Timothy Hinton

Bio

I was born in South Africa, and I earned a Masters in philosophy from Oxford, and a PhD in philosophy from MIT. I have taught at NC State since 1996 and I was visiting professor of philosophy at Cornell between 2003 and 2005.

In 2008, I was inducted into the NC State Academy of Outstanding Teachers and I have received Scholarship and Research Awards from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences on several occasions.

Research

Most of my published work has been in political philosophy. I was an early defender of what came to be called status egalitarianism. I have also written about self-ownership, individual sovereignty, and the doctrine that the world’s resources are owned in common by all human beings. I edited and contributed to a book on John Rawls’s idea of the original position.

I have also published articles on the history of ethics and the philosophy of religion, including pieces on Aquinas and Anselm.

More recently, I have been working on two topics: one is materialist approaches to history, politics, and society. The other is the idea of social freedom as it applies to the workings of capitalism.

Research Publications

Forthcoming Articles

“Nominalism, Materialism, and History” in Philosophy and Social Criticism

“The Materialism of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me” in Symploke

Book

The Original Position, edited by Timothy Hinton (Cambridge University Press, 2015)

Articles and Chapters in Books

“Is Aquinas’s Doctrine of Analogy Really Unintelligible?” Philosophy and Theology, volume 33 numbers 1&2, 2021, pp. 3-25

“Closing Arguments for the Defence” New Blackfriars volume 102, issue 1097, January 2021, pp. 30-40

“The Integrity of Gareth Moore’s Believing in God” New Blackfriars volume 102, issue 1097, January 2021, pp. 6-21

“Is Taxation Forced Labour?” in Think volume 18, number 51, Autumn 2018, pp. 1-13

“The Original Position and The Original Position – an Overview”  in The Original Position, edited by Timothy Hinton, 2015 pp. 1-17

“Liberals, Radicals, and the Original Position” in The Original Position, edited by Timothy Hinton, 2015 pp.159-178

“Equality, Self-Ownership, and Individual Sovereignty”  in The Philosophical Forum, volume 44, number 2, Summer 2013, pp. 165-178

“Distributive Justice in the State of Nature: An Egalitarian View” South African Journal of Philosophy, volume 32, number 2, September 2012 pp. 69-92

“Naturalism and Authority” in Journal of Social Philosophy, volume 41, number 2, Summer 2010 pp. 152-168

“Rights, Duties and the Separateness of Persons” in Philosophical Papers, volume 38 number 1, March 2009 pp. 73-91

“The Priority of the Via Negativa in Anselm’s Monologion” in Philosophy and Theology, volume 20 numbers 1 & 2, 2008 pp. 3-27

“Liberalism, Feminism and Social Tyranny” in Public Affairs Quarterly, volume 21, number 3, July 2007 pp. 235-253

“Capability and Gender Inequality” in Capabilities Equality: Basic Issues and Problems (Routledge and Kegan Paul) edited by Alex Kaufman, 2005 pp. 93-116

“Choice and Luck in Recent Egalitarian Thought” in Philosophical Papers, volume 31 number 2, July 2002 pp. 145-167

“Kant and Aquinas on the Priority of the Good” in Review of Metaphysics, volume 55, June 2002 pp. 825-846

“Sandel on Tolerance” in Analysis, Issue 272, October 2001 pp. 327-333

“The Perfectionist Liberalism of T. H. Green” in Social Theory and Practice, volume 27, number 3, July 2001 pp. 473-499

“Must Egalitarians Choose between Fairness and Respect?” in Philosophy and Public Affairs, volume 30 number 1, Winter 2001 pp. 72-87

Book Reviews

Review of Michael Otsuka Libertarianism without Inequality in Philosophical Review Volume 114, number 1, January 2005 pp. 142-144

Review of Francis Kamm Rights, Duties and Status in Philosophical Review Volume 107, number 2, April 1998 pp. 289-291

Presentations

Papers Presented

“Practical Rationality and the Demands of Justice” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, UNC Greensboro, March 2019

“The Socratic Constraint, Systematic Injustice, and the Return of Callicles” Presented at the Philosophy Colloquium in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NC State, October 2017

“Rawls and Hegel” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, NC State University, Raleigh, February 2015

“Liberals, Radicals, and the Original Position” Presented to the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NC State, February 2014

“Autonomy, Equality, and Social Identity” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, UNC Chapel Hill, February 2014

“Schopenhauer on the Foundations of Morals: Two Emendations” Presented at the Biennial Joint Meeting of the NC Philosophical Society and the SC Society for Philosophy, Elon University, Elon NC, February 2012

“Equality, Self-Ownership and Individual Sovereignty” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, Appalachian State University, Boone NC, February 2011

“Constitutional Sentimentalism and the Authority of Morals” Presented at the Seventh Annual MIT-ing of the Minds Conference, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, Cambridge Massachusetts, January 2011

“‘Sentiments of the Understanding, Perceptions of the Heart’— Constitutional Sentimentalism and the Authority of Morals” Presented at the Philosophy Colloquium in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NC State, September 2010

“Naturalism and Authority” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, Wake Forest University, February 2009

“Distributive Justice in the State of Nature” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, UNC Chapel Hill, February 2008

“Rights, Duties and the Separateness of Persons” Presented at the Annual Conference of the NC Philosophical Society, High Point University, February 2007

“Autonomy and the Priority of the Good” Presented at the Philosophy Colloquium in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, NC State, April 2006

“The Priority of the Apophatic in the Monologion,” Presented at the Third Saint Anselm Conference, Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire, April 2004

“Anselm on Free Will,” Presented at the Second Saint Anselm Conference, Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire, April 2002

“Choice, Luck, and Inequality,” Presented at the Philosophy Colloquium in the Department of Philosophy, Cornell University, November 2000

“Justifying Toleration,” Presented at the Philosophy Colloquium in the Department of Philosophy of Philosophy and Religion, NC State, May 1999

“Equality and Self-Ownership,” Presented at the Philosophy Colloquium in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, NC State, May 1998

“Comments on Schaller’s ‘Rawls, the Difference Principle, and Economic Inequality’,” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting, April 1998

“Equality and Basic Goods,” Presented to the Department of Philosophy, Cornell University, January 1997

“Equality and Basic Goods,” Presented to the Department of Philosophy and Religion, NC State, January 1996

“Well-being and Equality,” MIT-Harvard Graduate Philosophy Conference, March 1995

“Equality and Self-Ownership,” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting, March 1994 (Winner of APA Graduate Sutdent Prize)

“Some Considerations on the Rights of Self-Ownership,” MIT-Harvard Graduate Philosophy Conference, November 1992

Other Presentations

“What is Ethics?” and “Introduction to Ethical Theory,” presented at the Bioethics Institute, NC State May 2000

“Ethical Theory” and “Ethics and Research Ethics,” presented at the Research Ethics Institute, NC State June 1999

“What is Ethics?” and “Introduction to Ethical Theory,” presented at the Bioethics Institute, NC State May 1999

“Introduction to Ethical Theory,” presented at the Bioethics Institute, NC State May 1998

Area(s) of Expertise

Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, and History of Philosophy