Biography
I studied English and Philosophy at UCD, where I wrote an MA thesis on Wittgenstein's Tractatus. After that I wrote my PhD on Carnap and Quine on Analyticity in TCD. My first full-time job was in Oxford and after that I came to TCD in 1997, being made Fellow in 2003. My interest in cognitive relativism arose from my graduate work and I published Relativism, Routledge (2002) with a series of papers on this topic. I also have a research focus in Philosophy of Religion, especially on the work of Aquinas, read in an analytic idiom, with Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion Palgrave (2014) and a series of papers. My current research draws together both analytic epistemology and analytic philosophy of religion and I am working on a monograph on Wisdom, drawing on virtue epistemology, epistemic contextualism and Aquinas's developed account of virtue. I want to explore why the topic largely disappeared in modern philosophy, what factors point to a reappraisal and how the topic is fruitful for virtue and social epistemology.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
"Relativism and Religion" in, editor(s)Martin Kusch , The Routledge Handbook of Relativism, London, Routledge, 2020, [Paul O'Grady]
"Aquinas and Agnosticism" in, F.Fallon and G.Hyman , Agnosticism: Explorations in Philosophy and Religious Thought, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, "Theoretical Wisdom", Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol.54, (N.1), 2019
Paul O'Grady, "Existence and Wisdom", Annals of Philosophy, Vol.67, (N.4), 2019
Paul O'Grady, La Philosophie de la Religion de Thomas d'Aquin, Rennes, Presses Universitaries de Rennes, 2019
Paul O'Grady, 'Grimm Wisdom', Annals of Philosophy, 66, (1), 2018, p67 - 77
Paul O'Grady, 'Epistemology and Wellbeing', European Journal of Philosophy of Religion, 10, (1), 2018
'Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion', Duncan Pritchard, Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2015, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, xiv + 246-
'Philosophy and Gestalt Psychotherapy' in, editor(s)Chase, M, Clarke, S., McGhee, M. , Philosophy as a Way of Life, Oxford, wiley-Blackwell, 2013, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, 'McCabe, Wittgenstein and Aquinas', New Blackfriars, 2012
'Relativism', Duncan Pritchard (General Editor), Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2012, [Paul O'Grady]
'Introduction: Philosophy and Irish Culture' in, editor(s)Paul O'Grady , The Consolations of Philosophy, Dublin, Columba, 2011, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, 'Faultless Disagreement', Irish Philosophical Journal, 11, (2), 2011
Paul O'Grady (ed), The Consolations of Philosophy: Reflections in an Economic Downturn, Dublin, Columba, 2011
'Finding Consolation in God: Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy' in, editor(s)Paul O'Grady , The Consolations of Philosophy: Reflections in an Economic Downturn, Dublin, Columba, 2011, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, 'Aquinas and Naturalism', European Journal of Philosophy of Religion, Vol.3, (2), 2011
Disaccordi Legitimi in, editor(s)Villa and Pini , Il Relativismo, Palermo, Aracne, 2010, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, 'Relativism about Truth', International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2010
George Berkeley, Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009, [Paul O'Grady]
'The Existence of God' in, editor(s)Shand J. , Central Problems of Philosophy, Oxford, Blackwell, 2009, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, Philosophical Theology, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2008
'Two Dogmas and Empiricism' in, editor(s)O'Grady John, Scherle,Peter , Theology From the Rim, Lit Verlag, 2007, [Paul O'Grady]
'Buddhism' in, World Religions, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2007, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, Themes in Modern Philosophy, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2006, 1 - 204pp
Paul O'Grady, Form and Emptiness: Aquinas and Nagarjuna, Contemporary Buddhism, Vol.6, (2), 2005, p173 - 188
Aquinas, Philosophical Theology and Analytical Philosophy in, editor(s)R. Van Niewenhove and J. Wawrykov , The Theology of Thomas Aquinas, Notre Dame, Notre Dame University Press, 2005, [Paul O'Grady]
Aquinas: Summa Theologiae in, editor(s)John Shand , Central Works of Philosophy 1, Chesham, Acumen, 2005, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, Introduction to Philosophy, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2005
Paul O'Grady, Aquinas and the Arguments of the Philosophers, Doctrine and Life, 2004
Paul O'Grady, Wittgenstein and Relativism, International Journal of Philosophical Studies, Vol. 12, (3), 2004, p315 - 337
Spirituality: A Conceptual Analysis in, editor(s)M. Cogan , An Introduction to Christian Spirituality, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2004, [Paul O'Grady]
Paul O'Grady, From Lhasa to Rome, Contemporary Buddhism, 4, (2), 2003
Paul O'Grady, Zen and Some Unruly Dominicans, Spirituality, 9, (49), 2003
Paul O'Grady, How Far Can You Go? Reply to Gregory, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LXVII, (3), 2003
Paul O'Grady, Relativism, Chesham, Acumen, 2002
Paul O'Grady, Anti-Foundationalism and Radical Orthodoxy, New Blackfriars, 81, (950), 2000
Paul O'Grady, Karl-Otto Apel's Interpretation of Wittgenstein, Freiburger Zeitschrift fur Philosophie und Theologie, 46, (3), 1999
Paul O'Grady, Carnap and Two Dogmas of Empiricism, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LIX, (4), 1999
Paul O'Grady, From Agnosticism to Zen, International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 6, (3), 1998
Paul O'Grady, Aquinas on Modal Propositions: A Translation and Study, International Philosophical Quarterly, 37, (1), 1997
Paul O'Grady, Anscombe on the Tractatus, Philosophy, 71, (2), 1996
Paul O'Grady, Wittgenstein's Fundamental Thought, Milltown Studies, 38, (1), 1996
Paul O'Grady, The Russellian Roots of Naturalized Epistemology, Russell: The Journal of the Russell Archive, 15, (1), 1995
Paul O'Grady, Reason and Madness - A Reply, Milltown Studies, 32, (1), 1993
Research Expertise
Description
I work in two areas of analytical philosophy - epistemology and philosophy of religion. In epistemology I am particularly interested in cognitive relativism, contextualism, and the a priori. In philosophy of religion I work on classical theistic arguments, particularly those associated with Aquinas and his conception of the nature of God. I am currently completing a book entitled 'Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion''.Projects
- Title
- Wisdom and Virtue Epistemology
- Summary
- This is an investigation of the nature of wisdom. It draws on virtue theory, especially that of Aquinas and recent analytical virtue epistemology. It also explores the reasons why wisdom has largely disappeared as a topic of philosophical inquiry.
- Title
- Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion
- Summary
- This book is an investigation of Aquinas's main contributions to philosophy of religion, viewed from the stance of analytical philosophy. It provides the required contexts and conceptual framework to understand his work and explores in detail the issues of faith and reason, arguments for God's existence, objections to God's existence, God's nature and attributes.
- Date To
- 2014
- Title
- Cognitive Relativism
- Summary
- I am writing a number of papers dealing with relativism about truth, epistemlogical pluralism and epistemological relativism, including "Relativism about Truth" "Future Contingents and Relative Truth" "Faultless Disagreement about Taste"
Recognition
Awards and Honours
Finalist Provost's Teaching Award
Fellow Trinity College Dublin
D. Phil by Incorporation, Oxford University
American Philosophical Association Essay Prize
International Bertrand Russell Society Essay Prize
Honorary President of the Theological Society