Jeff Malpas
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jeff Malpas is an Australian philosopher and emeritus distinguished professor at the
University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...
in Hobart. Known internationally for his work across the analytic and continental traditions, Malpas is also at the forefront of contemporary philosophical research on the concept of "place" (
topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary s ...
or
topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ho ...
), as first and most comprehensively presented in his ''Place and Experience: A Philosophical Topography''—now in its second edition—and further developed in numerous subsequent works.


Education

BA, History and Philosophy (1980); MA, Philosophy (1982, with First Class Honours) from the
University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...
(NZ); and PhD (1986) from the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
(thesis: "Agreement and Interpretation").


Career

Malpas joined the
University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...
in 1999 and, there, was actively engaged for twenty years. During that time, he held both academic and administrative positions, including professor and chair of philosophy,
Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...
(ARC) Professorial Fellow, and Director of University Collections. He founded the University of Tasmania's Centre for Applied Philosophy and Ethics (later, the Inglis Clark Centre for Civil Society), and served as its director for five years. In 2011, Malpas was recognised as distinguished professor and continued with a university-wide appointment that spanned a broad range of disciplines, including
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
,
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...
, and
environmental studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and socia ...
, and involved collaborative research projects in those as well as other disciplines, such as
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...
, design, the creative arts,
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
,
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
,
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
, and
medical humanities ''Medical Humanities'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of medical humanities. The journal presents the international conversation around medicine and its engagement with the humanities and arts, social sciences, he ...
. His supervision of sixty doctoral students reflects similarly diverse disciplines and topics. Upon retirement, in 2018, he was made Emeritus Distinguished Professor. Prior to his work at the University of Tasmania, Malpas held an
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Rese ...
Research Fellowship at
Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and was founder and head of the philosophy programme at
Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...
(Western Australia). He also held positions at the
University of New England (Australia) The University of New England (UNE) is a public university in Australia with approximately 22,500 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern central New South Wales. UNE was the fir ...
and the
University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...
, and has been a visiting scholar at universities in the United States, Germany, England, and Sweden. He continues to hold positions as Visiting Distinguished Professor at
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 196 ...
in Melbourne and honorary professor at the
University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = ...
. Current endeavours primarily focus on select research, publication, and consultancy activities, as well as commenting on issues of contemporary ethics and politics.


Thinking and writing

Malpas's philosophical work is situated amid five major themes: (1) German Post-Kantian philosophy (especially
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...
and
Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 '' magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Famil ...
), (2) twentieth-century American philosophy (especially Donald Davidson and
Richard Rorty Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, he had strong interests and training in both the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic ph ...
), (3)
hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of Biblical hermeneutics, biblical texts, wisdom literature, and Philosophy, philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles ...
and
philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, the ...
, (4) philosophy of place and
space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...
(including
philosophy of art Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...
and philosophy of architecture, among others), and (5) the critique of
modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the "Age of Reas ...
(including the critique of contemporary bureaucracy and management). In its connections ''to'' both the analytic and continental traditions, Malpas’s work can be seen as also providing a connection ''between'' them. His readings of Heidegger and Gadamer are characterised by an emphasis on argumentative reconstruction and clarity of exposition, while his interpretation and development of Davidson’s thought emphasises the broader philosophical and meta-philosophical elements of the Davidsonian position (and, so, places greater emphasis on Davidson’s later writings as providing the framework for reading Davidson’s work as a whole). Malpas has devoted considerable attention to the idea of the transcendental, particularly as it links with hermeneutic themes, and places special emphasis on notions of ground and limit. He sees the transcendental as providing an important point of connection between philosophers such as Davidson, Gadamer, and Heidegger, even as it also connects to Malpas’s own development of what he has termed “philosophical topography.” The latter idea not only draws on phenomenological and hermeneutic resources but also is heavily indebted to analytic approaches in
philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are ad ...
and of
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
. Distinguishing his work, in this realm, is the detailed conceptual analysis of topographical and spatial notions, the methodological implications that it associates with the focus on place, and the topographical analysis of self and identity. As developed in his ''Place and Experience: A Philosophical Topography'', Malpas sees place as “a complex but unitary structure that encompasses self and other, space and time, subjectivity and objectivity.” He argues for an “externalist” conception of self and mind, according to which human lives are indissolubly linked to the places in which those lives are lived. Indeed, he posits that the importance of place lies, not so much in the experience that one might have ''of'' place (or ''of'' a particular place), but in the fact that it is ''in'' place that all experience, thought, and identity are made possible—that place is that in and through which all things are grounded and all things happen. Two of his subsequent volumes—''Heidegger’s Topology: Being, Place, World'' (2006) and ''Heidegger and the Thinking of Place: Explorations in the Topology of Being'' (2012)—provide more specific analyses of the notions of place and “topology” found in the work of Martin Heidegger (who, himself, refers to his thinking as a “topology of Being”). And, even more specifically, Malpas examines a central aspect of Heidegger’s topological thinking—particularly as related to architecture and other spatial disciplines—in his ''Rethinking Dwelling: Heidegger, Place, Architecture'' (2021). His readings represent a distinctive position within the Heidegger literature. Moreover, Malpas's engagement with the idea of place undergirds his thinking and writing about ethics, and especially about a perceived loss of ethical commitment in contemporary culture and society—the result, he contends, of the rise of corporatized, bureaucratic models within public life and institutions, and, with that, an ideology of compliance that undermines ethical conduct. In response to such loss, he proposes that ethics be seen as grounded in a prior commitment to the communities of which we are a part—fundamentally, therefore, as grounded in ''place.''


