Graham Wetherall
I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. I began my research in September 2009.
My Research:
My research is concerned with the relation between language and philosophical thought in the work of G. W. F. Hegel and Jacques Derrida. I am interested in their respective attempts to overcome what they perceive to be the metaphysical assumptions of 'everyday' language through their own idiosyncratic approaches to writing, and how these approaches interact in Derrida's readings of Hegel. More broadly, I am interested in the conclusions that can be drawn from the study of Hegel and Derrida concerning (a) the capacity of language to accommodate the demands of philosophical discourse, and (b) the attempt to translate philosophical insights into 'plain and simple' language.
My Supervisor is Stephen Houlgate. My research is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
My broader philosophical interests include the legacy of Hegel's thought (particularly in 20th century France), German Idealism, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, and Political Philosophy.
About Me:
I began studying philosophy as a postgraduate, completing an MA in Political Philosophy: The Idea of Toleration at York University in 2006, for which I received a C & J. B. Morrell scholarship. My dissertation applied Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutics to the problem of legitimacy in contemporary political thought. I obtained an MA in Continental Philosophy at Warwick in 2008, where my dissertation addressed Derrida's reading of Hegel, with particular focus on Glas.
I am on the editorial board for Pli: The Warwick Journal of Philosophy.
Conference Papers:
'Reading Hegel: the role of mechanical memory', From Kant to Hegel: Rethinking Themes in German Idealism, Conference of the Graduate Philosophy Society - Emory University, Atlanta (GA), March 2010
