William Paris
(he/him)

Paris small

Position:

Assistant Professor

Campus:

St. George,

Email Address:

Biography:

  • BA, Susquehanna University
  • MA, New York University
  • PhD, Pennsylvania State University

William Paris is an assistant professor in the department. After receiving his PhD in philosophy from Pennsylvania State University in 2018, he served as the Frank B. Weeks Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Wesleyan University. From 2018-2020, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University.

Paris’s research interests are in Africana philosophy, philosophy of race, political philosophy, and critical theory. He seeks to demonstrate how the work of Africana scholars can lead to a deeper understanding of contemporary conflicts. His book manuscript “Black Critical Theory and the Epistemology of Utopia” argues that utopia is an essential precondition for political critique and generating knowledge. He has recently published an article titled “‘Socialism or Barbarism?: C. L. R. James and the Politics of Hope and Utopia” in HA: The Journal of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities. He also serves as an associate editor of the journal Critical Philosophy of Race.

Research Interests:

Philosophy of Race, Critical Social Theory, 20th-Century Continental Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy