Garth W. Green
John W. McConnell Professor of Philosophy of Religion
Director, School of Religious Studies
M.A. (Boston)
M.A. (Leuven)
Ph.D. (Boston)
Philosophy of Religion, Philosophical Theology, Christian Neo-Platonism, German Idealism, French Phenomenology
I teach and research the histories of Christian theology and European philosophy, and the systematic relations within and between these histories. I have focused on (1) medieval, and specifically neo-Platonic, theology, (2) modern and 19th-century philosophies of religion, and (3) the reconfiguration of this medieval-theological and modern-philosophical inheritance in contemporary phenomenology and its ‘theological turn.’ In each case, my intention is to comprehend fundamental philosophical and theological problems by attending to the process of their unfolding, in order to come to a contemporary understanding of ourselves as inheritors of these philosophical and theological histories.
These interests developed during graduate study in Religion (M.A., Boston University), Philosophy (M.A., Leuven), and Philosophy of Religion (Ph.D., Boston University). I held graduate fellowship and research positions at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Austria), the University of Leuven (Belgium), the Institut Catholique de Paris (France), and the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici (Italy). I was Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Boston University, where I taught in the Department of Religion, Department of Philosophy, and School of Theology, from 2004-2011. I became Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at McGill University in Fall 2011, and John W. McConnell Professor of Philosophy of Religion in 2017.
Since arriving at McGill, I have been a Faculty Fellow at the McGill Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas (2013-16), and have held a FRQSC Nouveaux Chercheurs Grant (2013-16) for my work on Michel Henry and the origins of the ‘theological turn’ of French phenomenology. In that context, I co-hosted (with Professor Jean Grondin, Université de Montréal) the International Conference of the Société Francophone de Philosophie de la Religion. I was Visiting Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Institut Supérieur de Philosophie) in Summer 2014, and at the Università di Cagliari (Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia) in Summer 2015.
I became Director of the School of Religious Studies in February, 2018.
In 2019, I founded, with Jean Grondin and Sean McGrath, the Canadian Society for Philosophy of Religion/Société canadienne de philosophie de la religion, of which I serve as inaugural president. In 2021, I founded with George di Giovanni a new series with McGill-Queen’s University Press, entitled Studies in the Philosophy of Religion.
I will return to a full-time research, publication, and graduate supervision schedule when this term of service has been fulfilled.
Recent publications
2017, Article; “On Kant on the Idea(s) of God,” Analecta Hermeneutica v. 9 (2017), The Idea of God, Edited by Joël Madore and David Tracey, pp. 1-23.
2017, Article; 2017, “Verità e non-verità nella filosofia della religione di Michel Henry,” Dianoia (2017), translation of “Vérité et non-vérité dans la philosophie de la religion de Michel Henry,” Religion et vérité: La philosophie de la religion à l’âge séculier(Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg, Collection "Philosophie de la religion," 2016).
2017, Co-Edited Book; Religion et vérité: La philosophie de la religion à l’âge séculier, Garth Green and Jean Grondin, eds. Actes de Conférence ‘Religion et la vérité,’ Société Francophone de Philosophie de la Religion (Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg, Collection "Philosophie de la religion," 2017).
2017, Book Chapter; “Vérité et non-vérité dans la philosophie de la religion de Michel Henry,” Religion et vérité: La philosophie de la religion à l’âge séculier (Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg, Collection "Philosophie de la religion," 2017), pp. 101-10.
Recent Invited Lectures (2015- )
2016, “Kant and the Idea(s) of God,” Keynote Address, Symposium on the Philosophy of Religion; “The Idea of God: A Philosophical Investigation,” Memorial University of Newfoundland, Department of Philosophy (Nov. 2016).
2016, Convener; American Academy of Religion ‘Author Meets Critics’ Panel on “God, Being, Nothing: The Speculative Theology of Ray L. Hart,” with Thomas J.J. Altizer, Thomas Carlson, Douglas Hedley, Cyril O’Regan (November 2016).
2016, “Cusa’s Apologia and the Aristotelica secta: The Theo-logical Significance of a 15th-Century Polemic,” Boston University School of Theology (March 2016).
2015, “Vérité et non-vérité dans la philosophie de la religion de Michel Henry,” Invited Lecture to the International Conference of the Société Francophone de Philosophie de la Religion (October 2015, Montréal).
2015, "Nicola Cusano: il problema dei nomi di Dio," Visiting Professor Inaugural Lecture, Università di Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy), Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia (May 2015).
2015, "A Future for (Kantian) Philosophy of Religion; Some Rhetorical Considerations,” Invited Lecture to the Institute for Philosophy and Religion (Boston University) Symposium on "The Future of the Philosophy of Religion" (April 2015).
2015, "The Significance of Self-Affection: Michel Henry's Critique of Kant," Invited Lecture to the International Conference “Esperire la ragione: Percorsi di storia delle idee, filosofia transcendentale, e nuove prospettive fenomenologiche: con e oltre Michel Henry” (Università degli Studi di Padova, January 2015, McGill-SSHRC Presentation Grant).