Matthias Fritsch, PhD

Thesis supervisor Accepting inquiries

Professor, Philosophy

Thesis supervision details

Supervised programs: Philosophy (MA), Humanities (PhD)

Research areas: Contemporary European Philosophy (in particular Critical Theory, Deconstruction); Social and Political Philosophy; Ethics; Environmental Philosophy

Contact information

Email:

Matthias.Fritsch@concordia.ca

Website:

PhilPeople

CV:

View Matthias Fritsch's CV

Biography

My research interests are social and political philosophy, environmental ethics, and 19th and 20th Century European philosophy (especially German critical theory and deconstruction). I work primarily on justice in relation to history, time, and the environment: what do societies owe the dead, if anything, and what are our normative relations with future generations, especially in relation to political institutions and the environment? While continuing to write on environmental and intergenerational ethics, I am at present working on a monograph on phenomenology and the sources of normative critical theory (SSHRC-funded, 2020-2026). As co-organizer of the award-winning research network Nature-Time-Responsibility, I foster intercultural, comparative-philosophical work on environmental justice.

I direct the 48th Collegium Phaenomenologicum in July 2026, under the theme Climate Philosophy in the Capitalocene--see here for more info https://collegiumphaenomenologicum.org/

Education

Humboldt Scholar, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main (2010-2011, 2023)

Ph.D., Villanova University, Department of Philosophy (1994-1999)
Doctoral Research, Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Philosophy (1997-1998)
M.A., New York University, Department of Philosophy (1993-1994)
B.A., Universität zu Köln, Departments of Philosophy and of English (1990-1993)

Teaching activities

I teach courses in Social and Political Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of History, and Continental-European Philosophy

Publications

Most significant research contributions

Monographs

 Taking Turns with the Earth. Phenomenology, Deconstruction, and Intergenerational Justice (Stanford University Press 2018)

Book symposium 2020 on Taking Turns http://www2.units.it/etica/

The Promise of Memory: History and Politics in Marx, Benjamin, and Derrida, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2005 

Edited Collections

Phenomenologyand Future Generations. Generativity, Justice, and Amor Mundi (co-editor, with Ferdinando Menga and Rebecca van der Post, SUNY Press, 2024)

Intercultural Philosophy and Environmental Justice Between Generations: Indigenous, African, Asian, and Western Perspectives (co-editor,with Hiroshi Abe and Mario Wenning; Cambridge University Press, 2024)

Environmental Philosophy and East Asia: Nature-Time-Responsibility (co-editor, with Hiroshi Abe and Mario Wenning, London: Routledge, 2022)

Eco-Deconstruction. Derrida and Environmental Philosophy. Co-edited with Phil Lynes and David Wood (Fordham University Press 2018)

Reason and Emancipation. Essays in Honour of Kai Nielsen (co-editor), Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2007.

Martin Heidegger, Phenomenology of Religious Life (co-translator), Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2004. 

Journal Editing

Yearbook for Easternand Western Philosophy, specialissue “Philosophies of Time and Nature,” (Volume 7, 2024, co-edited by H. Abe,M. Fritsch, M. Wenning)

Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy,special issue “Responsibility and Justice for Future Generations in Dialoguewith Phenomenology” (Volume 5:2, 2017; co-edited by Matthias Fritsch,Ferdinando Menga)

Articles in, among others, Continental Philosophy Review, Dialogue, Constellations, Human Studies, Philosophy and Social Criticism, Rethinking History, European Journal of Political Theory, etc. Please visit

https://philpeople.org/profiles/matthias-fritsch.