Teaching and invited presentations

Although his positions have been primarily in research, Malpas has also taught across nearly all areas of philosophy, from ethics to logic, and has additionally lectured in related fields, including architecture, landscape architecture, geography, and other spatial disciplines. He has also presented invited papers for at least twelve international university audiences. Beyond academe, he has been invited to lead workshops and seminars for groups in government and business.


Engagement and critique by others

The main charge levelled against Malpas’s “philosophical topography” is that the notion of place is inherently regressive and conservative—as typified in an article b

John Wylie, for example. Malpas has responded to such charges, contesting the assumptions about both place and belonging on which they rest, as well as their reliance on certain ideological presuppositions rather than genuine engagement with the issues at stake. Malpas’s emphasis on mortality and finitude as essential to the human, and to the very possibility of a life, has been specifically taken up in various discussions, including that in an essay by
Nick Trakakis Nick Trakakis is an Australian philosopher who is Assistant Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Phenomenology of Religion of the Australian Catholic University. He has previously taught at Monash University and Deakin University, and during ...
. A broader engagement and critique of Malpas’s work has appeared in papers presented in the ''International Journal of Philosophical Studies'' and, by Paloma Puerte-Lozano, in ''Place, Space, and Hermeneutics''. Such engagement has not been limited to philosophy, but has extended to other fields as well. In theology, for example, British theologian
Mark Wynn Mark Wynn is a British philosopher of religion, philosophical theologian and academic. He is the seventh Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion Oriel College, University of Oxford. He was formerly the president of the B ...
has drawn on Malpas’s work in order to examine connections between the philosophy of place and philosophical theology. And in sociology, Malpas has published with sociologists such a

Gary Wickham an

Keith Jacobs (see “Selected Publications” for examples).


Recognition


Scholarly organizations

* Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Australian Association of Humboldt Fellows Vice-President and Distinguished Fellow *
Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Austra ...
Fellow


Grants, prizes, and awards


Visiting positions


Significant appointments


Selected publications


Monographs

Malpas has authored (or co-authored) eight monographs, including: ———. ''In the Brightness of Place: Topological Thinking In and After Heidegger''. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, forthcoming 2022. ———. ''Rethinking Dwelling: Heidegger, Place, Architecture''. London: Bloomsbury, 2021. ——— and Kenneth White. ''The Fundamental Field: Thought, Poetics, World''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021. ———. ''Place and Experience: A Philosophical Topography''. 2nd, rev. ed. London: Routledge, 2018. First published 1999, by Cambridge University Press. ———. ''Heidegger and the Thinking of Place: Explorations in the Topology of Being''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012. ———. ''Heidegger’s Topology: Being, Place, World''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006. Rev. paperback edition, 2008. Translated in Italian, by Giulia Ballocca, as


Edited volumes

Malpas has edited (or co-edited) twenty-four volumes, including: ——— and Ingo Farin, eds. ''Heidegger and the Human''. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, forthcoming 2022). ——— and Keith Jacobs, eds. ''Towards a Philosophy of the City''. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2019. ——— and Ingo Farin, eds. ''Reading Heidegger’s Black Notebooks, 1931–1941''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016. ———, ed. ''The Intelligence of Place: Topographies and Poetics''. London: Bloomsbury, 2015. ———, ed. ''Dialogues with Davidson: New Perspectives on His Philosophy''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011.


