Jon Stewart is an American philosopher and historian of philosophy. He specializes in 19th century
Continental philosophy
Continental philosophy is a group of philosophies prominent in 20th-century continental Europe that derive from a broadly Kantianism, Kantian tradition.Continental philosophers usually identify such conditions with the transcendental subject or ...
with an emphasis on the thought of
Kierkegaard and
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...
. He has also worked in the field of Scandinavian Studies and has made the culture of the Danish Golden Age better known internationally. Stewart currently works as a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at the
Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Education and career
Stewart earned his BA in Philosophy in 1984 from the
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...
, where he studied wit
David Hoy He received his MA in 1986 and his PhD in 1992 from the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
, where he studied with
Robert B. Pippin, Frederick A. Olafson and
Henry Allison.
After his dissertation he worked at a post-doctoral scholar at the
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (where he worked with
Ludwig Siep), the
Université Libre in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
(where he worked with
Marc Richir), and the
Humboldt-Universität in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
(where he worked with
Volker Gerhardt).
Starting in 1996 Stewart worked for several years at the
Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University.
...
. In 2003 he defended his
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
thesis at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen. In 2007 he completed a second Habilitation thesis, this time in Philosophy. In the same year he was elected into the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. He worked at Harvard University from 2016 to 2017.
He has held guest professorships the
University of Iceland
The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...
(2005), the
Universidad de los Andes,
Santiago de Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...
(2010), the
Universidad Iberoamericana
The Ibero-American University (), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'', is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican province of the Society of Jesus ( ...
, Mexico City (2014), the
Charles University
Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...
,
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
(2019),
University of Szeged
The University of Szeged () is a Public university, public research university in Szeged, Hungary. Established as the Jesuit Academy of Kolozsvár in present-day Cluj-Napoca in 1581, the institution was re-established as a university in 1872 by ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
(2019, 2021), and the
Universidad Panamericana,
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. At 22°N and with an average altitude of above sea level it is pre ...
, Mexico (2021-2023).
He has won the Book Prize of the Slovak Academy of Science in the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023. In the year 2022 he was awarded the Slovak Academy of Sciences Prize for Scholarly Work for previous year.
In 2020 he was awarded the title Professor h.c. by the University of Szeged, Hungary.
In 2021 he was the recipient of The Slovak Academy of Sciences’ Honorary Plaque of Ľudovít Štúr for Services to the Humanities and Social Sciences.
His book ''Hegel’s Century: Alienation and Recognition in a Time of Revolution'', (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2021) won the
PROSE Award for 2022 for the category “Philosophy,” awarded by The Association of American Publishers.
He is currently the editor-in-chief of the journa
and the co-editor of th
''Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook''an
''Kierkegaard Studies Monograph Series''(De Gruyter). He is the series editor o
Research in the History of Western Philosophy'' and
''Danish Golden Age Studies''(Brill). From 2007-2017 he was the editor-in-chief of the now completed series
(Aldershot: Ashgate 2007-2015; New York: Routledge 2016-2017).
Academic work
Stewart's second book, ''Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered'' (New York: Cambridge University Press 2003) marked a major shift in Kierkegaard studies. It was widely reviewed in academic journals, as well as by a Danish newspaper.
It is generally agreed that ''Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered'' impacted research in many ways.
In continuing to show the relevance of culture and history to understanding the intellectual and philosophical debates of the
Danish Golden Age
The Danish Golden Age () covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered from fires, Battle of Co ...
, in 2007 Stewart published ''A History of Hegelianism in Golden Age Denmark'', Tome I, ''The Heiberg Period: 1824-1836'' (Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2007) and ''A History of Hegelianism in Golden Age Denmark'', Tome II, ''The Martensen Period: 1837-1842'' (Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2007). These studies constituted the most detailed investigations into the influence of Hegel's philosophy on Danish Golden Age culture.
Books
* ''The Unity of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit: A Systematic Interpretation'', Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press 2000 (Northwestern University SPEP Studies in Historical Philosophy). xv + 556pp. (re-issue, paperback, 2011.) (Spanish translation: ''La Unidad de la Fenomenología del espíritu de Hegel. Una interpretación sistemática'', trans. by Carlos Mendiola Mejía, Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana 2014.)
* ''Kierkegaard’s Relations to Hegel Reconsidered'', New York: Cambridge University Press 2003 (Modern European Philosophy). xix + 695pp. (re-issue, paperback, 2007.) (Japanese translation: 『キェルケゴールは反ヘーゲル主義者だったのか? 彼のヘーゲルへの関わりを再吟味する』
as Kierkegaard Anti-Hegelian? His Relations to Hegel Reconsidered trans. by Kinya Masugata (supervisor), Kiyoshi Ito, Kota Kinose, Keisuke Yoshida, Teruyuki Kasumi, Takaya Suto, Masaya Honda, Shin Fujieda, Mime Morita, Yusuke Ono, Takashi Yanagisawa, Hideki Goto, Yusuke Suzuki, and Tomomichi Baba, Nara: Kizasu Shobo 2023.)
* ''A History of Hegelianism in Golden Age Denmark'', Tome I, ''The Heiberg Period: 1824-1836'', Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2007. xxi + 629pp. (Danish Golden Age Studies, vol. 3.)
* ''A History of Hegelianism in Golden Age Denmark'', Tome II, ''The Martensen Period: 1837-1842'', Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2007. xx + 775pp. (Danish Golden Age Studies, vol. 3.)
