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Professor Paul O'Grady
Professor, Philosophy
Head of School, Sch Office Social Sciences & Philosophy

Biography

My initial work in philosophy was on the philosophy of logic of Wittgenstein"s Tractatus (MA UCD 1990) and the debate about analyticity between Carnap and Quine (PhD TCD 1996). From this I became interested in the issue of cognitive relativism, how it emerged from this classic tradition of analytic philosophy and developed in later figures such as Davidson, Putnam and Rorty. I published Relativism (Routledge 2002) and a number of papers in this area. I worked at St Catherine"s college Oxford, coming back to TCD in 1997 and being made Fellow in 2003. Paralleling this I also had an interest in Philosophy of Religion, especially in the work of Thomas Aquinas, read in an analytic idiom. I published Philosophical Theology (Priory Institute 2008), Aquinas"s Philosophy of Religion (Palgrave 2014) and various papers on this. Training in and being accredited as a psychotherapist (MIACP 2009) led me to think about the factors that influence one"s choice of topic and style of doing philosophy. In recent years I have been writing about this, using ideas from virtue epistemology (specifically about the virtue of wisdom) and thinking about the connection between biography and philosophy. I edited Consolations of Philosophy: Reflections in an Economic Downturn (Dublin 2011). I was Head of Dept of Philosophy 2015-2020, becoming a member of College Council and also Head of School of Social Sciences and Philosophy in 2022.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Paul O'Grady, "Philosophy and Biography", Metaphilosophy, 2024 Journal Article, 2024

Paul O'Grady, "Aquinas on Wisdom", New Blackfriars, Vol.104, (n.1113), 2023 Journal Article, 2023

Paul O'Grady, "Wisdom and Methodological Diversity in Philosophy of Religion", Religious Studies, 2023 Journal Article, 2023

Paul O'Grady, "Incommensurability and Wisdom: Reply to Duttweiler", Theophron Journal of Christian Studies, Vol.2, (n.1), 2023 Journal Article, 2023

Paul O'Grady, "McCabe: Philosophy and Theology", Doctrine and Life, 2021 Journal Article, 2021

"Aquinas and Agnosticism" in, F.Fallon and G.Hyman , Agnosticism: Explorations in Philosophy and Religious Thought, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2020

"Relativism and Religion" in, editor(s)Martin Kusch , The Routledge Handbook of Relativism, London, Routledge, 2020, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2020

Paul O'Grady, "Existence and Wisdom", Annals of Philosophy, Vol.67, (N.4), 2019 Journal Article, 2019

Paul O'Grady, La Philosophie de la Religion de Thomas d'Aquin, Rennes, Presses Universitaries de Rennes, 2019 Book, 2019

Paul O'Grady, "Theoretical Wisdom", Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol.54, (N.1), 2019 Journal Article, 2019

Paul O'Grady, 'Epistemology and Wellbeing', European Journal of Philosophy of Religion, 10, (1), 2018 Journal Article, 2018

Paul O'Grady, 'Grimm Wisdom', Annals of Philosophy, 66, (1), 2018, p67 - 77 Journal Article, 2018

'Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion', Duncan Pritchard, Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2015, [Paul O'Grady] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2015

Paul O'Grady, Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, xiv + 246- Book, 2014

'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] Book Chapter, 2013

Paul O'Grady, 'McCabe, Wittgenstein and Aquinas', New Blackfriars, 2012 Journal Article, 2012

'Relativism', Duncan Pritchard (General Editor), Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2012, [Paul O'Grady] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2012

Paul O'Grady, 'Aquinas and Naturalism', European Journal of Philosophy of Religion, Vol.3, (2), 2011 Journal Article, 2011

'Introduction: Philosophy and Irish Culture' in, editor(s)Paul O'Grady , The Consolations of Philosophy, Dublin, Columba, 2011, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2011

Paul O'Grady, 'Faultless Disagreement', Irish Philosophical Journal, 11, (2), 2011 Journal Article, 2011

Paul O'Grady (ed), The Consolations of Philosophy: Reflections in an Economic Downturn, Dublin, Columba, 2011 Book, 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] Book Chapter, 2011

