Matthew Congdon
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Greg S. Allen Dean's Faculty Fellow in Philosophy
I am a philosopher specializing in ethics, social philosophy, and aesthetics. I write about emotions, interpersonal recognition, moral change, the aesthetics of interpersonal ethical life, and the intersections of ethics and epistemology. My work on these topics has appeared in The Philosophical Quarterly, Analysis, Philosophy, The European Journal of Philosophy, Episteme, and Philosophical Topics, amongst others.
My book, Moral Articulation: On the Development of New Moral Concepts appeared in November 2023 with Oxford University Press. I am currently working on two new book projects: one on the aesthetic dimensions of interpersonal ethical life and one on the philosophy of Iris Murdoch. I am also working on essays on the non-propositional rationality of emotions, Iris Murdoch, and struggles for recognition.
I co-edited, with Alice Crary, the Spring 2021 issue of Philosophical Topics on the theme of “Social Visibility.” I am also co-editing, with Thomas Khurana, a volume titled The Philosophy of Recognition, currently under contract with Routledge.
I co-organize Ethcetera, an ethics-focused research cluster, here at Vanderbilt with my colleague, Diana Heney. I also serve on the editorial board for Transforming Political Philosophy, a book series with De Gruyter that focuses on marginalized philosophers and topics. I also help organize the Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Social Philosophy.
Recently taught graduate courses: Moral Psychology (Fall 2023 and Spring 2020), History of Ethics (Spring 2021), and Wittgenstein, Skepticism, and Language (Spring 2022).
Recently taught undergraduate courses: Intro to Ethics, History of Aesthetics, Contemporary Ethical Theory, Philosophy of Language.
Specializations
Ethics, Social Philosophy, and Aesthetics
Representative publications
BOOK
Moral Articulation: On the Development of New Moral Concepts (Oxford University Press, 2023).
SELECTED ARTICLES
“Changing Our Nature: Ethical Naturalism, Objectivity, and History,” Philosophy (2023)
“Does Moral Philosophy ‘Leave Everything as It Is?’” Analysis (2022).
“The Aesthetics of Moral Address,” Philosophical Topics (2021).
"The Struggle for Recognition of What?" European Journal of Philosophy (2020).
"Creative Resentments: The Role of Emotions in Moral Change," The Philosophical Quarterly (2018).
“‘Knower’ as an Ethical Concept: From Epistemic Agency to Mutual Recognition,” Feminist Philosophy Quarterly (2018).
“What’s Wrong With Epistemic Injustice?” Routledge Handbook to Epistemic Injustice, ed. Ian James Kidd, José Medina, and Gaile Pohlhaus, Jr (Routledge, 2017).
“Wronged Beyond Words: On the Publicity and Repression of Moral Injury,” Philosophy & Social Criticism (2016).
“Epistemic Injustice in the Space of Reasons,” Episteme 12:1 (March 2015).