David Wood (born 1946) was Centennial Professor of Philosophy, and Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor, at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. Wood has taught philosophy in Europe and the United States for over thirty years, and is the author of 16 books. In addition to teaching at Vanderbilt University, he also co-directs (with Beth Conklin) a research programme in ecology and spirituality for the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture.

Background

Wood was born in Oxford, England. He was an undergraduate at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, where he was introduced to

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

Wolfe Mays Wolfe Mays (1912 – 21 January 2005) was a British philosopher. He was the founder of British Society for Phenomenology and the editor of Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, its journal. Mays is known for his efforts for introduci ...

. He went on to do graduate work in philosophy at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

(1968–1971), where through the good offices of

Alan Montefiore Alan Claude Robin Goldsmid Montefiore (born 29 December 1926, London) is a British philosopher and Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He is a co-founder and Emeritus President of the Forum for European Philosophy, as well as Joint Presi ...

(at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

)

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...

was a frequent visitor. Under the influence of a group of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

activists led by Roslind and

Stanley Godlovitch Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

– now known as the

Oxford Group The Oxford Group was a Christian organization (first known as ''First Century Christian Fellowship'') founded by the American Lutheran minister Frank Buchman in 1921. Buchman believed that fear and selfishness were the root of all problems. Fur ...

;

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, ...

, author of '' Animal Liberation'' (1975) was associated with them – he became a vegetarian and started Ecology Action, a short-lived environmental group. He was subsequently hired by the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, where he went on to become chair of the philosophy department and director of the Centre for Research in Philosophy and Literature. In 1974 he studied in Paris, and attended lectures by

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthro ...

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

, Jacques Derrida,

Paul Ricoeur Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and

Michel Serres Michel Serres (; 1 September 1930 – 1 June 2019) was a French philosopher, theorist and writer. His works explore themes of science, time and death, and later incorporated prose. Life and career The son of a bargeman, Serres entered France's ...

. He left Warwick for Vanderbilt in 1994, where he became chair in 1995. He has been a visiting academic at

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and Stony Brook, and has taught at Duquesne and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He is an honorary Professor of Philosophy at Warwick where he ran a research seminar (Fatal Projections: Pathologies of Alterity) in Spring 2006. He is also an active sculptor and earth-artist. Vanderbilt ended its affiliation with Wood in 2020. Woods subsequently succumbed to unspecified causes in February 2021.

Bibliography

Books authored

*''Reoccupy Earth'' (2019). *''Time after Time'' (2007). *''The Step Back: Ethics and Politics after Deconstruction'' (2005). *''Thinking after Heidegger'' (2002). *''Philosophy at the Limit'' (1990). *''The Deconstruction of Time'' (1988; 2nd edn. 2001).

Books edited

*''Eco-Deconstruction Derrida and Environmental Philosophy'' with Matthias Fritsch and Philippe Lynes (2019). *''Truth'' (2005). with José Medina. *''On Derrida, Heidegger and Spirit'' (1993). *''Derrida: A Critical Reader'' (1992). *''On Paul Ricoeur: Narrative and Interpretation'' (1992). *''Writing the Future'' (1990). *''Philosophers' Poets'' (1990). *''The Provocation of Levinas'' (1988). With

Robert Bernasconi Robert L. Bernasconi (born 1950) is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. He is known as a reader of Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas, and for his work on the concept of race. He has also written on the ...

. *''Exceedingly Nietzsche: Essays in Contemporary Nietzsche Interpretation'' (1988). With

David Farrell Krell David Farrell Krell (born 1944),VIAF"Krell, David Farrell"/ref> is an American philosopher. He is professor emeritus of philosophy at DePaul University. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy at Duquesne University, where he wrote his dissertation ...

. *''Derrida and Differance'' (1985). With

. *''Time and Metaphysics'' (1982). With

. *''Heidegger and Language'' (1981).

Notes

External links

*http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/philosophy/faculty/wood.html *https://as.vanderbilt.edu/philosophy/people/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20080207060243/http://www.artsnashville.org/registry/index.php?scan=az&main=artist&id=193 *http://www.vanderbilt.edu/chronopod/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092358/http://www.earth-art.org/

Interviews

*http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/philosophy/faculty/wood_interview.html Thinking Against the Grain (with Darren Hutchinson) *http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/philosophy/faculty/wood_interview2.html Food for the Imagination (with William McClure) *http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/philosophy/faculty/wood_interview3.html Contretemps Interview (with John Dalton) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, David 1946 births Living people 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century British sculptors Academics of the University of Warwick Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Manchester British environmentalists British male sculptors Continental philosophers People associated with the Oxford Group (animal rights) 20th-century British male artists