Paul O'Grady, 'Relativism about Truth', International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2010 Journal Article, 2010

Disaccordi Legitimi in, editor(s)Villa and Pini , Il Relativismo, Palermo, Aracne, 2010, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2010

George Berkeley, Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009, [Paul O'Grady] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2009

'The Existence of God' in, editor(s)Shand J. , Central Problems of Philosophy, Oxford, Blackwell, 2009, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2009

Paul O'Grady, Philosophical Theology, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2008 Book, 2008

'Buddhism' in, World Religions, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2007, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2007

'Two Dogmas and Empiricism' in, editor(s)O'Grady John, Scherle,Peter , Theology From the Rim, Lit Verlag, 2007, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2007

Paul O'Grady, Themes in Modern Philosophy, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2006, 1 - 204pp Book, 2006

Paul O'Grady, Introduction to Philosophy, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2005 Book, 2005

Paul O'Grady, Form and Emptiness: Aquinas and Nagarjuna, Contemporary Buddhism, Vol.6, (2), 2005, p173 - 188 Journal Article, 2005

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] Book Chapter, 2005

Aquinas: Summa Theologiae in, editor(s)John Shand , Central Works of Philosophy 1, Chesham, Acumen, 2005, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2005

Paul O'Grady, Wittgenstein and Relativism, International Journal of Philosophical Studies, Vol. 12, (3), 2004, p315 - 337 Journal Article, 2004

Paul O'Grady, Aquinas and the Arguments of the Philosophers, Doctrine and Life, 2004 Journal Article, 2004

Spirituality: A Conceptual Analysis in, editor(s)M. Cogan , An Introduction to Christian Spirituality, Dublin, Priory Institute, 2004, [Paul O'Grady] Book Chapter, 2004

Paul O'Grady, How Far Can You Go? Reply to Gregory, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LXVII, (3), 2003 Journal Article, 2003

Paul O'Grady, Zen and Some Unruly Dominicans, Spirituality, 9, (49), 2003 Journal Article, 2003

Paul O'Grady, From Lhasa to Rome, Contemporary Buddhism, 4, (2), 2003 Journal Article, 2003

Paul O'Grady, Relativism, Chesham, Acumen, 2002 Book, 2002

Paul O'Grady, Anti-Foundationalism and Radical Orthodoxy, New Blackfriars, 81, (950), 2000 Journal Article, 2000

Paul O'Grady, Karl-Otto Apel's Interpretation of Wittgenstein, Freiburger Zeitschrift fur Philosophie und Theologie, 46, (3), 1999 Journal Article, 1999

Paul O'Grady, Carnap and Two Dogmas of Empiricism, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LIX, (4), 1999 Journal Article, 1999

Paul O'Grady, From Agnosticism to Zen, International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 6, (3), 1998 Journal Article, 1998

Paul O'Grady, Aquinas on Modal Propositions: A Translation and Study, International Philosophical Quarterly, 37, (1), 1997 Journal Article, 1997

Paul O'Grady, Wittgenstein's Fundamental Thought, Milltown Studies, 38, (1), 1996 Journal Article, 1996

Paul O'Grady, Anscombe on the Tractatus, Philosophy, 71, (2), 1996 Journal Article, 1996

Paul O'Grady, The Russellian Roots of Naturalized Epistemology, Russell: The Journal of the Russell Archive, 15, (1), 1995 Journal Article, 1995

Paul O'Grady, Reason and Madness - A Reply, Milltown Studies, 32, (1), 1993 Journal Article, 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. In recent years I have been working on the concept of wisdom, connecting it to topics in epistemology and 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"

Keywords

AQUINAS; Epistemology; History of anlytical philosophy; Philosophy; Philosophy of religion; WISDOM

Recognition

Awards and Honours

Finalist Provost's Teaching Award 2004

Fellow Trinity College Dublin 2003

D. Phil by Incorporation, Oxford University 1997

American Philosophical Association Essay Prize 1998

International Bertrand Russell Society Essay Prize 1995

Honorary President of the Theological Society 2000-2002