JAMES E. MAHON

Department of Philosophy
Washington and Lee University
24 Newcomb Hall
Lexington, VA 24450
Tel.: (1) (540) 458-8051
Fax: (1) (540) 458-8498
E-mail: mahonj@wlu.edu

 

APPOINTMENTS

2007 -           Chair, Department of Philosophy, Washington and Lee University
 2006 -           Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Washington and Lee University
 2000 – 2006   Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Washington and Lee University
 1998 – 2000   Graduate Instructor, Department of Philosophy, Duke University
1995              College Lecturer (part-time), Department of Philosophy, University College Cork  
 1993 – 1995   Tutor and Guest Lecturer, Center for European Studies, Trinity College, Dublin  
1993 – 1994   Senior Tutor, Department of Philosophy, University College Dublin

 

VISITING POSITIONS


 2007  (July)  Visiting Scholar, Center for Ethics, Georgia State University
2006 - 2007   Visiting Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University
                      (Hewlett-Mellon Fellow)
 2003   (Fall)  Visiting Scholar in the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge
                     Visiting Fellow, Clare Hall, Cambridge  

 

EDUCATION

2000   Ph.D., Philosophy, Duke University
 Dissertation: Motivational Internalism and the Authority of Morality
 Advisor: Alasdair MacIntyre
 Committee: Owen Flanagan, Martin Golding, Lynn Joy, Martin Stone

1993  M. Phil., Philosophy, University of Cambridge
 Thesis: Popper, Gadamer and Hermeneutics
 Advisor: Michael Tanner
 Committee: Tom Baldwin, Susan James

1992  B.A. (Double First Class Honours), Philosophy and Modern English, Trinity College, Dublin
 Thesis in Philosophy: The Concept of 'Taste' in Addison, Hume and Burke
 Advisor: J. C. A. Gaskin
 Thesis in Modern English: Politics vs. Literature: Orwell on Gulliver's Travels
Advisor: William J. McCormick  

 

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Deontology, Kant's Moral Philosophy, Lying/Deception, Metaethics and Moral Psychology

 

AREAS OF TEACHING

Philosophy of Law, Applied Ethics, Ancient Philosophy (esp. Virtue Theory), Early Modern Philosophy

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

 

Articles and Book Chapters

 

Reviews

 

WORK IN PROGRESS

Articles

'Two Definitions of Lying'
'Lying'
'Kant on Keeping a Secret'
'The Non-Demandingness of the Duty of Beneficence'
'Hobbes and Moral Obligation in the State of Nature'
 'Sissela Bok and Permissible Lying'
'Foot, Thomson, and the Trolley Problem'
'Descartes on Deception'

Book

Thou Shalt Not Lie: Kant on Lies

 

