Steven Affeldt, Ph.D.
- Associate McDevitt Chair in Religious Philosophy Philosophy
- Faculty Co-Director of the Manresa Program Carroll College of Arts & Sciences
Steven Affeldt’s research explores intersections of ethics, social/political philosophy, and aesthetics. Drawing on a wide range of figures鈥攊ncluding Plato, Augustine, Rousseau, Kant, Emerson, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein鈥攈e works to show how philosophy and philosophical texts may be redemptive: possessed of the power to inspire, inform, and effect liberating transformations of both individuals and societies. He has published highly influential articles on Rousseau, Wittgenstein, and Stanley Cavell and is Faculty Co-Director of The Manresa Program at 蘑菇视频. He enjoys teaching in virtually any area of philosophy and at all levels.
Education
- B.A., The University of California, Berkeley
- Ph.D., Harvard University
Recent Publications
- “鈥橝s if I could read the darkness鈥�: Some Stakes of Reading in Wittgenstein鈥檚 Philosophical Investigations.鈥澛� Philosophies, vol. 11, 64: (2026), Special Issue: The Dawn of Aspects: Wittgenstein and the Life of Meaning.
- 鈥淔inding a Fitting Companion: Reading Genesis After Cavell,鈥� in Conversations: The Journal of Cavellian Studies, vol. 12 (2025), pp. 47-67.
- An End of Wandering: Coming to Believe in聽Palm Springs,鈥� in聽Happiness and Tears, After Cavell: New Readings in Hollywood鈥檚 Comedy of Remarriage and Melodrama of the Unknown Woman, ed. Paul Deb, SUNY Press, 2025, pp. 291-320.
- 鈥淲alking and Falling: Mulhall and Cavell on Redemptive Steps in Wittgenstein鈥檚 Philosophical Investigations.鈥� Philosophical Topics, Fall 2024, vol. 52, no. 2, Philosophy as Discourse: The Thought of Stephen Mulhall, pp. 5-43.
