Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2006

Office: Liberal Arts 101B
Office Phone: (406) 243-2351
Fax: (406) 243-5313

Website

Paul Muench

Areas of Interest

• Nineteenth Century Continental Philosophy (especially Kierkegaard and Nietzsche)
• Ancient Greek Philosophy (especially Plato’s Socrates)
• Wittgenstein
• Philosophy of Literature and Film
• Thoreau

Courses Taught

• PHIL 105: Existentialism
• PHIL 105: Philosophy and Film
• PHIL 251: History of Ancient Philosophy
• PHIL 444: Topics in Philosophy of Film
• PHIL 465: Kierkegaard’s Concluding Unscientific Postscript
• PHIL 495: Plato's Socrates and the Sophists

Publications

• “Understanding Kierkegaard's Johannes Climacus in the Postscript: Mirror of the Reader's Faults or Socratic Exemplar?,” Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook, edited by Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, Hermann Deuser and others (Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 2007), 424-440.
• “Kierkegaard’s Socratic Point of View,” Kierkegaardiana 24 (2007): 132-162. Reprinted (abridged version with new first section) in A Companion to Socrates, eds. Sara Ahbel-Rappe and Rachana Kamtekar (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005), 389-405.
• “The Socratic Method of Kierkegaard’s Pseudonym Johannes Climacus,” Kierkegaard and the Word(s), eds. Poul Houe and Gordon Marino (Copenhagen: Reitzel, 2003), 139-150.
• Review of International Kierkegaard Commentary, Volume 12: Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments, ed. Robert Perkins, in International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 47 (April 2000): 124-127.

Talks

• “Can Philosophy Make You Happy?,” The University of Montana Philosophy Society, April 12, 2007.
• “Understanding Kierkegaard’s Johannes Climacus in the Postscript: Mirror of the Reader’s Faults or Socratic Exemplar?,” Søren Kierkegaard Society, Eastern Division APA, December 29, 2005.
• Comments on Erik Lindland, “ ‘Marriage’ in the Journals and Papers,” Fifth International Kierkegaard Conference, St. Olaf College, July 14, 2005.
• “Epicurus and Hemingway on the Fear of Death and the Happy Life,” The University of Montana, February 1, 2005.
• “Plato’s Apology and Kierkegaard’s Ironic Socrates,” Søren Kierkegaard Research Center, University of Copenhagen, March 12, 2002.
• “Socratic Method in Philosophical Fragments,” Søren Kierkegaard Research Center, University of Copenhagen, October 23, 2001.
• “Climacus’ Socratic Art of ‘Taking-Away’: Indirect Communication in Philosophical Fragments,” Fourth International Kierkegaard Conference, St. Olaf College, June 12, 2001.
• Comments on Alvaro Valls, “Between Socrates and Christ: On Irony and Love in Kierkegaard,” Fourth International Kierkegaard Conference, St. Olaf College, June 11, 2001.
• “Climacus’ Socratic Art of ‘Taking-Away’: Indirect Communication in Philosophical Fragments,” Continental Philosophy Workshop, University of Chicago, May 2001.
• Comments on Jonathan Weinberg, “Towards a Non-Verificationist Reading of the Private Language Argument,” Mid-South Philosophy Conference, University of Memphis, February 27, 1998.
• Comments on Ronald Hustwit, “Fragments in Advance of Reading Either/Or,” Third International Kierkegaard Conference, St. Olaf College, June 9, 1997.
  

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