Dr. James Thompson
LektorAfter many years of researching and lecturing, James Thompson joined the MPIeR as research editor in 2015. He is still active in academia as an affiliated senior research fellow at the Research Cluster: Society and Culture in Motion (University of Halle-Wittenberg) and collaborates with researchers at PRIF (Frankfurt). From 2011-15, he was visiting professor at the KU Leuven, where he worked together with Stefan Rummens and Benjamin De Mesel to establish a research concentration on Wittgenstein, primarily focusing on the relevance of his though for moral philosophy. Furthermore, he has taught and researched at the University of Zürich, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the Goethe University, Frankfurt. Having primarily worked on the connections between Wittgenstein, pragmatism, phenomenology, and their role in the development of practice-oriented approaches in the humanities, not to mention social, political, and legal theory, his more recent work focuses on normativity and its emergence within the field of human rights and the legal sphere via processes of translation.
Education
2006
Ph.D. Philosophy: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
2000-2002
Doctoral Studies in Phenomenology and Ancient Philosophy 2000-2002: Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany
1999
M.A. Philosophy: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
1997
B.A. Philosophy 1997: California State University, Sacramento
Institutional Teaching & Research Appointments
Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg (Germany):
2008-2015
Senior Research Fellow: Interdisciplinary Graduate School: Society and Culture in Motion
2012-2015
Senior Lecturer: Social, Political, and Moral Philosophy
2007-2008
Lecturer: Social, Political, and Moral Philosophy
2006-2007
Lecturer: American and Intercultural Studies
2005-2006
Lecturer: Philosophical Foundations of Education
2004-2005
Lecturer: Philosophy of Language, Phenomenology, and Education
Katholieke Universitiet Leuven (Belgium):
2011-2015
Visiting Professor: Epistemology and Philosophy of Language
Goethe Universität Frankfurt (Germany):
Since 2015
Lecturer: Pragmatism and Philosophy of Language
Universität Zürich (Switzerland):
2009-2010
Visiting Scholar and Lecturer: Phenomenology and Moral Philosophy
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (United States):
2003
Instructor (Department of Philosophy)
1998-2000
Teaching Assistant (Department of Philosophy)