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Professor Paul O'Grady

Professor (Philosophy)
Head of School (Sch Office Social Sciences & Philosophy)
ARTS BUILDING
      
Profile Photo

Professor Paul O'Grady

Professor (Philosophy)
ARTS BUILDING

 pogrady@tcd.ie

 3531896 1428

Head of School (Sch Office Social Sciences & Philosophy)


My initial work in philosophy was on the philosophy of logic of Wittgenstein"s Tractatus (MA UCD 1990) and the debate about analyticity between Carnap and Quine (PhD TCD 1996). From this I became interested in the issue of cognitive relativism, how it emerged from this classic tradition of analytic philosophy and developed in later figures such as Davidson, Putnam and Rorty. I published Relativism (Routledge 2002) and a number of papers in this area. I worked at St Catherine"s college Oxford, coming back to TCD in 1997 and being made Fellow in 2003. Paralleling this I also had an interest in Philosophy of Religion, especially in the work of Thomas Aquinas, read in an analytic idiom. I published Philosophical Theology (Priory Institute 2008), Aquinas"s Philosophy of Religion (Palgrave 2014) and various papers on this. Training in and being accredited as a psychotherapist (MIACP 2009) led me to think about the factors that influence one"s choice of topic and style of doing philosophy. In recent years I have been writing about this, using ideas from virtue epistemology (specifically about the virtue of wisdom) and thinking about the connection between biography and philosophy. I edited Consolations of Philosophy: Reflections in an Economic Downturn (Dublin 2011). I was Head of Dept of Philosophy 2015-2020, becoming a member of College Council and also Head of School of Social Sciences and Philosophy in 2022.
  AQUINAS   Epistemology   History of anlytical philosophy   Philosophy   Philosophy of religion   WISDOM
Project Title
 Wisdom and Virtue Epistemology
From
To
Summary
This is an investigation of the nature of wisdom. It draws on virtue theory, especially that of Aquinas and recent analytical virtue epistemology. It also explores the reasons why wisdom has largely disappeared as a topic of philosophical inquiry.
Project Title
 Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion
From
To
2014
Summary
This book is an investigation of Aquinas's main contributions to philosophy of religion, viewed from the stance of analytical philosophy. It provides the required contexts and conceptual framework to understand his work and explores in detail the issues of faith and reason, arguments for God's existence, objections to God's existence, God's nature and attributes.
Project Type
Book
Project Title
 Cognitive Relativism
From
To
Summary
I am writing a number of papers dealing with relativism about truth, epistemlogical pluralism and epistemological relativism, including "Relativism about Truth" "Future Contingents and Relative Truth" "Faultless Disagreement about Taste"
Project Type
Journal Articles

Details Date
Assessor for Caixa Bank Postgraduate Fellowship Awards, Spain 2019-2014
Assessor for Portugese Govt PG Fellowships 2018-2023
Chair of QQI External Review, Dept of Philosophy, Maynooth 2021 18-22Oct (online)
Chair of Network for Studies in Buddhism 2005-2020
Academic Advisor Gestalt Institute of Ireland 2011-2017
External Examiner PhD Candidate University College Dublin, Ireland 2011
External Examiner Queens University Belfast 2009
External member of Academic Council, Priory Institute, Dublin. 2000-2010
Details Date From Date To
Member Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy 2011 Present
"Aquinas, Authority and Tradition" in, editor(s)Carla Bagnoli and Vincenzo Pacillo , Religious Authorities and Practices and Conflict Resolution, London, Routledge, 2025, [Paul O'Grady], Book Chapter, ACCEPTED
Paul O'Grady, "Wisdom and Methodological Diversity in Philosophy of Religion", Religious Studies, 60, (1), 2024, p65 - 76, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Philosophy and Biography", Metaphilosophy, 55, (3), 2024, p328 - 337, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Aquinas on Wisdom", New Blackfriars, Vol.104, (n.1113), 2023, p726 - 750, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Incommensurability and Wisdom: Reply to Duttweiler", Theophron Journal of Christian Studies, Vol.2, (n.1), 2023, p28 - 35, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "McCabe: Philosophy and Theology", Doctrine and Life, 2021, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
"Aquinas and Agnosticism" in, editor(s)F.Fallon and G.Hyman , Agnosticism: Explorations in Philosophy and Religious Thought, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, pp163 - 185, [Paul O'Grady], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
"Relativism and Religion" in, editor(s)Martin Kusch , The Routledge Handbook of Relativism, London, Routledge, 2020, pp543 - 552, [Paul O'Grady], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, La Philosophie de la Religion de Thomas d'Aquin, Rennes, Presses Universitaries de Rennes, 2019, 1 - 294pp, Book, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Theoretical Wisdom", Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol.54, (N.1), 2019, p415 - 431, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
  

Page 1 of 6
Paul O'Grady, "Finished Ulysses? Put this 100-year-old classic on your reading list". Irish Times, 2022, - 28/07/, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Coronavirus: How can philosophy help us in this time of crisis?" Irish Times, 2020, - 26/03/, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "How to become wise: it takes more than googling" Irish Times, 2018, - 09/01/, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Is it fair to label Bono a hypocrite over his tax affairs - or is hypocrisy just part of life?" Irish Independent, 2017, - 12/11/, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, Review of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae: A Guide and a Commentary, by Brian Davies , Religious Studies, 53, (3), 2017, Review, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Philosophers' work is to tease out arguments not to hold forth in outrage" Irish Times, 2014, - 22/01/, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, "Who'll care for our deepest selves?" Irish Times, 2012, - 28/01/, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, Review of Analytic Theology: New Essays in the Philosophy of Theology, by Oliver Crisp and Michael Rea (eds) , New Blackfriars, 92, (1041), 2011, Review, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, Review of Jesus and Philosophy, by Paul Moser (ed) , Search, 33, (2), 2010, Review, PUBLISHED
Paul O'Grady, Review of A Fractured Relationship, by Thomas Norris , Studies, 96, (383), 2007, Review, PUBLISHED

  


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Award Date
Finalist Provost's Teaching Award 2004
Fellow Trinity College Dublin 2003
Honorary President of the Theological Society 2000
D. Phil by Incorporation, Oxford University 1997
American Philosophical Association Essay Prize 1998
International Bertrand Russell Society Essay Prize 1995