Rice’s Morton among ‘50 Most Influential Living Philosophers’

Rice’s Timothy Morton, a philosopher and the Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English, was included among the TheBestSchools.org’s listing of “The 50 Most Influential Living Philosophers.”

TIMOTHY MORTON

“Philosophy, one of the oldest areas of intellectual endeavor, is as significant today as ever,” according to TheBestSchools.org. “This list collects together the 50 most influential philosophers working, thinking, writing and teaching in the world today.”

In its citation, TheBestSchools.org wrote, “Morton has been most influential in the development of the focus of ontology in contemporary philosophy, and is most famous for his book ‘Ecology Without Nature’ (2007), and his major role in the object-oriented ontology (OOO) movement. ‘In Ecology Without Nature,’ Morton has argued that ecological writing typically views ‘nature’ and ‘civilization’ as two separate things, nature being something we emerged from, and have since become removed from. In response to this problem, Morton argues that we dissolve this binary opposition and begin to understand nature as a social construct that is inseparable from civilization.”

See the list at www.thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-living-philosophers.

Since coming to Rice in 2012, Morton has been building programs in ecological theory, energy and sustainability. In 2014 he collaborated with Björk on “Björk: Archives,” a book and visual tribute to the enigmatic Icelander. Morton is the author of several other books, including “Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World” (2013), and he blogs daily at www.ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com.