* ''Idealism and Existentialism: Hegel and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century European Philosophy'', New York and London: Continuum International Publishing 2010. xv + 282pp. (re-issue, paperback, 2012.)
* ''The Unity of Content and Form in Philosophical Writing: The Perils of Conformity'', London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney: Bloomsbury 2013 (Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy). ix + 217pp.
* ''The Cultural Crisis of the Danish Golden Age: Heiberg, Martensen and Kierkegaard'', Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press 2015 (Danish Golden Age Studies, vol. 9). xxii + 337pp.
* ''Søren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony and the Crisis of Modernity'', Oxford: Oxford University Press 2015. xvii + 210pp. (re-issue, paperback, 2017.) (Portuguese translation: ''Søren Kierkegaard: Subjetividade, Ironia e a Crise da Modernidade'', trans. by Humberto Quaglio, Petrópolis, RJ: Vozes 2017. Spanish translation: ''Søren Kierkegaard: subjetividad, ironía y la crisis de la Modernidad'', trans. by Azucena Palavicini Sánchez, Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana 2017. Chinese translation: 克尔凯郭尔:丹麦黄金时代的苏格拉底 trans. by Tianwang Jinjian, Beijing: Huaxia Press 2018. Korean translation: 쇠렌 키르케고르 입문:주관성, 아이러니, 현대성의 위기 trans. by Changwoo Lee, and Jeong In Choi, SeJong: Karis Academy 2023.)
* ''Hegel’s Interpretation of the Religions of the World: The Logic of the Gods'', Oxford: Oxford University Press 2018. xix + 321pp. (Korean translation: 헤겔 <종교철학> 입문, trans. by Jeong Jin-Woo, Seoul: Dong Yeon Publishing Co. 2023.)
* ''Faust, Romantic Irony, and System: German Culture in the Thought of Søren Kierkegaard'', Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press 2019 (Danish Golden Age Studies, vol. 11). xviii + 407pp.
* ''The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World: An Interpretation of Western Civilization'', Oxford: Oxford University Press 2020. xiv + 399pp.
* ''Hegel’s Century: Alienation and Recognition in a Time of Revolution'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2021. xi + pp. 338pp.
* ''An Introduction to Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion: The Issue of Religious Content in the Enlightenment and Romanticism'', Oxford: Oxford University Press 2022. xiii + 277pp. (Korean translation: 헤겔 <종교철학> 입문, trans. by Jeong Jin-Woo, Seoul: Dong Yeun Press 2023. 523pp.)
* ''A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century: Confrontations with Nothingness'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2023. xi + 322pp.
Translation Monographs
* ''Heiberg’s On the Significance of Philosophy for the Present Age and Other Texts'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2005. xxii + 467pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 1.)
* ''Heiberg’s Speculative Logic and Other Texts'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2006. xviii + 387pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 2.)
* ''Heiberg’s Introductory Lecture to the Logic Course and Other Texts'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel 2007. xvii + 334pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 3.)
* ''Heiberg’s Contingency Regarded from the Point of View of Logic and Other Texts'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press 2008. xvi + 457pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 4.)
* ''Mynster’s “Rationalism, Supernaturalism” and the Debate about Mediation'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press 2009. xvi + 683pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 5.)
* ''Heiberg’s Perseus and Other Texts'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press 2011. xiii + 408pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 6.)
* ''Sibbern’s Remarks and Investigations Primarily Concerning Hegel’s Philosophy'', ed. and trans. by Jon Stewart, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press 2018. xvi + 451pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 7.)
* ''Poul Martin Møller’s Thoughts on the Possibility of Proofs of Human Immortality and Other Texts'', ed. and trans. by Finn Gredal Jensen and Jon Stewart, Leiden and Boston: Brill 2022. xxi + 515pp. (''Texts from Golden Age Denmark'', vol. 8).
Grants and Fellowships
* 1989-1999: Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
* 1992-1993: Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Heinrich Hertz Foundation
* 1993-1994: Free University Brussels, Belgian American Educational Foundation
* 1994-1995: Humboldt University, Berlin, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
* 1995-1997: Spencer Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National Academy of Education
* 2008-2009: Collegium Budapest, Institute for Advanced Study
* 2016-2017: Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Group Grants and Projects
* 2005-2006: Project Coordinator, Øresund Summer University Courses, Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen
* 2005-2007: Project leader, “Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources” funded by the Danish Research Council for the Humanities (Statens Humanistiske Forskningsråd), a branch of the Danish Research Agency
* 2011-2014: Project leader, “The Nordic Network for Kierkegaard Research” funded by Nordforsk.
* 2019-2022: Project leader, “Individual and Collective Subjectivity: Historical and Contemporary Issues,” cooperation of the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Philosophy at the Polish Academy of Sciences, supported by Inter-Academic Agreement, MAD (Medziakademická dohoda).
References
External links
*
Institute of Philosophy, Slovak Academy of SciencesDanish Golden Age StudiesKierkegaard Studies YearbookKierkegaard Studies Monograph Series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Jon
Living people
1961 births
20th-century American philosophers
21st-century American philosophers
American expatriate academics
American expatriates in Denmark
Université libre de Bruxelles alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Kierkegaard scholars
University of California, San Diego alumni
University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
University of Münster alumni
Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen
Academic staff of the University of Iceland
Academic staff of the University of Los Andes (Colombia)
American historians of philosophy