COLLOQUIA AND PRESENTATIONS 

  1. 'Was Hobbes a Conventionalist about Morality?', Freedom and Sovereignty, Globalization and Colonization, Davis and Elkins College, November 14 2008
  2. 'Kant and the Duty to Help Others', Rhodes College, April 17 2008
  3. 'Murder and the Trolley Problem', Texas Christian University, April 8 2008
  4. 'Lying and Deceiving', Class of '62 Lecture, Washington and Lee University, March 5 2008
  5. 'State Secrets and State Lies', Perpetual Kant, Lewis University, February 22 2008
  6. 'Foot, Thomson and the Trolley Problem', Virginia Philosophical Association, October 27 2007
  7. 'The Non-Demandingness of the Duty of Beneficence', Boston University, September 28 2007
  8. 'Mill's Enforcement of Morality', National Endowment for Humanities Seminar, Georgia State University, August 1 2007
  9. 'A Definition of Deception', Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, University of Bristol, July 8 2007
  10. 'Kant and the Trolley Problem', Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics, University of Saskatchewan, May 28 2007
  11. 'Thomson and Abortion', Princeton Bioethics Forum, Princeton University, April 3 2007
  12. 'The Morality of On Liberty', Felician College Philosophy Conference, March 17 2007
  13. 'The Just Society', Princeton University Panel Discussion, October 3 2006
  14. 'Kant's Duty of Beneficence', Ethics and Demandingness, University of Dundee, July 16 2006
  15. 'Sissela Bok on Permissible Lying', Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, University of Southampton, July 9 2006.
  16. 'Why There Are No Moral Dilemmas', Luther College, April 6 2006
  17. '"God Is Not A Deceiver": Descartes on God and Deception', St. Thomas University, April 102006
  18. 'Lying, Deceiving, and Being Economical with the Truth', Fred Fox Benton Jr. Memorial Lecture, Institute for Honor, Washington and Lee University, February 25 2006
  19. 'Kant and the Different Formulae of the Categorical Imperative', Longwood University, February 2006
  20. 'Kant on Deception and Reticence', The Murphy Institute Center for Ethics and Public Affairs, Washington and Lee University, January 13 2006
  21. 'Comments on "Making Sense of Prayer"', Virginia Philosophical Association, Virginia Wesleyan College, October 16 2005
  22. 'Is Socrates A Liar?', Appalachian State University, September 2005
  23. 'The Good, the Bad and the Obligatory', Joint Session of the Mind and Aristotelian Society, University of Manchester, July 10 2005
  24. 'Kant, Maria von Herbert and Lies', St. Thomas University, April 7 2005
  25. 'Emotivism and Internalism', University of Virginia, November 2004
  26. 'Descartes's Fourth Meditation: God, Judgment and Truth', Hampden-Sydney College, October 2004
  27. Comments on 'Sympathy and Inclusiveness', Virginia Philosophical Association, Virginia Military Institute, October 2004
  28. 'Kant and the Ethical Duty to Others Not to Lie', Joint Session of the Mind and Aristotelian Society, University of Canterbury, July 10 2004
  29. 'What Is A Lie?', The Roberts Lecture, Grinnell College, April 21 2004
  30. 'Kant and the Ethical Duty Not to Lie', St. Thomas University, February 2004
  31. 'Lying and the Intention to Deceive', St. Johns College Philosophy Club, St Johns College, Cambridge, November 2003
  32. 'The Origins of Internalism', The Moral Sciences Club, St Johns College, Cambridge, November 2003
  33. 'Rigorism and Duties of Wide Obligation', University of Nevada at Las Vegas, March 2003
  34. 'Was Socrates a Liar? ', Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, January 2003
  35. 'Lying as a Violation of a Duty to Oneself', Kantian Ethics Conference, San Diego University, January 2003
  36. 'Metaphysical Doubts and Cartesian Circles', Radford University, April 2002
  37. 'Desires and Reasons', James Madison University, November 2001
  38. 'The Desire to Do One's Duty', Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, November 2001
  39. 'Lying and Deception', Southern Virginia University, October 2001
  40. 'Kant on Lying and Truthfulness', American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting, New York, December 2000
  41. 'Kant on Lies', Harvard University/MIT Graduate Philosophy Conference, Harvard University, March 2000
  42. 'Two Prohibitions on Lying', Pittsburgh Graduate Philosophy Conference, University of Pittsburgh, March 2000
  43. 'Kant on Lying and Reticence', Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Duke University, November 1999
  44. 'Kant, Maria von Herbert and Evil', Women's Studies Graduate Research Conference, Duke University, November 1998
  45. 'Aristotle and Moral Luck', North American Graduate Research Conference, Saint Louis University, October 1998
  46. 'Altruism: From Darwin to Trivers', Evolving the Human Mind, University of Sheffield, June 1998
  47. 'Plato and the Passivity of the Visual Arts', Über Blick: looking Over Visuality, Columbia University, March 1998
  48. 'Dostoevsky on God and Morality', Symposium on Dostoevsky, Duke University, December 1997
  49. 'Moral Luck and Gender', Women's Studies Graduate research Conference, Duke University, November 1997
  50. 'Integrity and Ground Projects', Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & Mind Association, University of Warwick, July 1997
  51. 'The Moral Status of the Novel', Brown University Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, Brown University, February 1997
  52. 'Descartes and Feminist Theory', Inroads: Women and Gender Across the Academic Landscape, Duke University, January 1997
  53. 'Art as Experience: Dewey and the Radical Pragmatist Aesthetic', Radicalism in Aesthetics and Politics, Duke University, November 1996
  54. 'Chomsky on Descartes, Language and Robots', Rutgers University Graduate Philosophy Conference, Rutgers University, April 1996
  55. 'Descartes on Pure Thought and Dreaming', Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, North Carolina State University, April 1996
  56. 'Coinage versus Usage: How Richards and Gibbs get Aristotle wrong on Metaphor', British Association for Applied Linguistics, University of York, January 1996
  57. 'Truth and Metaphor', Metaphor and Rational Discourse, Trinity College Dublin, May 1995
  58. 'Stanley Fish and Interpretation Theory', The Philosophy Society, University College Dublin, November 1993
  59. 'Why Descartes is not a "Brain-in-a-Vat"', Irish Philosophical Society, Limerick, April 1993
  60. 'An Epistemological Similarity between Hobbes and Kierkegaard', Cambridge Seminar in Philosophy, University of Cambridge, November 1992

