Contact Information
Email:
john.lachs@vanderbilt.edu
Office: 111 Furman Hall
Phone: 615-343-0321
Fax: (615) 343-7259
John Lachs
Centennial Professor of Philosophy
Degrees
Ph.D. Yale University
Research Area
His philosophical interests center on human nature. This takes him into metaphysics, philosophy of mind, political philosophy, and ethics. He has continuing research interests in American philosophy and in German Idealism, along with research and teaching interests in medical and business ethics.
John Lachs is general editor of Encyclopedia of American Philosophy (Garland). An issue of The Journal of Speculative Philosophy will be devoted to his essay "Both Better Off and Better: Moral Progress Amid Continuing Carnage," with responses from a half dozen philosophers, 2001.
He is also chair of the American Philosophical Association's Centennial Committee, charged with celebrating the private value and social usefulness of philosophy. Plans are being made for activities throughout the country, ranging from radio programs to book signings and coffee house conversations, designed to show the relevance of philosophy to life.
Publication
The Philosophy of William Ernest Hocking (ed. with Micah Hester), Vanderbilt University Press 2001.
Thinking in the Ruins: Wittgenstein and Santayana on Contingency (with Michael Hodges), Vanderbilt University Press, 2000.
In Love with Life, Vanderbilt University Press, 1998.
The Relevance of Philosophy for Life, 1995.
"Human Natures," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Association, 1990.