Philosophy News

I had a chance to sit down and talk with Dr. David Cerbone, a professor in the Philosophy Department of WVU for just over 11 years, author of several articles and two books, with a third in the works. He was recently promoted to the rank of full Professor in May of 2009, and was also awarded the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Eberly College of Arts and Science.

When asked about working at West Virginia University, Dr. Cerbone mentioned that the Philosophy Department has been very friendly and that everyone has been supportive. He gets along well with all of his colleagues.

Dr. Cerbone also teaches PHIL 140, “Historical Introduction to Philosophy,” which covers over 2000 years of the Western philosophical tradition, from the pre-Socratics all the way to Jean-Paul Sartre. He also teaches PHIL 354, “Themes in Continental Philosophy.” and PHIL 355, “Existentialism.” He has occasionally taught the Junior-Senior Seminar, which rotates through the faculty; he taught it most recently in the Spring, 2008 semester. The seminar was devoted to the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th Century.

Dr. Cerbone has already published two books, and is currently writing a third, to be completed by June of 2011. His first book, Understanding Phenomenology, was published in 2006 and his second, Heidegger: A Guide for the Perplexed, appeared in 2008. I talked about his second book a bit in the video. The latest book is called “What is Continental Philosophy,” and is being published by Cambridge University Press.

I asked him how his current book project connected with his past research. Dr. Cerbone mentioned that there was some overlap in subject matter with his first two books, since Heidegger and phenomenology loom large in 20th Century continental philosophy. One challenge of the new book is that some well-respected philosophers say that there is no such thing as continental philosophy, so it turns out that the question, “What is continental philosophy?” is a tricky one to answer. One of the things that needs to be discussed, he says, is the history of the term and the motives behind many philosophers’ use of it. His students in PHIL 354 can expect to see some of the material from his book in their class.

In addition to the books that he has authored, Dr. Cerbone has also published a number of articles in his areas of research. He has worked with some very notable presses, such as Oxford, MIT and Cornell. While the majority of his papers revolve around Heidegger and Wittgenstein, he says that there are a few articles that don’t mention them. He had a hard time answering which paper he was the most proud of because he says, “I’m usually looking forward to what I’m going to write next.”

As if he wasn’t busy enough with teaching, research, writing, Dr. Cerbone also participates in talks, meetings and conferences across the country, from UC Berkeley to Harvard, from New York to Indiana, from Virginia to Illinois. This calendar year will be especially busy, as he’ll be participating in four conferences. He’ll also be helping to organize WVU’s in-house philosophy conference, a role he’s had since nearly his first year here at WVU (the next conference is scheduled for Tuesday, November 11th of this year).

There are many things that Dr. Cerbone would like to explore in his research. His main order of business, as he mentioned, is his book, “What is Continental Philosophy”. That project is taking up the bulk of his research and writing time. He said that it’s exciting, however, because it gives him an excuse to read and reread many things, so he can think about work beyond this one project. He also plans to revisit some of his previous work on Wittgenstein, to clarify and defend his interpretive claims in light of criticisms raised by other philosophers. He has also said that when his “desk is a little clearer,” he wants to further understand the German philosopher Hegel, because he’s a key figure in modern and continental philosophy.

With all the talk of his research and his teaching and other responsibilities, I wanted to know if there was something that he Dr. Cerbone did to unwind. He mentioned his love of photography. Dr. Cerbone still likes working with film, though he does dabble in digital photography as well. At the end of November, he’ll be having an exhibition at Zen Clay gallery here in Morgantown.

Of course, family is also an important part of his life away from the philosophy department. He and his wife, Lena, have three children: Margot (age 3), Lowell (age 5), and Henry (age 8). He said, “there’s a lot of cloying, sentimental talk out there about raising kids and how deeply meaningful it all is. The thing is, it’s all really true.”

Interview conducted by and video edited by Philosophy Major Lora Lee Allen