 

PANEL MODERATOR  

  1. Session Chair, 'Instrumental Reasoning and the Motivational Power of Beliefs', American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Cleveland, April 2003
  2. Session chair, 'The Construction of Gender in Fiction', Eighth Annual Women's Studies Graduate Research Conference, Duke University, November 1997
  3. Session chair, 'Manufacturing and Marketing the Colonial Spectacle', Culture and Colonialism Conference, University College Galway, June 1995

 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES 

Article referee, Ethics
Article referee, Philosophical Quarterly
 Article referee, The Review of Politics
Article referee, International Journal of Philosophical Studies 
Manuscript reader, Oxford University Press
Manuscript reader, Rowman and Littlefield
Manuscript reader, Blackwell 
External Examiner, Honors Program in Philosophy, University of Virginia, May 2003, May 2008
Editorial assistant to Professor Brian Leiter, Philosophical Gourmet Report, June 2000

 

SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY 

Washington and Lee University

Chair of Department, 2007 -
Advisor for the Major, 2000 – 2006, 2007 –
 Honors and Senior Thesis Advisor, 2000 – 2006, 2007 –
 Freshman advisor, 2001 – 2003, 2005 – 2006, 2007 –
 Member, University Library Committee, 2001 – 2004
 Member, University College,, Oxford, Exchange Program Committee, 2003 – 2005, 2007 –
 Chair, University College, Oxford, Exchange Program Committee, 2005 – 2006
 Member, Hiring Committee, Department of Philosophy, Washington and Lee University, 2001 – 2002,  2003 – 2005
 Faculty advisor, Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Ethics Bowl, 2002 – 2005, 2007 –  
Co-Organizer, Philosophy Department Lecturer Series, 2001 – 2003
 Co-Organizer, Medical Ethics Institute, April 2004
 Organizer, Ethics Reading Group, 2001 – 2002  

Duke University

Administrative assistant, Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Duke University, November 1999
 Graduate Student Invited Speaker organizer, Duke University, March 1999
 Member, Steering Committee, Ninth Annual Women's Studies Graduate Research Conference, Duke University, 1997, 1998
 Graduate Representative, Duke University Undergraduate Philosophical Society, 1996 – 1998  

 

HONORS AND AWARDS 

NEH Fellowship Panel, Summer 2008
NEH Seminar participant, Philosophical Perspectives on Law, Democracy, and Human Rights, Georgia State University, Summer 2007
Hewlett-Mellon Fellowship, 2006 – 2007
 Life Member, Clare Hall, Cambridge, 2004 – 
Junior Faculty Leave, Washington and Lee University, Fall 2003
 Glenn Research Grant, Washington and Lee University, 2001, 2003, 2004
 American Philosophical Association, Graduate Student Travel Stipend, 2000 
Preparing Future Faculty Fellow, Duke University, 1999 – 2000 
Graduate Scholar in Women’s Studies, Duke University, 1999 – 2000 
 Conference Travel Fellowship, The Graduate School, Duke University, 1996, 1998 (x 2), 2000
 Departmental Fellowship, Department of Philosophy, Duke University, 1995 – 2000
 University of Sheffield, Department of Philosophy, Travel Stipend, 1998
 The Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, Travel Stipend, 1997
 University of Cambridge, Department of Philosophy, Conference Travel Grant, 1993
 Clare College, Cambridge, Travel Stipend, 1993
John Isaac Beare Prize in Philosophy, Trinity College, Dublin, 1990
Robert Henry Wallace Exhibition, Trinity College, Dublin, 1989 
Composition Prize in English, Trinity College, Dublin, 1989  

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS 

American Philosophical Association  
North American Kant Society 
Aristotelian Society
 British Society for Ethical Theory
 Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy 
Mid-Atlantic Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy  
Virginia Philosophical Association