledge, 1990).
'Wittgenstein's Builders: Language and Conversation', in A. Phillips Griffith (ed.), Wittgenstein: Centenary Lectures (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
'Radical Critique, Scepticism and Commonsense', in D. Cockburn (ed.), Human Beings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).
'’Is Religion an Infantile Morality’, in D. Z. Phillips (ed.), Morality and Religion (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996).
'The Moralisation of Good and Evil', in L. Alanen (ed.), Particularity and Communality in Ethics (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996).
'Not Right', in P. Craven (ed.), Best Australian Essays 1998 (Melbourne: Bookman, 1998).
'Truth and the Universities', in C. A Coady (ed.), Why Universities Matter (Melbourne: Allen & Unwin, 1999).
'Shame, Guilt and Collective Responsibility', in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Reconciliation (Melbourne: Bookman Press, May 2000).
‘Who Speaks, With What Right To Whom?', in P. Craven (ed.), Best Australian Essays 2000, (Melbourne: Bookman Press, 2000).
‘Terror and Justice', in P. Craven (ed.), Best Australian Essays 2001 (Melbourne: Bookman Press, 2001). This essay was shortlisted in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2002.
'Intervening in Ethics', in J. Whittaker (ed.), The Possibilities of Sense (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002).
'The War of 'Good Against Evil'', in Tony Coady (ed.), Terror and Justice (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002).
‘The university: is it finished?’ in Simon Cooper, John Hinkson, and Geoff Sharp, Geoff (eds.) Scholars and Entrepreneurs: the Universities in Crisis (Melbourne: Arena Press, 2002). An earlier version was published in Eureka Street, vol.10, Sept 2000 and in Arena Journal, nos. 17-18 (2002), pp. 91-108.
‘Introduction to Raimond Gaita (ed.), Why the War Was Wrong, (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2003).
'A Last Resort', in Raimond Gaita (ed.), Why the War Was Wrong (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2003).
'Moral Inquiry in a Catholic University', in Anthony Fisher OP, Hayden Ramsay (eds.), Faith and Reason: Friends or Foes in the New Millenium? (Adelaide: Australian Theological Forum Press, 2004).
‘Refocusing Genocide: A Philosophical Responsibility’, in John K Roth (ed.) Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide, (Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
‘Biography, Memory and Truth’ in Morag Fraser (compil. and ed.), Inga Clendinnen: A Celebration, (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2005).
‘Justice and Hope’ in Drusilla Modjeska (ed) Best Australian Essays 2006 (Melbourne: Black Inc 2006
‘From Book to Film: Introduction to Nick Drake’s Screenplay, Romulus, My Father (Brisbane: Currency Press, 2007).
Introduction to Peter Winch, The Idea of a Social Science and Its Relation to Philosophy Routledge Classics (London and New York: Routledge, 2007))
'The Moral Force of Reconciliation' in Altman, J. and Hinkson M. (eds.) Coercive Reconciliation (Melbourne: Arena Publications, 2007)
Selected Papers
Academic
'Integrity', Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplement, vol. 15 (1981), pp.161-176.
'Better One than Ten', Philosophical Investigations, vol. 5, no. 2 (April 1982), pp. 87- 105.
'Against Empiricism', Philosophical Investigations, vol. 6, no. 3 (July 1983), pp. 214-228.
'Moral Luck', Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 132 (July 1983), pp. 288-296.
'Virtues, Human Good and the Unity of a Life', Inquiry, vol. 26 (December 1984), pp. 407-424.
‘’Animal Thoughts', Philosophical Investigations, vol. 15, no. 3 (1992), pp. 227-244.
'Goodness and Truth', Philosophy, vol. 67, no. 262 (1993), pp. 507-521.
'Romulus, My Father: A Reply', The Critical Review, no. 41 (2001), pp. 44-67. Also: http://www.lifenarrative.net/articles/articles/romulus,-my-father-a-colloquy..html
'Rush Rhees: Moral Questions, Critical Notice', Philosophical Investigations, vol. 25, i. 1 (January 2002), pp. 94-110.
‘On Seeing the Full Humanity of Others', Societas Ethica Jahresbericht/Annual 2002: Sustaining Humanity Beyond Humanism, Annual 2002-2003.
'Narratives, Identity and Moral Philosophy', Philosophical Papers, vol. 32, no. 3 (2003), pp. 261-277.
‘Callicles' Challenge’ in Critical Quarterly, vol. 47, nos. 1-2 Spring/Summer (2005), pp. 40-52.
‘Torture: The Lesser Evil?’, Tijdschrift Voor Filosophie, 68/2006, pp. 251-278.
General
'Teaching as a Vocation', Quadrant April 1990.
'Goodness and Truth: The Spiritual Value of University Studies', Quadrant, May
'Ethics, Politics and Religion: Yeshayahu Leibowitz', Quadrant, October 1992.
'Communism and the Twentieth Century: Dilemmas Real and Imagined', Arena Magazine, March 1995.
'Remembering the Holocaust', (John Henry Newman Lecture 1995) Quadrant, December 1995.
'Some Questions for Peter Singer's Admirers', Arena, February 1996. Also in Bio-ethics Outlook, June 1996.
'Love and Learning', The Age, July 2001
'Religion and Justice', Australian Book Review, November 2002.
'Done in our name: on torture, The Age, December 2004.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/General/Done-in-our-name/2004/12/17/1102787225436.html
‘A Hollow Victory if Life Crushes Liberty’, The Age, August 2005. http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/a-hollow-victory-if-life-crushes-liberty/2005/08/02/1122748636676.html
‘There is No Honour in Doing Evil for a Good Cause’, The Sydney Morning Herald, March 2006. http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/there-is-no-honour-in-doing-evil-for-a-good-cause/2006/03/22/1142703443893.html
‘Torture: Thinking the Unthinkable’, The Age, May 2005.
‘Friendship and My Father’, The Philosophers' Magazine, Issue 38, 2nd quarter 2007.
‘Landscape and Sensibility: The influence of the landscape on the writing of Romulus, My Father http://www.maldon.org.au/Gaita/index.shtml
‘Seeing the Humanity in People who are degraded’ http://www.cranlana.org.au/PDF/0000000346.pdf
‘Hope, Envy and Love of the World’
(Audio Streaming http://www.uni-potsdam.de/u/einsteinforum/html_docs/stream.htm
Raimond Gaita and Robert Connolly discuss Romulus, My Father (the film) http://video.aol.com/video-detail/9am-raimond-gaita-rob-connolly/2203119501
Interview with Raimond Gaita, Romulus, My Father DVD (Madman Entertainment)
