THE PHILOSOPHERS
Kwame Anthony Appiah
was born in London (where his Ghanaian father was a law student) but moved as an
infant to Ghana, where he grew up. A philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist, he is
Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Philosophy at the University Center for Human
Values at Princeton University and the author of many books, including The Ethics of
Identity, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, Thinking it Through, and
Experiments in Ethics.
Judith Butler
Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the
University of California, Berkeley, has contributed to the fields of feminism, queer theory,
political philosophy, and ethics. Published in 1990, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the
Subversion of Identity has sold well over 100,000 copies internationally, becoming one
of the most cited contemporary philosophical texts. Her other books include Bodies That
Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”; "Precarious Life: Powers of Mourning and
Violence; and Giving an Account of Oneself.
Michael Hardt
is the co-author, with Antonio Negri, of Empire—an international bestseller dubbed “the
Das Kapital of the anti-corporate movement” by Naomi Klein—as well as its sequel,
Multitude. He is a professor of literature at Duke University.
Martha Nussbaum
Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, holds appointments in the
Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago
and is a board member of the university's human rights program. She holds thirty-two
honorary degrees from universities around the world. Her research and writing covers a
broad range of subjects: philosophy and literature, ancient philosophy, liberal education,
social and political issues, and philosophy of law. Her many books include Frontiers of
Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership; Upheavals of Thought: The
Intelligence of Emotions; and Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of
Religious Equality.
Avital Ronell
literary critic, feminist/deconstructionist, and philosopher-received her PhD from Princeton
University in 1979 before continuing her studies with Jacques Derrida and Hélène
Cixous in Paris. University Professor at New York University and Jacques Derrida Chair
of Philosophy and Media at the European Graduate School in Switzerland, she is the
author of The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech; The Test
Drive; and Stupidity, among other works, and has written consistently for ArtForum,
ArtUS, and Vacarme (Paris). She is a 2009 guest curator at the Centre Pompidou, where
she offered a “'Rencontre” with Werner Herzog, Judith Butler, Laurence Rickels, Jean-Luc
Nancy, and others.
Peter Singer
called the “most influential” living philosopher by the New Yorker, is Ira W. Decamp
Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University
and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE),
University of Melbourne. He has written many books, including Animal Liberation, a
seminal text of the animal rights movement; Practical Ethics; and, most recently, The Life
You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.
Sunaura Taylor
is an artist, writer, and activist living in Oakland, California. She is disabled due to U.S
military pollution, a legacy that has affected all aspects of her work. Her artworks have
been exhibited at venues across the country, including the Smithsonian Institution and the
Berkeley Art Museum. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a 2004
Sacatar Foundation Fellowship and a 2008 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. Her published
work includes the Monthly Review article “The Right Not to Work: Disability and
Capitalism” and “Military Waste In Our Drinking Water” (with Astra Taylor), which was
nominated for a 2007 Project Censored Award. Taylor is currently co-editing a book on
disability and animal rights. She received her undergraduate degree in disability studies
from Goddard College and holds an MFA from the University of California, Berkeley's
department of art practice. Her website is www.sunaurataylor.org.
Cornel West
the Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University, has been heralded by
Newsweek as an “eloquent prophet with attitude.” In his latest book, Hope on a
Tightrope, he offers courageous commentary on issues that affect the lives of all
Americans. Themes include Race, Leadership, Faith, Family, Philosophy, and Love and
Service. His other books include the New York Times bestsellers Race Matters, which
won the American Book Award, and Democracy Matters. West has won numerous
awards and has received more than twenty honorary degrees. He also was an influential
force in developing the storyline for the popular Matrix movie trilogy.
Slavoj Zizek
is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is a professor at the European
Graduate School; International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities,
Birkbeck College, University of London; and a senior researcher at the Institute of
Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He has published over twenty books, including
Welcome to the Desert of the Real, The Sublime Object of Ideology, The Parallax
View, and In Defense of Lost Causes. He is also the subject of the feature documentary
Zizek! directed by Astra Taylor and distributed by Zeitgeist Films.