Chapters in edited volumes

Malpas has authored (or co-authored) seventy-six chapters in edited volumes, including: ———. “Uprostorjenje oblikovanja: arhitektura v dobi tehnološkega kapitalizma—oblast, vertikalnost in ulica” ��The Spatialization of Design: Architecture in the Age of Technological Capitalism—Power, Verticality, and the Street” In ''O oblasti v arhitekturi'' 'On Power in Architecture'' Zbirka Transformacije, vol. 47, edited by Mateja Kurir, 99-112. Ljubljana: Maska, Društvo Igor Zabel za kulturo in teorijo, 2021. ———. “In the Presence of Things.” In ''After Discourse: Things, Affects, Ethics'', edited by Bjørnar Olsen, Mats Burström, Caitlin DeSilvey, Þóra Pétursdóttir, 59-71. London: Routledge, 2020. ——— and Randall Lindstrom. “The Modesty of Architecture.” In ''Political Theory and Architecture'', edited by Duncan Bell and Bernardo Zacka, 255-276. London: Bloomsbury, 2020. ———. “The House of Being: Poetry, Language, Place.” In ''Paths in Heidegger’s Later Thought'', edited by Günter Figal, Diego D’Angelo, Tobias Keiling, and Guang Yang, 15-44. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2020. ———. “Dying in a Liberal Society.” In ''Considering Religions, Rights, and Bioethics: For Max Charlesworth'', edited by P. Wong, S. Bloor, P. Hutchings, and P. P. Bilimoria, 51-62. Dordrecht: Springer, 2019. ——— and Edward Casey. “A Phenomenology of Thinking in Place.” In ''Thinking in the World'', edited by Jill Bennett and Mary Zournazi, 39-63. London: Bloomsbury, 2019. ———. “Taking Everything in Hand: Managerialism and Technology.” In ''The Rise of Managerialism'', edited by Anna Yeatman, 21-42. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2018. ———. “Governing Theory: Ontology, Methodology, and the Critique of Metaphysics.” In ''Rethinking Law, Society, and Governance: Foucault’s Bequest'', edited by Gary Wickham, 125-140. Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2001.


Journal articles

Malpas has authored (or co-authored) seventy-eight journal articles, including: ———. “From Place to Territory.” ''Environment and Planning D: Society and Space'': forthcoming 2022. ———. “Place and Philosophical Topography: Responding to Bubbio, Farin, and Satne.” ''International Journal of Philosophical Studies'' 28 (2020): 299–312. ———. “Spirit of Time/ Spirit of Place.” ''Journal of Continental Philosophy'' 1 (2020): 277-283. Originally published in Turkish as “Zamanın Ruhu/Yerin Ruhu,” ''Sabah Ülkesi'' 'Quarterly Journal of Arts, Culture, and Philosophy''58 (2019):36–39. ———. “Topologies of History.” ''History and Theory'' 58 (2019): 3–23. ———. “The Spatialization of the World: Technology, Modernity, and the Effacement of the Human.” ''Phainomena'' 27 (2018): 91–108. ———. “Five Theses on Place (and some associated remarks): A Reply to Peter Gratton.” ''Il Cannocchiale: rivista di studi filosofici'' 42 (2017): 69–81. ———. “Putting Space in Place: Relational Geography and Philosophical Topography.” ''Planning and Environment D: Space and Society'' 30 (2012): 226-242. Translated in Korean and reprinted in ''Space Theory and its Social Appropriation'' (2013): 15–53. ——— and Gary Wickham. “Democracy and Instrumentalism.” ''Australian Journal of Political Science'' 33 (1998): 345–362.


Other publications

In addition, Malpas has published review articles, encyclopaedia entries, electronic publications, magazine articles, conference proceedings, interviews, book forewords, reports, and book reviews, and has made other contributions via newspapers, radio, television, and online platforms.


References


External links


University of Tasmania

MIT Press

Interview with 3:AM Magazine

Jeff Mapas with Hannah Billenstein and Pietro Nickl: Is Philosophy a science? /Festival der Philosophie 2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malpas, Jeff 1958 births 21st-century Australian philosophers University of Tasmania faculty Heidegger scholars Living people Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities