AssociateProfessor

Ph.D. University of California at Berkeley
david.cerbone@mail.wvu.edu

Specializations:

Continental Philosophy (especially Heidegger), Wittgenstein, History of Analytic Philosophy

Professional Bio:

Broadly construed, my ongoing research focuses primarily on two areas: (i) the phenomenological tradition, with an emphasis on the work of Martin Heidegger and Edmund Husserl; and (ii) Wittgenstein and early analytic philosophy. My research in (i) and (ii) overlaps considerably: I look to both areas for resources for understanding and criticizing traditional philosophical problems (e.g. problems oriented around skepticism, realism, and idealism), as well as currently dominant philosophical views, most notably naturalism in various forms (scientism, physicalism, materialism). My most recent work has primarily been concerned with the latter, with the often antagonistic relation between phenomenology and scientific naturalism. I'm interested in documenting both the attractions and dissatisfactions of naturalistic accounts of human beings and the world, so as to ascertain more fully just what phenomenology has to contribute to our self-understanding. 

My teaching at WVU covers material within my research areas, especially area (i). I teach Philosophy 354, "Themes in Continental Philosophy," and Philosophy 355, "Existentialism," annually: both courses devote considerable attention to the phenomenological tradition in 20th Century philosophy. I have tried thus far to vary the content of Philosophy 354 from year to year, to increase the coverage of figures and ideas in the continental tradition. Thus far, my syllabi have included works by Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, Gadamer, and Foucault.

My recent and forthcoming publications include: 

Understanding Phenomenology, Acumen Publishing, 2006.

You can find out more about my book by clicking on this link:
 http://www.acumenpublishing.co.uk/display.asp?K=A20060912153254129&sf1
=CONTRIBUTOR&st1=cerbone&y=13&sort=sort%5Ftitle&x=3&m=1&dc=1

Articles:

“Perception” (approx. 4000 words), forthcoming in Merleau-Ponty: Key Concepts, ed. J. Reynolds and R. Diprose, Acumen Press.

“(Ef)facing the Soul: Wittgenstein and Materialism” (approx. 13,000 words), forthcoming in Seeing Wittgenstein Anew: New Essays on Aspect-Seeing, ed. W. Day and V. Krebs, Cambridge University Press.

“Heidegger on Realism and Truth,” in A Companion to Heidegger, ed. M. Wrathall and H. Dreyfus, Blackwell, 2005.

“Distance and Proximity in Phenomenology: Husserl and Heidegger,” The New Yearbook for Phenomenology, Volume III, 2003.

“Phenomenology: Straight and Hetero,” in A House Divided: Comparing Analytic and Continental Philosophy, ed. C. G. Prado, Humanity Books, 2003, pp. 105-138.

“The Limits of Conservatism: Wittgenstein on ‘Our Life’ and ‘Our Concepts’,” in The Grammar of Politics: Wittgenstein and Political Philosophy, ed. Cressida Heyes, Cornell University Press, 2003, pp. 43-62.