Robert Maximilian de Gaynesford (born 2 January 1968) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

philosopher. He is a professor of philosophy at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

Education and career

De Gaynesford was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

and Balliol College, Oxford (1986–1989; First in Modern History), after which he spent several years studying theology before studying philosophy in 1993. Shortly before receiving his doctorate, he was elected fellow and tutor in philosophy at Lincoln College, Oxford (1997). He was subsequently Humboldt Research Fellow at the

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

(2003) and a tenured professor at

The College of William and Mary ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

in Virginia (2002–2006) before becoming professor of philosophy (2008) and head of department (2016) at the

. He is the author of four books: ''The Rift in the Lute: Attuning Poetry and Philosophy'' (Oxford, 2017), ''I: The Meaning of the First Person Term'' (Oxford, 2006), ''Hilary Putnam'' (Routledge, 2006; the book's goal was "to make Putnam’s contributions to modern philosophy accessible to those without expertise in such matters"), and ''John McDowell'' (Polity, 2004). In 2011, he edited a collection of articles on the Philosophy of Action, ''Agents And Their Actions'' (Blackwell), including recent work by

John McDowell John Henry McDowell, FBA (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, ...

and

Joseph Raz Joseph Raz (; he, יוסף רז; born Zaltsman; 21 March 19392 May 2022) was an Israeli legal, moral and political philosopher. He was an advocate of legal positivism and is known for his conception of perfectionist liberalism. Raz spent mos ...

. He spoke at the Harvard Conference in celebration of Hilary Putnam in 2011. He gives papers on attuning poetry and philosophy for general audiences; in 2015, he gave a public talk at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford on 'Why Philosophy and Poetry Matter.' In 2017, he took part in a short filmed conversation about Philosophy and Film with

Lenny Abrahamson Leonard Ian Abrahamson (born 30 November 1966) is an Irish film and television director. He is known for directing such praised independent films as ''Adam & Paul'' (2004), ''Garage'' (2007), '' What Richard Did'' (2012), and ''Frank'' (2014), a ...

and

Francine Stock Francine Stock is a British radio and television presenter and novelist, of part-French origin. Early life Born in Devon, and with early years in Edinburgh and Australia, Stock later attended St Catherine's School, Guildford, where she was head ...

. Their subsequent extended public discussion was recorded as a podcast. He is also interested in moral psychology and the interface with the philosophy of law, where he unearths a particular type of Defence that he calls 'justifexcuses.'

Selected bibliography

Books

*''The Rift in the Lute: Attuning Poetry and Philosophy'' *''I: The Meaning of the First Person Term'' *''Hilary Putnam'' *''John McDowell''

Chapters in books

*''The Sonnets and Attunement'' in ''The Routledge Companion to Shakespeare and Philosophy'' (Routledge, 2018) eds Craig Bourne and Emily Caddick Bourne. *''Attuning philosophy and literary criticism: a response to In the Heart of the Country'' in ''Beyond the Ancient Quarrel: Literature, Philosophy, and J.M. Coetzee'' (Oxford, 2017) eds P. Hayes and J. Wilm. *''Uptake In Action'' in ''Interpreting J.L. Austin: Critical Essays'' (Cambridge, 2017) ed. Savas Tsohatzidis.

References

External links

Academia

OCLC

''British Journal of Aesthetics'' review of ''The Rift In The Lute: Attuning Poetry and Philosophy'' (by Richard Eldridge; Volume 59, Issue 2, April 2019, Pages 236–239)

Commentary on recent books including ''The Rift In The Lute: Attuning Poetry and Philosophy'' (by Lowell Gallagher; "Recent Studies in the English Renaissance" SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900, vol. 58 no. 1, 2018, pp. 219-277)

* ttp://www.rdg.ac.uk/AcaDepts/ld/Philos/mdg/I_chapter1.pdf ''I: The Meaning of the First Person Term'' Chapter 1
''The Seriousness of Poetry''

''Illocutionary Acts, Subordination and Silencing''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaynesford, Robert Maximilian De Living people British philosophers of language British philosophers of mind Fellows of Lincoln College, Oxford People educated at Ampleforth College 1968 births Academics of the University of Reading Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford